Usti Nad Labem to Mlada Boleslav
This morning we got up and had breakfast at the Hotel. We were the only
ones in there for most of the meal. They had a lady who met us at the
door and seated us, a man who was in charge, and a boy who was supposed
to take care of our every need. He stood there very properly watching
us the entire time so that he could be there in a moment's notice if we
needed him. He brought dishes and removed dishes as we finished. I
asked how old he was and he said 16. He did a great job!
Then we decided to walk the streets and go shopping for more computer
stuff before traveling on. I felt like I had stepped back in time. I
went into a variety store that reminded me of the old Woolworth's store
that I used to shop in when I was growing up. The prices are higher
now, tho, than they were three years ago when we were here. They are
getting ready to go on the Euro, so prices have increased. The downtown
area was not neat and pretty like some of the towns in the West. You
can tell that we are moving farther East. We did stop at a mall later
that was much like a huge Walmart attached to a huge Home Depot. We
bought some groceries. They came in handy later.
Our next stop was Terezin. This is where the famous Propaganda
Concentration Camp was - Theriesienstadt. I hadn't realized that they
moved the Czech people out of their houses so that the entire town could
be a Jewish Ghetto. I knew that this camp had been used to portray a
perfect place whenever the Red Cross wanted to send people in to check
on things. Only problem was that after the Red Cross left, the people
were shipped to Auschwitz where they were killed. We toured the Ghetto
Museum, then drove around a little bit. I didn't go into all of the
buildings because it was a lot of walking and very hot there!
Next we went on the back, back roads in search of a Gothic castle that
Lonnie had picked out to see. We went down some very narrow roads and
one lane roads. At one point, I told Lonnie to watch out for the dog in
the road. It turned out to be a rabbit! It was huge! We drove
through many towns that had only a handful of houses in them. Many had
large factory-type, WWII and Communist-era buildings that were
standing empty with windows missing. One town had only those buildings
standing - it was a ghost town. When we finally got to the castle, it
was closed for the day. I have to say that it did not look Gothic, nor
did it look much like a castle, so I am not sure what the story is
behind that. It was starting to get late, and we were still on those
one-lane and narrow roads with no large towns in sight. It was once
again time to pray for the Lord's help! In what seemed like no time at
all, after hours on narrow roads, there we were at a hotel in a larger
town. We are across the street from some Communist-era apartments.
You can tell them, because they are in every large city in Eastern
Europe. They may be painted different colors sometimes, but they all
look the same. We sat on the terrace at the Hotel Restaurant and had
Mexican food. The fajita wasn't the same (it was more like Goulash to
put on the tortillas than the fajita meat and vegetables that we are
used to). Lonnie got a chicken enchilada with white sauce, tho, that
was pretty good.
The GPS lady and I tried to work together today. At one point, Lonnie
kept trying to look at the computer while he was driving because it had
not told him what to do. I finally told him to keep going straight and
that if anything changed one of us (the GPS lady or myself) would let
him know! He likened it to the old joke about I told you I loved you
when I married you, and if it ever changes, I will let you know. We had
a good laugh! (but the GPS lady and I kept working together).
No comments:
Post a Comment