Autumnal moments

This year it seems to me that autumn has been slipping through my fingers mercilessly. There is always so much to do and leaves have been changing their colours and falling to the ground far too quickly. In a desperate effort to catch a few moments I took my camera when we went shopping a few days ago and made a short stop in a near village called Dolní Lukavice where there is a rather run-down castle surrounded by quite a large park. I’ve never been there so this has been the first time. The sky was overcast but here and there a few rays shined and lit the scene.

The castle was built in 1708 by count Morzin who was interested in music and so it happened that in the period of 1758 to 1760 Joseph Haydn worked as a bandmaster in the castle’s orchestra. It is said that he composed his first symphony there. In memory of his stay, Haydn’s musical festival has been held every year since 1993. Festival venues are represented by several castles and churches in the area.

The castle was bought before the WWII by the then Czech ambassador in the USA, but after the war, the castle was confiscated and served as a psychiatric hospital. Descendants of the last owner who live in France nowadays got the castle back in 2000, thanks to property restitution. They’ve invested some money and energy into the castle and other local restituted property, the question is whether they will be able to save and use it. Can’t be easy to achieve that nowadays.

There is a nice park behind the castle and it was pleasure to walk there. The castle isn’t open to the public but the park is accessible freely. From what I read, the park must have been beautiful in the days of castle’s glory. I was surprised to find even a pond there and swans swimming gracefully in its water.

We stayed about an hour there and I felt enriched. Eventually we made one more stop by a barn I noticed along the way and hurried to do the shopping we went for.

It feels like the moments were somewhat stolen from all that hustle and bustle I’ve been surrounded with lately but it was good to stop for the moment and draw breath. To be impressed, we don’t need just the generally marvellous and stunning…