A Brief Stop in the Czech Republic

June 27 - June 29 2012

Chateau Mcely - one hour northwest of Prague (Praha)

Katherine and I spent two days on our way to Krakow at the Chateau Mcely. The Chateau primarily served as the summer home and rural manor for the Thurn - Taxis aristocracy. Prince Alexander Jan Thurn-Taxis initially settled here in 1875, and that is when the chateau became not only a significant cultural and social centre, but also well known for its frequent festive parties.

The Thurn - Taxis men lived very extravagant lives. Famous entertainers from all over the world entertained here. Prince Alexander maintained stables for precious racehorses. A famous English jockey, Richard Fletcher was the caretaker. Their horses raced at Great Pardubicka from 1879 - 1911, and placed 23 times. Richard Fletcher was the second most successful jockey of all times. He spent his life in Mcely with his family. Princess Marie Thurn Taxis maintained contacts with aristocratic families throughout the world. Her friends included Mark Twain (the suite that Katherine and I stayed) and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke.

The chef at the Chateau is also very well known in Europe. We enjoyed wonderful meals there. We were introduced to several Czech wines that have created quite interesting acclaim in the "wine world".

We made a trip to Bosin to buy some of the local wines. We especially liked a Chardonnay called Vinarstvi Volarik that won the three crown prize - the highest - in the 2011 Kral Vin awards. It is from Morava. It reminds me of one of my favorite Austrian wines, Gruner Veltliner. It was so refreshing not to pay a premium for a bottle of fine wine as we had become accustomed to in Denmark and Sweden. We bought a mixed case of the chardonnay, a Moravian Cabernet Savignon, and a Moravian Pinot Noir. We were so excited to be paying only $10 a bottle. I even felt badly (not!) negotiating with the wine store for a cash discount. I'll always be a trader - I have always lived by my favorite JFK platitude "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate". I don't think that he meant that about wine, though.

We stopped for a local market in Bosin.

The Chateau had an observatory on the roof. We climbed up the ladder to the observation deck, and viewed the beautiful full moon.

We went in to Prague and spent a wonderful evening at dinner with the Kirby family.

On Saturday, we drove to Krakow, Poland, 5 hours from the Chateau, to check in to our apartment for the month of July!