Friday, September 1, 2017

2017 Letohrad Family Camp Week


Holiday period was the time and northeast Bohemia was the place.  This area includes the
Broumovsko Protected Landscape, a region with overwhelming stands of limestone rock formations.  The week featured about 50 humans composed almost equally of adults and various-aged ankle-biters...well some were a bit taller but you get the picture.  BJ and I were the only two without immediate family present (children/grandchildren, siblings/parents) but were accepted into the chaos without question.  Our facility was in Dědov, a very small town, but strategically located with
The 70's Czech Army vehicle was
used to transport the orphans
on their outings.
easy access to the area's attractions.  Let's just say the accommodations were appropriately 'rustic' for a Family Camp Week, but it did promote a strong degree of 'esprit de corp' among the group.  This particular week we had the building and grounds to ourselves---except for the thirteen orphaned children hosted by the state and corralled by several handlers (the children were in the 4-6 year old range and came from neglected situations rather than orphaned by death of the parents). And, oh yea, the cat with four kittens and the three dogs-one of which was ours and brought in by a church sibling living in Germany.  These additions made for a rather interesting
Lunch Anyone?
stay but not at all invasive of our everyone's ramblings.  Every day was marked by an extensive hike in and among the massive limestone formations--I cannot possibly convey the awe of watching several adults tramping and climbing the formations with several kilos of carrier and kid on their backs!!  Impressive!
'On the Rocks'
There were a couple bicycling opportunities but the area topography made it a very challenging venture... but it did not deter anyone from attacking the terrain.
BJ and I were offered and accepted the use of one of Jiřina and Radek's cars for the round-trip.
While we were determined, and did make all the hikes with the extended group, we did have a couple opportunities to visit the surrounding towns and very much enjoyed the independence, the castles and the restaurants.  And one last thing, we had one day's visit to a very nice water park with slides, exercise lanes, water features and children's pool.  It was right on the Polish border with the expected predominance of Polish license plates in the parking areas--but we had such a good time I neglected any photos! Here is a photo montage of the week:
The Obligatory Photo
Waiting for the Boat on the Man-Made
Lake (Yellow hats are a tour group from Poland)











On the Train Platform
A Rather Tight Squeeze
(no, I could not make it!!)



Radek giving
Rock Climbing Lessons
"Yea, you can eat this"
Tour by Facility Proprietor















Evening Children's Lessons
Break Time














Our 'Eda' In Charge
(Our German addition to the Zoo)
Just one example of the many
Faces...














Remember those Kilos and Kid??

Worth the Climb.














Lots of This!!  The Reason for the Week.

1 comment:

  1. Love the two (what I presume to be empty kegs) next to the group photo!

    ReplyDelete