Loket, Czech Republic

For my last two days in the Czech Republic, I decided to leave the big-city bustle of Prague and find a small town to slow things down. After some research, I hit on the village of Loket in the extreme northwest of the country.

Now that I’m here, I realize it was a great decision. Loket is wild. It’s curled up on a hill surrounded by a river on three sides and topped by one of the best castles in the country. Plus, hardly in other tourists. This is not an easy place to get to. It was a four-hour train ride from Prague with three transfers.

I rode an ancient one-car train with one other person on the final 10-minute leg of the journey. As we chugged around the bend and the town came into view, I knew immediately this was a great choice.

I found an Airbnb for a couple nights built into the old city wall. The Wifi’s steady and I can hear the river flowing outside. Instant relaxation.

I dropped my backpack off in the apartment and started exploring. This town is so small, there’s really only one main street that curves along with the horseshoe bend in the river below.

The town’s original name in German was Elbogen (meaning elbow, referring to the the bend in the river). This area was settled by ethnic Germans and was part of the Sudetenland that we learned about earlier. After the war, the Germans of course were expelled.

The imposing gothic castle built here in the 12th century was called the “Key to the Czech Kingdom”. It’s one of the more impressive castles I’ve explored. Everything was open. I climbed up the towers and descended into the dark of the torture chambers carved into the rock below.

There was a strange little sculpture in the castle courtyard. A sign explained if you rubbed Gottstein’s beard with a good thought, it would come true. If you had a mean thought, you’d face his anger within a year. I decided to take a hard pass on this one…

Inside the castle was an impressive collection of wooden targets dating back several hundred years. Villagers would gather to shoot at these targets painted with the likenesses of local politicians and other characters of note.

Sometimes they were satirical and painted with the likenesses of people you knew. Now that’s some pressure, aiming not to put a hole in Uncle Friedrich!

The largest church in the village was also fascinating. The door was wide open but it was clear the interior was in the process of being restored. Again, small town means you get to come in anyway and nose through the artifacts. Not another soul disturbed me as I examined the work in progress.

I noticed a dusty World War I memorial on the back wall. Again, this area was originally German and the names of the fallen soldiers could have come straight out of Bavaria. Pure German.

After all the travel and exploring, I needed a break. I located the local brewery and sampled their darkest beer. The Czechs may be the world’s best at this.

I know, I know, Uncle Friedrich is probably rolling over in his German grave to hear that but it’s true. Na zdraví!

……….

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