Hidden Gem in the Czech Republic that Only Locals Know About

this is seriously dark and deep oh wow it is a  tight fit in here so apparently this is where   we're staying tonight and I already love it  that gravy goes in real deep so it's really   it's like enough to take a bit of a bath in  well these stairs to the top are a little   bit treacherous but wow just check out this View  [Music] we travel we're always on the lookout for   amazing multi-day hikes well this week we're on  a hike that we've never seen on any top 10 list   and it's incredible and actually wait right here  this is one of the reasons it's so incredible so   apparently this rock formation is called the mouse  hole and it goes all the way down let's go [Music] oh wow what a way to start our hike this morning  we're in an area of the Czech Republic called The   Bohemian Paradise I mean from the name you can  already tell it's sounding really magical it's an   area that's famous for spectacular rock formations  Charming Villages and a whole lot of castles we've   taken on a five-day hike and it's really our  favorite type of a hike so it's end to end we get   to hike for the day and then we find ourselves in  a cute little Inn where they feed us and give us a   nice cozy bed for the night and this time we're  traveling extremely light no pick suitcases no   fancy luggage transfers it's just us and our dogs  and whatever we can carry on our backs so this is   kind of an experiment for me I mean Jillian spent  those 12 years in the military so she can head off   into the forest with a toothbrush and a change  of socks I think that you guys know that I'm a   little higher maintenance than that but here we  are I've got the Bare Essentials in my backpack   and this is really the closest to roughing it  that I've been for many years okay day Tree on the   trail we have nothing with us but our backpacks  and our dogs am I wearing the same clothes that   I've been wearing for the last three days yes  I am but I don't think they smell too bad yet   okay day four of the hike and the big  news of the day is that I am wearing   both a clean t-shirt and clean socks so  I'm kind of feeling like a million bucks Japanese going on we're not carrying and we're  not carrying sleeping bags I'm not caring five   days worth of food we're sleeping in proper beds  every night and we get showers every morning I   mean from my perspective this is a pretty cushy  hike by the way if you've never seen our channel   before a big welcome to you and some quick intros  yes so I'm Jillian this is Stephanie and we've got   our two little dogs Jasmine Huxley so the four  of us are traveling the world and we share it   all as we go [Music] so the challenging thing  about planning this hike is there isn't just   one single hike through the Bohemian Paradise  there are actually dozens of trails to choose   from so it wasn't that easy to come up with an  itinerary I started by looking at what the tour   operators were offering and building off that  I planned something right for us which includes   some of the best highlights so we've arrived at  our hotel for our second night in the Bohemian   Paradise Jillian has already let me know that  this is not going to be the nicest place we   stay and she described it as kind of a hikers  Hotel so we're gonna find out what that means oh okay okay so actually I think Julian was  kind of underselling this room this is   very cute it's nice it's about a million  times better than camping for the night   so I'm pretty happy to be here we've got  the classic two single beds that we will   be seeing probably everywhere we go in Europe  it's a Corner Room we've got lots of trees to   look at and we've got a bathroom that is  just as small as you can imagine well I   think unpacking is going to be a real Breeze  tonight because this is all I have with me so we're just in the final stretch of  what was supposed to be the longest   day of our hike something like 16 kilometers  and it actually turned out to be even longer   because we had to make a detour of another  two or three kilometers so it's a pretty   long day and I'm really hoping that our  hotel tonight is gonna be comfortable so   we can have a good night's sleep wow  and look at the views of this Castle perfect thank you wow well this is really nice  it's a very modern room with a huge bed and we've   even got an extra bed over here for Jasper and  hugsley we'll see if they're willing to spend   the night there but best of all has to be this  amazing view of the castle right out of our window   so last night we slept in a room with the  castle outside the window apparently tonight   we're actually going to be sleeping right  in a castle I'm very excited to see it to   be honest I kind of let Jillian do all of  the planning of all of our hotels and Inns   along the way and she's been doing an amazing  job I have to say that I'm really impressed   oh wow so apparently this is where we're  staying tonight and I already love it [Music] looking for Room 122 and we're going to find  out if it's as nice on the inside as it is on   the outside there we go so apparently someone  at some point in time really enjoyed hunting   so here we are 122 just under the  skeletal remains so we go in here oh wow I am totally floored I wasn't expecting anything  like this so this is definitely the most lavish   room I think they've ever stayed in it's so ornate  I mean everything else just doesn't compare this   is wonderful bathroom so it's enormous there's a  bathtub there's an incredible view of the forest   and the rocks wow this is so amazing thank you  Jillian so when it comes to food here in the   Bohemian Paradise if you eat meat and if you eat  gluten you're gonna do just fine you're gonna have   plenty of options wow thank you so lunch while  we're on the trail we actually just stepped off   the trail and found ourselves in kind of like  an