Romantic Ending

I had the hotel pool to myself for some time this morning as the wedding party did not finish until 4am. It has been a relaxed day. After a long swim I took a walk in the local countryside and returned just in time for a sociable lunch in the Chateau with Tomas and Marketa, Marketa's parents and the few remaining guests.

We packed up the car with wedding clothes and decorations and assorted bits and pieces and drove back to the mountain cottage where we decided a hike was in order in the beautiful sunny afternoon.

Marketa's mum, Sarka, works for the Czech equivalent of the Forestry Commission as a forest engineer and she has a pass to drive on the forest tracks so we enjoyed a journey through stunning autumnal colours in to the Jeseniky mountains, parking below the summit and then walking up to the dam for 360 degree views of the mountain range clothed in oranges, yellows and reds. Low cloud was rolling in as we walked the couple of kilometres around the dam wall so the view wasn't as far reaching as we'd hoped but there wasn't a breath of wind and it was lovely and warm. Sarka told me that a day like today only happens about ten times a year so we were very lucky.

When we were almost back at our starting point the cloud rolled across the water towards us and I explained about the phenomenon of Brocken spectres. We turned around and there was a faint one of us projected on the mountainside across the valley! We had a bit of fun with the light and the mist on the water and my blip of Marketa and Tomas is the result.

Back to the cottage we enjoyed a cuppa before Sarka and Josef headed home to their town house and we three chatted till it was time to come to bed.

It's another early start for the train back to Prague and then the flights home tomorrow, with smashing memories of my time and the people here. Tony and I will have to come and visit again soon.