Castles and Funghi

Trinec, Radka's home town, has been great. It is a small town dominated by a large communist era steel mill but her little neighborhod retains a quaint old world charm. Her father, Karel, works in the yard when he is not on duty as head radiologist at the hospital and the neighbors pick plumbs from the tree's to make slivovice, a local liquor. Untill three days ago, we had spent our days relaxing, socializing with the family, eating good czech food prepared by Liba (Karel's girlfriend) and taking a day trip to Slovakia. Radka's grandfather has a small cottage in Hutisko that he loaned us for a few days. What a trip. With houses dating back to the 1700's and an ancient public address system to keep eveyone in the town informed, it was like no place I had been before. We used the cottage a base for day trips to Stramberk castle and Hukvaldy castle, originally built in the 13th century but in ruins since the 1700's. Once again Czech Republick has transported me back into time. Climbing over moss covered stone walls 4 meters thick and under arch ways erected 800 years before my birth my mind raced imagining those that had been there before me and what their life may have been like. We returned to the cottage with aching feet but still enough left in us to partake in the czech national sport....mushroom hunting. Radka said she never has much luck at it but I somehow stumbled upon the whole kingdom...108 beautiful orange fun-guys that we cooked and ate that evening. I fall asleep that night king of the mushrooms in our cottage/castle.