elegant restaurant just in the middle of   nowhere so we are tucking into something that  looks extremely hearty I can say that we have   left the vegetarian restaurants of Prague very  far behind us so this is a very solid offering   of a beef goulash a stew and it's got some  really serious looking dumplings all around   swimming in a gravy this is absolutely huge of  course Julie and I are going to be sharing it oh my God it's so good this is going to  power us for the next few hours of hiking this is unbelievable so after a hard morning  on the trail who wouldn't want a formal dining   experience so I think for me the best part of  this whole experience is spending a beautiful   morning on the trail we're out there in nature  and then we end up in a lovely place like this   for lunch and look at this lunch it looks  just incredible so this is a Czech classic   and it is a dish that I have started to fall  in love with in order very often whenever we   encounter it in a restaurant so it's a duck leg  with red cabbage swimming and gravy and in this   variation they have potato pancakes we've often  seen it with a bread dumpling as well but it   looks amazing and honestly just exactly what  you need after spending a few tough hours on   the trail oh my goodness this is just swimming  and gravy it looks so good I really need it   mm-hmm wow this version is amazing I love these  potato pancakes they're really crisp on the   outside yummy on the inside and then this duck is  just falling apart it's incredible and of course   because we're in the Czech Republic every meal you  gotta have your beer and this one obviously I've   been already enjoying it if you're vegetarian  you're going to be leaning pretty hard I think   on eggs and on Dairy the whole time breakfast is  super easy but lunches and dinner those will be   a little bit more limited now if you're vegan  or plant-based you're gonna have to get pretty   creative with your meals I honestly think  that you're just gonna have to bring a lot   of your own food maybe find places with kitchens  because you're going to be hard-pressed to find   any tofu or lentils around here now this is  actually our fifth and final day of the hike   it's not the longest day in terms of mileage  but it's supposed to be one of the most scenic guys oh wow it is a tight fit in here we're  off to a super fun start today [Music]   so we've had five days of this the weather  has been pretty amazing most of the time blue   skies today and we've had these just glorious  walks through beautiful forests the rocks are   incredible around here and it's mostly been very  quiet so peaceful we've just loved it [Music] so   I've honestly never seen anything like these  rock formations here I mean they're actually   Towers going way up into the sky I have no idea  how they were formed but they are so picturesque well the theme for this hike is beautiful  rocks and also a lot of stairs [Music]   we've been following this Trail for around an hour   and it is absolutely peaceful and the rock  towers they just continue all around us [Music]   so I think all the stairs and all  the uphills worth it because we're   about to see our first big Lookout of  the day oh wow oh my goodness this is   incredible I mean you've got the whole  region here it's absolutely spectacular uh so as you guys know I'm  totally afraid of heights   very challenging for me this will be a very quick  Lookout and I will not be looking down at all [Music] [Music] it's time for our daily Castle sighting  and this one is more of like a manor house and   I think there's a museum inside but it's still  very impressive and a super beautiful location   so apparently this lovely building this is just an  outbuilding there's so much more Castle here to go [Music]   yeah we're just about to head over to the  actual original Castle remains I can already   see there's not too much left of it but what  a magnificent location this is I am amazed   at how dog friendly the Czech Republic is  we actually just paid it in mission for   these little guys and we can just bring them  into this incredible Castle foreign [Music] we go we're descending into another hole here this is not quite the end of our hike we have to  go a few more kilometers to the little town of   turn off and that's actually where we began  our hike and it's also where our luggage is   waiting for us so I'm very excited about  that because I will have unlimited clean   t-shirts and clean socks to enjoy and we  just have a few more kilometers to get there   and that's it the end of five beautiful days in  the Bohemian Paradise it's so funny to call this   place a Hidden Gem it's clearly very well known to  all the locals we saw so many people out enjoying   the trails they were hiking they were biking but  we actually didn't see any International tourists   that's true and I really think that this part of  the Czech Republic really has yet to make it onto   the International race which is actually a good  thing because it means it's the perfect time to   come before it gets discovered but if you do come  to the Czech Republic your first stop obviously   it has to be Prague yeah I mean we just spend a  week there and it was a bit of a mistake because   we probably should have stayed much longer it's  such a beautiful and interesting City but you   can see for yourself by checking out the next  video right over here oh yes we're definitely   entering the Town Square now so I'm seeing some  Gothic churches I'm seeing beautiful sculptures   and I've seen what I think will be a bit of a  theme today which are the crowds of tourists

Channel: Our Freedom Years

Views: 17,184

Keywords: how to retire early and travel, retire early and travel the world, life in early retirement, life after early retirement, our freedom years

Id: rE6qBdj2Xt8

Length: 14min 19sec (859 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 04 2023