Spring in the Czech Republic

Pictures from today, April 19, in and around Vizovice, Czech Republic.

I love spring.  I love winter too, and fall, and summer (in this climate).  Mostly I love the miraculous changes and cycles of nature.

All those leaves...from one little bud

Future frogs?

Is this why they call it robin-egg blue?

Popcorn popping on the trees

 

Brumov Castle, Czech Republic

Brumov Castle in spring

In Brumov-Bylnice, Czech Republic, near Horni Lidec and the Slovak border

Good defensive location

Not the same gate they had used to have, I bet

Castle courtyard

New life in the Jewish cemetery

High Tatras Hikes: Zelene Pleso

Spectacular Hike #3 in the High Tatras: Zelené Pleso
(Hike taken mid March)

Rugged Mountains and frozen waterfalls near Zelene Pleso

Features:  steady ascent, mostly gentle, beautiful creek half frozen in winter, rugged mountains ringing you once you get near the lake, frozen waterfalls of ice on the mountain faces, chata (mountain cabin) and lake at the end. 

Length:  14.6 km round trip

Climb:  671 m

Estimated time:  5 hrs (3 up, 2 down)

Stream half covered in snow

Ice climber.  A little braver than me.

A world of white

 If you go...

Starting point:  Biela Voda bus stop (on the route between Tatranska Lomnica and Tatranska Kotlina)

Color code:  Yellow

My post on Exposition in Dialogue

Here's an article I wrote on one of the pitfalls of writing dialogue.  Check it out:  Avoiding Exposition in Dialogue.

Czech Easter crafts

Beautiful Easter crafts in the Czech Republic.

Decorating eggs the traditional way, with wax heated over a candle.

 

Weaving the traditional switch which men flick women's legs with, to give them health and energy

More crafts at an event put on by the city of Vsetin.

Eggs I've decorated or created this year, with the help of wonderful Czechs

Crazy Weather in the Czech Republic

This morning in Vsetin:

Same view, this afternoon:

Huge snowflakes:

Then, after some rain, some sun, some more snow, some thunder and lightening, we had big soft hail.

Now I'm just sitting here waiting for a heat wave, a flash flood, or a tornado.

Meanwhile, I hear that in Phoenix, Arizona it's 91 degree Fahrenheit, and was 97 the other day (that's 36 Celsius).  Yay for snow-rain-cold-sun-snow-hail days, and waiting for spring with happiness instead of dread.  I love the Czech Republic.