The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Holy Hill and Fort Radikov

It was a baking hot Monday morning. Temperature expected to be 34C. The museums are closed on Monday's, so we decided to take a local bus up to the basilica at Holy Hill, and go for a walk in the forest to Fort Radikov.

You can see the basilica from Olomouc, on a hill around 8km's (5 miles) away. Took the tram to the train station, and then connected with a bus to the village of Svaty Kopecek. A one way tram and bus ride normally costs 14 korunas (70 cents), but our local transportation is included with our Olomouc Region Card.

The Pilgrimage Church on Holy Hill was built in the 1600’s. It was recently canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1995, and is now a minor basilica.

I’m still experimenting with uploading videos to the blog, and have realized that the quality of the ones I’ve put up the last couple of days isn’t what it should be. So when we get a better and more consistant internet connection I’ll try some different applications. Until then, you’re stuck with photos! Unless you want to “like” us on facebook, because the video I’ve put on our facebook page is perfect! And kind of funny too, so please join us at www.facebook.com/travelwithkevinandruth

Ruth and Kevin at the entrance.

View from the hill.

There is a beautiful view of the city of Olomouc from Holy Hill, however it was such a hot hazy day that there was no point in getting a photo. We did go for a walk around the top and there was a nice view facing another direction though. Then we went for a 2 km walk through the forest to get to Fort Radikov.

The old fort has lots of tunnels. This one has been restored.

This one hasn't been!

Some you can still enter, but you have to be careful!

It would have taken a lot of man hours to build these walls!

The fort was one of a series of designed protection areas against Prussia in the 1800’s but as relationships got better, Fort Radikov was the only one actually built. By 1882 it was inhabited by 800 soldiers, but it was vacated and left to ruin not many years later. It is currently in ruins, however they are in the process of rebuilding 25% of the fort as an attraction. For now, it is free to just wander around.

Afterwards we wandered back to the village and found a place for an ice cream. Three and a half year old Frantisek sure enjoyed his!

Our couchsurfing host Mirek, his son Frantisek, and Ruth. Mirek's wife Hanka has gone to school in Brno for the week.

Ruth with her glass of wine!

It was nice to sit and relax so we had a couple of nice cold beers and Ruth had a glass of wine. By this time, a short rainstorm had gone through and the temperature cooled off a bit. We decided to walk a bit more back towards the city of Olomouc and then caught our bus and tram back to the flat.

Another view of Holy Hill.

Today, we think we’re going to try and go to the antique car museum and then an area park that we haven’t seen yet. Then, it’s another travel day for us as we head to the foothills of the Bezkydy Mountains on the train this evening. Expecting to do some nice hiking over the next few days!


Speaking of antique cars, how about these two classics we saw on the walk this afternoon. The white one is an old German car, about 40 years old. The body was made of plastic and it was manufactured so that the poorer people of communist Czechoslavakia could afford a car. There are still a few of them around. The orange one is an older Skoda. 



11 comments:

  1. ...and you realise that, in Slovenian at least, the expression "to je škoda", is sort of like saying, "what a pity" or "that's a shame", depending on the voice inflection. (škoda sort of means, 'damage')
    We say it whenever we see a Škoda on the road.
    I guess they must make OK vehicles, since we see a number of them around these parts.
    They're now owned by VW so maybe that's why.
    I had only ever seen one in Canada a few years back, and it was pitiful.
    Better off with a Lada.

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    1. You know why they have a rear window defroster, don't you? It's to keep your hands warm will you are pushing it! All puns aside, I guess they must have been a decent car for the working class considering how many were made.

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  2. The white car might be a Trabant. Two stroke, very smoky engine.

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    1. I think you are probably right on that, when I googled Trabant, it sure looks like the same thing. Thanks, for that Peter.

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  3. It must be hot everywhere these days. I am always so impressed with the public transportation in the areas you visit. Being from the midwest they just don't have systems like that. Some bus systems but I know the one in our hometown is not very efficient. My son is now working for a company that puts the GPS on buses and trains systems all over the world. He does ride the bus in CR but says they just don't get how do it and could learn much from Europe.

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    1. We really think that the North American culture needs to work on it's bus and train infrastructure. We are way behind on that aspect. If they made things cheaper and more access to more areas then maybe people would use it before hopping into their cars. We find more people using public transportation than using their cars here or they are using their bikes here!

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  4. That is an amazing church. A glass of wine after all that sightseeing is definitely in order:)

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    1. It seems most of the churches here are amazing. We go in some of them and our jaw just drops, we are totally speachless! Definitely had a glass of wine on returning.

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  5. Replies
    1. Kevin had made a video of the inside but unfortunately it didn't seem to want to upload. It was beautiful inside to say the least.

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