• Places in Czech Republic

    Walk in Dobřív

    There are many ways in which you get to know new places. I came to Dobřív along with my husband last year to capture some photos in the local hammer mill. We found out that next to the old mill there are also other interesting buildings in the village, houses keeping the air of old times. Here are a few photos from our walking around…

  • Places in Czech Republic

    By contrast

    We encounter many contrasting places, objects, thoughts and people in our lives, some of them more prominent than others… In Giant Mountains, there are many nice old houses typical for the long-gone era of our ancestors. The houses look lovely and cosy, such as this one in Rokytnice nad Jizerou. In my opinion, there used to be different roofing material, this one looks too modern to me, but the house itself radiates the history. And it definitely shows a stark contrast to the contemporary houses in its surroundings. The new may not suit the old yet one day the new will become old as well and another level of contemporary…

  • Places in Czech Republic

    Lost beauty of old factories

    You must have seen them. Old factory buildings that used to be full of machinery producing all sorts of goods but after the companies lost their success at the market, all that remains is emptiness and a state of gradual dilapidation. I came across one of those buildings during our holiday in Giant Mountains, in the town Rokytnice nad Jizerou. The building housed one of the textile factories of the company SEBA, a company that used to employ altogether more than four thousand people. The local textile industry did not survive all the changes happening in the ninetieth and many of the factories were abandoned. There were some plans to…

  • Places in Czech Republic

    Technical Příbram

    This year I’ve been pursuing a photo project called “Technical”, you can read more about its rules and my expectations here. My first target for the project was the town Příbram and its vicinity and here are the photos I liked most. When editing the raw files, I was aiming rather at the atmosphere than at the actual look, there is often much more to it than what we see with the naked eye, isn’t there? Click on the photos to enlarge them if you want to see them better. Příbram used to be a mining town and the traces of its history are present in many of its parts.…

  • Places in Czech Republic

    Nature reserve Drbákov – Albert’s Rocks

    At the end of October my husband and I went to the national nature reserve Drbákov – Albert’s Rocks, where one can follow about 7 kilometres long nature trail. We thought it could be an interesting autumnal photo trip with a bit of exercise. We arrived quite soon at the starting point of the trail. When we got out of our car and set off, we soon got enclosed by foggy surroundings. The fog added magic and charm to the area but was way too dense so we just hoped it would fall down eventually revealing blue sky and sunny day as the forecast promised the day before. The trail…

  • Places in Czech Republic

    Hluboká chateau

    What can you do when you start your holiday and the rain is pouring mercilessly ? Well, you can for example visit a castle or chateau and participate in a guided tour such as we did, not letting the rain spoil the experience. The chateau in the photos below is called “Hluboká”, it is one of the most famous and most visited chateaus in the Czech Republic. Its past is closely connected to the Schwarzenberg family that played quite a big role in the history of the Czech Republic. They owned the chateau for several centuries and made it their representative seat. In 1947, the chateau was confiscated by means…

  • Places in Czech Republic

    Church of Nativity of Virgin Mary in Strašín

    There are places where you simply feel good and for me one of those places were premises of the Church of Nativity of Virgin Mary in Strašín. Strašín is a small town in Šumava mountains and the church, whose origins go back to 13th century, is situated on its edge. It is, or perhaps rather used to be, a pilgrimage church where Mother Mary was worshipped. There are several legends relating to the place including the one about revelation of Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus and appearance of a healing spring with an energy point. I don’t know if you believe in such things, I certainly have my reservations…

  • Places in Czech Republic

    Spring is in the air

    …and that helped me to take my camera out of its bag and go with my hubby for the first photo walk this year. I can tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. Stop No. 1: That construction in the background is a transformer station. It sits amid fields and buzzes quite aloud while transforming and transporting the electricity. Very technical and somewhat mysterious place… Stop No. 2: I am not much into horses but these two looked charming and well groomed, and curious to know what I was doing there at the fence… Stop No. 3: Guess what made me stop at this spot… Well, the bag tied to…

  • Places in Czech Republic

    Bezděkov

    Today I am sharing some of my photos from Bezděkov, the town I had assigned to December in my photo project for 2018. I selected 35 photos again, as in the previous months. Bezděkov is a small town with about 930 inhabitants. There is a castle from 18th century there but unfortunately, it is quite dilapidated, and also it is inaccessible as it is placed inside private premises. There was not much obviously captivating to be captured in the town so it was a challenge to get the photos I came for but along the way I managed to find some images to be taken home. You might ask why this town when…

  • Places in Czech Republic

    Nečtiny

    Today I am sharing some of my photos from Nečtiny, the municipality I had assigned to November in my photo project for 2018. 35 photos again, as for all towns in this project. The municipality Nečtiny consists of 12 parts populated by 650 inhabitants. It is an area with long history reaching back to 12th century and several interesting buildings, which are especially the chateau, church of St. Anna, church of St. James with adjacent cemetery and burial chapel of St. Teresa. The chateau was built in the 16th century, rebuilt several times and nowadays it is owned and used as a training and recreation centre by the University of West Bohemia.…