The Adrspach Rocks

No school Thursday or Friday!!! I love public holidays. Thursday was another 'enriching' field trip with the family, to a national reserve of the Adršpach Rocks of Northwest Bohemia. The rocks are sandstone towers and masses of sandstone that are located in the little hump of the Czech Republic that extends into Poland. There are actually four different rock towns in the area, but we only went to one.
It was only a half-hour drive from Trutnov, onto a plateau and through the forests. In one little town there was a place to park and to get into the park. We walked along a well-marked tourist path though the rocks. Some had strange or funny names, like sugarloaf, Madonna, the Jug, or Elephant's square. At one point the trail went through a narrow gorge with walls towering about 100 feet on either side. The trail turned into a boardwalk, as a stream ran underneath it. There were two waterfalls, the little falls and the Big Falls.
The Big Falls was the outlet for a small lake tucked away in the hills. We climbed up, then down, a set of steep stairs to get to the lake, and had a boat tour of it. It was really small, and the boat could even turn around, so we all got up (carefully) and turned the other way for the second half of the tour.
On the way back to the front of the park, we took another trail that took us past even more named formations: the lovers, the mayor and mayoress, and the turtle, just to name a few. One place was a great photo spot, as it had a panoramic view of the rock pillars sticking up throught the trees. On yet another trail we saw a lake where sand was mined to make glass. The trees on the opposite side were starting to turn colors. It is nothing like the display in NW Arkansas, but the leaves still made a nice backdrop.
Lunch was in a small hotel at the beginning of the trails. I had my first bowl of garlic soup, and I think I may have a new favorite soup flavor. We had to rush back to Trutnov because Misa had a tennis lesson.
I finally got my cell phone in the afternoon!! I won't post the number, but if you want to email, I'm happy to give it out. The system connected to it seems pretty cool. I buy 500 koruna to put on the SIM card. Each outgoing call is about 7 koruna a minute, depending on the reciever's carrier and the time of day. When I run out of money, I only have to go to the ATM in the square and use my bank card to recharge it. After being tested, I can say that I can recieve calls from the U.S.

http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k199/b_dixon06-07/Adrspach%20Teplice%20Rocks/

The link above is back to my photobucket account with all of my pictures. Please take some time to look at what I've been doing. This address takes you straight to the pictures of the rocks.