A Hike in the Shire

Many months ago (okay, three), shadows were just starting to stretch long and the trees still had leaves. Though they were clearly preparing to release them. One of those beautiful fall days — the last day of September — we headed down to the Berounka valley for a hike.

The Berounka river and its valley are not far from Prague, just 30 kilometers southwest of the city. But head off on one of those well-maintained trails that criss-cross the landscape and you can get swallowed up in the gentle hills and lush forests. One could hardly be blamed for looking out for magical creatures along the way.

We took a train to Vráž and found our trail.

Into the woods

Passed a small chapel along the way,

Chapel of St. Maxmilian

followed by a goddess and wizard captured in wood,

before we came to the village of Svaty Jan pod Skalou/St. John Under the Cliff. (Or in the Rock. Both translations are out there.)

The monastery, church, and cave up in the hillside have a colorful history, as noted in this article from Radio Prague.

St. John Benedictine Monastery and St. John the Baptist church

From the article ~

"Our monastery grew after the Hussite Wars but in 1785, it was closed down by Emperor Joseph II. After this date, the building of the monastery was sold to some people who used it as a castle until the end of the nineteenth century. From the start of the twentieth century, it was used as a spa for the recreation of people but in 1915, a school for the education of new teachers was founded here and it was here up to WWII. During the Second World War, it was closed by the German government. After the war, in the communist times, it was rebuilt as a labour camp and was a prison later up to 1955. After this period, it was rebuilt again as a school for police men and now after the revolution, it is used as a school for young girls and boys and they study here for three years to become teachers."

We stopped in the church for a look-see before moving on.

The cutest little bus stop in the shire.

He ain't heavy.

A shadowy map of the area. We walked from Vráż (upper part of the picture)
to Srbsko (near where the river bends to the east).

Red Cascade buds and berries

This may be my favorite picture from autumn.

An old quarry

I confess: Tyrolean houses with flowers cascading from window baskets make me swoon.  

We made our way to a pub in Srbsko for what turned out to be a too-quick lunch. Our order took 40 minutes — we inhaled our food and then high-tailed it to the train station!

We needn't have worried. Trains were delayed due to work along tracks. Ours rolled in 10 minutes late.

And we headed home to Prague.