Prague Journal

Thursday, January 27, 2005.

Eva and Hunsa picked us up at 7:00 a.m. exactly to head to the Krkonoše mountains for three days of skiing. We took the southern route, through Turnov and Železny Brod, where Eva and I had driven just last week when we visited the glass-bead factory. We had a leisurely drive to Horni Rokytnice, the high mountain area above the Jizera River. http://www.rokytnice.com We stopped first at the pension where Eva had booked reservations for us, to unload our gear and change into our ski clothes. We then hiked down the trail to the bus to get to the base area. As a result, we didn’t start skiing until after 11:00. Fortunately, by then the sun had come out and the weather was calm. The last few days had been windy and snowy, so we were the beneficiaries of 8 inches of fresh powder. We skied the whole afternoon in conditions as sweet as the best Colorado day. Rick took Hunsa into some deep powder and the two old boys had fun playing in the snow. This included a spectacular snowy somersault, which Hunsa claimed was Rick’s best trick.
A few new experiences for us: The first was riding an “anchor” lift, which is an anchor-shaped bar that gently goes under the rear-ends of two people at a time. We also rode a poma lift, a pole with a round disk-shaped end that goes between one’s legs (one person at a time). There are some 4-person high-speed lifts that go to the very top of the mountain, but they tend to have very long lines, so we ended up alternating between the poma and the chairlift.
We skied until the lifts closed, and then headed to our pension for dinner. We each had a large room with three beds and a table with four chairs. There was a shared bathroom and a large dining room with three square tables. The kitchen area was small, with a cupboard, sink, hotplate, hot-water pot, and refrigerator. Eva had made some goulash the night before and brought 3 big jars full, which she heated in a large skillet, and served with steamed dumplings. It was delicious – a bit spicier than most Czech goulashes. The relaxed conversation with our friends at the end of the glorious day made the evening even more priceless.

posted by JWinn @ 9:35 PM