Castles and Valleys

There is so much going on in the world that sometimes I am spoilt for choice at what idiocy to write about next. The problem is that this become negative in of itself. Most people who read my words know and share my views. So, what to write about then instead?

Well, this weekend, I took the van about 35km outside of Brno. I camped just above the Jihlava valley at a campsite I had never been to before. The site was actually excellent - clean bathrooms and showers, restaurant and bar, pool and tons of stuff for kids. I didnt use the restaurant for its fare was all very carbohydrate-rich but I did enjoy some local wine in Saturday night.

Prior to the wine… and after the heat of the day had subsided a tad, I decided to take a walk and my dowsing rods into the valley itself. It was only a 3.5km hike but it was amazing. The beauty of the place is indescribable.

The Jihlava river is damned and so this steeply incised valley is now a long winding lake of a reservoir. Surrounded by hills and forests, it is also a place filled with weekend chalets and homes - mostly built of timber. Many of these look like luxury and I can imagine cost a fortune. However, they do not detract from the place as they are accessed by dirt roads and are well hidden amongst the trees. The reservoir itself is quite active with boats from canoes up to cruisers active on it - but it wasn’t crowded either.

I marvelled at the landscapes and their beauty - from the forests the dive down into the valley with its reservoir to the farm fields above complete with copses and other unfarmed areas. I was also struck by one of the crops - poppies. I’m not sure that this would be legal in the UK but here, poppies are grown for their seeds which, when mixed with sugar, form a sweet filling for cakes and so on. It’s called Mak.

Here is a short video of the area.

The hike put me in a great mood. It made me forget the madness and stupidity. It made me think of bigger and better things - spiritual thoughts.

I shall go back as there are two castle sites that I would like to visit and dowse. One is on an island - what would have been a hill surrounded by an ox-bow lake and the other nearby on another hill. The one on the island is called Kozlov Castle. former Kozlov Castle was built in the 14th century on a rocky promontory over the river Jihlava. The castle was abandoned in the middle of the 15th century. Upon completion of the Dalešice dam, the rock spurred the water and the castle was on the island. There is little left of it so I read.

The other Castle is called Holoubek Castle. Again, the castle was built in the 14th century on a hill above the current Dalešice reservoir. In the middle of the 15th century, the castle was abandoned, leaving only the remains of the castle walls and the tower.

You can see both Castles in the map above….You wonder why two Castles were built so close together around the same time? I cant find much information to discover the reason.

So, the following morning Eva joined me and we were going to walk to the island Castle for a hike. However, our plans were spoiled as someone was logging the area and had destroyed much of the footpath… you simply cannot get away from idiocy at times. Neither she nor I felt particularly well either and so we cut the journey short never reaching the castle - some other time perhaps.

Despite that it was still a good weekend…. as I hope yours was too.