Benešov u prahy and Konopiště

Yesterday I boarded a train at 8am and traveled to Konopiště Castle about 50km south of Prague. It was originally founded as a gothic fortress guarding a nearby town of Benešov u prahy. I walked the little over 2km from the town to the castle. ... forgetting, of course, that all castles are on the TOPS of hills. ;-) The castle was built at the beginning of the 14th century.

The most famous owner of the Konopiště Castle was the archduke Fratisek (Franz) Ferdinand d'Este, a successor to the Austro-Hungarian throne whose assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 became a pretext for the start of World War I. He bought the Konopiště domain in 1887 from the Lobkowitzs family and converted it quite a residence.

It is fully furnished and richly decorated with the all sorts of collections(armor, guns, swords, etc) inherited from the Modena's archdukes of d'Este and there are suppose to be 100.000 hunting trophies hanging on the walls as silent witnesses of Franz Ferdinand´s hunting passion ( out of 300.000 animals he killed). NOTE: most of the antlers hanging on the walls, looked so small, as he could have easily had his own petting zoo and just picked out one of two little ones a day to add to his wall and therefore to his image as a great hunter. However, there was an elephant foot's ashtray though and it's tail hanging nearby.

A short walk down a hill was this amazing baroque Rose Garden with an elaborate Greenhouse that was spectacular, with flowers, statues and obelisks. A peaceful place to reflect. The whole visit was just a really nice place to be to take in some of Czech history on such a beautiful day.

Took a different route back to town and got way lost. I asked for help and this woman actually walked with me, with her dog, to within sight of the train station. Couldn't believe it; so amazingly nice to do that. Got back in the late afternoon. I will add a few more pix of Konopiště tomorrow as well. +51