24. Rocks and pine forests

Wow I've been doing some brill things!  I've climbed Snezka, Czech's highest mountain.   I love climbing mountains!  The walk up, looking at the peak above, wondering how much of a challenge it will be.............................then arriving at the shoulder below the top, seeing what is on the other side - in this case Poland - a sea of cloud below me.  Wonderful!  I was early enough to be one of the first on the top and enjoyed the  clouds swirling up from Poland.  And, because this is Czech, there was a church, and, would you believe, a brand new round lookout building.  On top of the mountain.  Why on earth do you need a lookout building on top of a mountain..........................the mind boggles!!!  As the top straddles the Polish/Czech border I sent texts to 2 british Polish friends "greetings from Poland!".

A delightful walk down through pine forests, larks singing above, the smell of the trees and wild flowers.  A truly lovely day.  Tried not to smile too smugly at the hoards of people toiling uphill, and felt extremely superior to all the ones now on their way up on the ski lift!!  And what was immensly satisfying was to arrive at the bottom and feel I could just turn round and do it all agin, no problem.  Given how unfit I've been recently, and weak, and run down, it gives me enormous pleasure to be able to just stroll up a mountain and be down before lunch.  The mountain, just for the record, is little more than the equivalent of Snowdon.  Being 60 is still good!

And then I've been in the most amazing, incredible place ever!  The Adrspach-Teplice Rocks. Google it - go on - but understand that pictures can never convey what it feels like to be squeezing through between these huge - and I mean huge, high, enormous, massive rocks.  What a place!  and everywhere pine trees - growing in between the rocks in any spaces, and on top of the rocks............... and everywhere around, just everywhere. And birds, and flowers.  It was worth coming to Czech just to experience that place.

Quite a few of the rocks have been named because with a bit of imagination, you can see things in the rock formations - a turtle, an owl, a horse's head, etc etc.  The ones that have names are all signposted and marked on the maps and things, and people spend ages looking up to see these shapes, discuss them, and photograph them.  They even take photos of the little signs pointing to them.  Who named them???  Goodness knows, some of the names are old but one of them was a "fist with an ice cream cone" - hardly historic!  Its much more fun to gaze up and see your own faces, shapes, figures........................... 

In medieval times people used to hide in the rocks to escape enemies or greedy landlords, etc, and you can imagine them living there, with meeting places and passages only they knew about, and wonderfully defensible places.  It would make the most wonderful setting for an Indiana Jones type film.

Now in Litomysl ready for the 2nd stage of this trip, the singing holiday.  And of course, being me, having all sorts of anxieties!  I dont even know how many other people are coming on this holiday!  Will they all know each other?  Will I feel left out?  Will I be older than everybody else?  Will they all be brilliant singers?  How - how on earth - will I cope with being in a group for a WEEK??????