Walks & Wanderings ~ Průhonice Botanical Park

St. Wenceslas Day — September 28 — is the national holiday when Czechs honor and remember the patron saint of Bohemia as it's the anniversary of his death at the hands of his brother Boleslav way back in the year 935. The Good King (as, yes, he's that Wenceslas, so think of him kindly this Christmas caroling season) wasn't actually a king, he was a duke. But after suffering a martyr's death, Wenceslas was automatically canonized and then given an upgrade to king by Holy Roman Emperor Otto I.

And while all of this is fascinating history, the salient nugget in this from the boys' perspective is Czech Holiday, i.e. No School. Also? It was a beautiful day. Everybody outside!

Autumn colors were making an appearance. So we made our way to Průhonice Botanical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Czech National Historic Landmark just southwest of Prague. The natural park was cultivated starting back in 1885, and it's one of the largest landscaped parks in Europe.

Elements of the chateau date back to the 12th century.

The park covers about 200 hectares/almost 500 acres, and there are about 40 kilometers of trails throughout the park.

Succulents cling to this rock face.

Tried to catch Ben's face sans hoodie, but he was too quick for me.

Cool drain spout off the lookout tower.

Firebugs' coloring almost looks like a tribal mask.

Karl and I nicknamed this tree Muffin Top. 

Bopping out a beat on brother's bongo-butt.

Mural of St. George and the dragon. There are many, many depictions of George and the dragon in these parts.

A wedding! Folks like using the chateau and park grounds for their special ceremony. We got to play witness to the nuptials of one couple while we enjoyed some ice cream at the courtyard cafe.

As we entered the courtyard, we encountered a sandwich board announcing the time of the wedding and requesting everyone's respectful silence (or low voices, anyway) during the event. 

Which was why it was a little startling to detect a growing, urgent buzz — like an approaching swarm of loud bees — right at the end of the ceremony.

Smile!

No worries! Turns out it was just the Průhonice drone, likely one of the options offered by the park's wedding planners to document the bride and groom's special day. Garrett and Ben couldn't resist directing a subtle wave and goofy grin in the drone's direction.

As for other goofy faces, here's what greets you on one of the doors to enter the chateau.

And a submission from the professor.