Kevin and Katerina Wimberley: July 2007

On Tuesday, we travelled to two exciting places. The pastor of Katerina's church and his wife, were kind enough to provide transportation and join us in our explorations. The first place that we went was the Punkevní caves. They were very beautiful. At one point, we exited the cave and found ourselves standing at the bottom of an abyss called Macocha (stepmother). This was amazing. It is a rare thing in our lives to be witnesses to such a beautiful and awesome part of nature. We have included an image, but know that it does not come close to seeing this wonder in person. There is a legend from the 17th century behind the name, Macocha. It is said that in the village of Vilemovice once lived a widower with his son. He married a second time and his little son got a step mother. In time, the woman gave birth to her own child and wanted to get rid of the stepson. She asked him to join her in collecting the fruits of the forest. As they came close to the very edge of the abyss, the woman threw her stepson down into the depth. However, the boy was spared from death by being caught on extending tree branches. Wood cutters, working nearby, heard the desperate cries, and saved the boy. Upon hearing the tales of the wood cutters, the village people of Vilemovice threw the step mother over the abyss.Since that day the abyss has been called Macocha, the Czech word for stepmother.

There are many concerts at this location because of how well the music sounds when being performed at the bottom of this abyss. We also got to ride in a boat through an underground river in the caves. If you would like to learn more about the caves, you may look here http://www.cavemk.cz/punkevni-caves/. Here is an image from the cave and of the abyss.

This stalagtite and stalagmite are called Romeo and Juliet, because they have dried up and will never touch. If they had not dried up, they would have met in only 750 years.

And here is the Macocha Abyss

After the caves, we went to the Bouzov Castle. The castle is about two hours away by car. It was magnificent. We took a tour of the castle and also of the tower which is part of the castle. There

were many interesting and historical items inside the castle, including very old handmade tiles, weapons, armor, paintings, a model of the castle made of silver and precious stones as well as many other old and beautiful things.. The castle has been around since the second half of the 13th century. It has been the home of many different people through the years. The first owners were members of the Přemysl family. Later owners included the teutonic knights. At one time, it was under the control of nazis. The view from the top of the tower was amazing. We could see for a very long way. The landscape of Czech looked very beautiful from this viewpoint. Here is an image of the castle.

The Bouzov Castle

A closer image of the castle

The day was wonderful. We both enjoyed the experiences at each place very much.

Yesterday we celebrated Kevin's birthday. It was his 34th birthday. He loves pirate movies, so his czech mother and I made him a cake shaped like a pirate ship. There were cannons, gold, and bottles of rum all made from sweets. Also, there was a plastic monkey, because Kevin and monkeys go well together. The cake was fun to make, but I hope that he doesn't start liking aliens, robots, rockets or something even harder to make for next year. : ) Because of his age, there were so many candles that one of the ship's sails caught on fire. It took the whole crew to blow out all of the candles and put out the fire on the sail. Kevin, my mother, my sister, and I went to eat pizza for lunch. After that, we went home and ate cake and sweets. Today, we all feel very fat, full, and satisfied. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. Here are a few pictures from the day.