IVF Czech 

 We had a few days until the embryos transfer and were going stir crazy so we decided to explore a little.  We took a couple short road trips to some towns Martin suggested.  He gave us a list of places in the Czech that were day trips, so we just picked one and hit the road.  The first was Kromeriz, a small town within an hour of our penzion.  It wasn’t thrilling so we moved on to Olomouc. Olomouc is much larger and looked interesting, but we never got out because it was pouring down rain.  We enjoy small towns and nature over large cities, so the next town was right up our alley.  Roznov Pod Radhostem was exactly what we were looking for.  Unfortunately, the main attraction was closed!  The Wallachian Open Air Museum is made up of timber buildings that were moved to a town park.  The park was beautiful and we were able to walk around the outside of the museum, but I was really disappointed that we didn’t get to go inside the gates. The museum shows how people lived, worked, and farmed in that region of the Czech from the late 18^th century to the early 20^th century. 

   

Kromeriz, Czech Republic

Wallachian Village in Roznov Pod

Bee Hives in the Wallachian Village

Bee Hives in Wallachian Village

  We thought about going back to Roznov Pod the following day, but instead we went to the Moravian wine country.   Moravia is a region in the Czech.  Our first stop was in Valtice at the National Wine Museum.  It was beautiful, but the tour of the cellar was closed and don’t even ask about the tasting!  The website had said it was closed Monday not Tuesday, but no one spoke English, so we decided to just move on. Lednice is 7 km down the road and that is where we really wanted to go anyway.  There is a beautiful, and very ornate chateau, with wonderful gardens and walking or biking trails.  You can also take a slow boat on through a forest to a minaret and then to old ruins of a castle.  Then once at the castle you can take a carriage ride back to the chateau.  Anything with a boat and John is sold, and anything involving horses I’m in! We walked around the castle and down the trail to the water and were able to take the boat to the minaret.  Unfortunately the castle ruins are only open on weekends so we couldn’t see that, or take the carriage ride.  The boat ride was so peaceful and relaxing though and made it worth it. 

National Winery Museum in Valtice, Czech Republic

Chateau in Lednice

One of the gargoyles on the chateau - most were
different dogs like this one.

There was lots of wildlife on the river boat ride to the Minaret

The Minaret - we got there by boat but you can also walk or ride a bike

 The next trip we took was to the Punkva Caves, which is about an hour from Zlin.  One of the other Americans at our hotel told us about it.  We arrived about 11am and after purchasing our tickets we took a tram to the area where the cave entrance is.  We didn’t have reservations so we had to wait until 1pm for the next tour.  I noticed that the tours sold out quickly so it is best to make a reservation. 

View from the tram on the way to the waiting area for the Puntva cave exploration

Outside the Punkva Caves

 Once we went in we were led down into different caverns with stalactites, stalagmites, and pools of water.  It was pretty, but the real gem is the abyss.  You must walk single file through a narrow tunnel and then bam you walk right into the open air abyss.  The abyss has a pool of water, moss covered rock walls and at the top you can see tiny people walking above the trees.  It was absolutely beautiful and such a wonderful surprise.  We almost missed the boat because we were caught up in trying to take pictures.  The underground river was a nice relaxing ride back out to the entrance.  

   

Stalactites and stalagmites

The Abyss at Punkva Caves in Czech Republic

The Abyss

My wonderful and handsome husband in The Abyss

So much to see in this part of the world, and so little time, and money!  No matter the outcome, this trip has been incredible.  We are so thankful, and lucky to be able to do this and IVF at the same time.  We have our transfer soon and will discuss that in the next post.  Thank you for following us on our journey.  

More to Come...