Rapunzel's Castle

Get on the highway and drive north of Prague. Green fields roll along and petite villages dot the hills. Just when you are lulled into believing the landscape will go on for a million miles, a vision of stone pillars rises up from the green fields.

Once past this plateau of ancient rock called Cesky Raj (Czech Paradise), the fields go from vegetation to "castle-ation". And here lies Sychrov.

Sychrov is a rambling castle with towers, English gardens, valley views and a chapel to boot. My first thought was, "Oh my, this is definitely a castle Rapunzel would appreciate."

The inner courtyard is paved with wooden cobblestones, to soften the effect of the horses hooves H. informs me. It's nice to travel with my own personal Czech tour guide. I get all the insider knowledge.

We exit the shade of the courtyard and enter the sprawling English garden. The sun bathes everything in gold and I honestly believe that Casanova might show-up on a white horse at any moment. Why Casanova? Legend has it that he took a job as a librarian at this very castle in his later years to write the memoirs that made him legendary. If I were going to write my legendary memoirs, Sychrov would certainly be on my list of places to retire to.

The garden paths meander around the chapel, a dried up pond, the summer house, another of Rapunzel's towers, and through blooming violet buds. And that is where our fair tour was doomed. As soon as H. and I got near the blooms our allergies exploded and we strolled quickly to the safety of our car.

But I'd sneeze a million times for a walk through Sychrov.