Resolutions Update & A Trip to the Local Park

We're almost a third of the way through 2018, so I figured now is a good time to check in on my New Year's Resolutions and see what progress I've made.

My first resolution was simple: "Learn some Czech." Well, to be more precise, I wanted to end the year as a "high level A1" Czech speaker. Progress so far? Pretty good! I mean, I'm not there yet, but I take a few minutes each day to work on my Czech (thanks Duolingo!), and I'm getting more familiar with basic words, and I can more easily read and understand very basic Czech. Definite progress. Speaking is always the hardest part, but I am cautiously optimistic.

Second, I said I wanted to visit five new countries. This has not happened. Like, at all. However, the warm weather and prime traveling season has just begun in earnest in the past few weeks, and given how easily one can visit many nearby countries (my flatmate decided last night to go to Krakow for the weekend, for example), I still feel pretty confident about this one.

Next, I said I wanted to visit 5 non-Prague places within Czechia. As my recent posts on my trips to Kutná Hora (here, here, and here) and Poděbrady indicate, this one is well in hand and should be easily accomplished by the end of summer given the sheer number of excursions organized by both my employer and my TEFL course, as well as my own increasing comfort in setting out on my own or with just a few friends.

Fourth was my wish to pick a favorite museum or attraction in Prague. With a few exceptions, I haven't been to many Prague locations more than once, and many I have yet to visit for the first time. If pressed right now, I would say that my favorite location was probably Vyšehrad, the old abandoned castle complex that was once the rival of Prague Castle. It's a truly wonderful combination of history, architectural interest, beautiful views, and open park space. But, it's too early to say with conviction, so, we'll see. (Prague Blog $3/post supporters may remember that one of my first videos involved a trip to Vyšehrad.)

Speaking of park spaces, my fifth and final resolution was to pick my favorite park in Prague. From small squares to large swaths of untouched landscape, Prague has a park to suit every mood and every need. I haven't picked my favorite yet, but there are some contenders...

...such as Havlíčkovy sady! *segue*

A park so lovely that even I can take a nice picture of it.

Situated on a hillside, nestled between the neighborhoods of Vinohrady, Vršovice, and Nusle, Havlicek Gardens (to use its English name) was formerly the summer estate of a wealthy businessman named Moritz Gröbe, who bought the land in 1870 and built a villa, as well as numerous other features. Sometimes the park is called Gröbovka or Grébovka after him. The area itself had been used as a vineyard since at least the time of Charles IV, and it continues to be so today. Gröbe died only about 10 years after construction and landscaping was complete, and after briefly being used as a roayl residence by the Hapsburgs, the estate, which had by this point largely become surrounded by the growing urban spaces around it, was given to the community and has been operated as a park for over 100 years.

Notice the grape vines. You can drink the house wine at the small cafes in the park.

I mean, I guess that's okay if you like that sort of thing.

Given its geographical location just at the top of a hill, the villa Gröbe had built provides excellent views of the neighboring towns and countryside. Designed in a vaguely Italian Renaissance style, the villa still stands at the center of the park and is a rather visible local landmark from the neighborhoods in the valley below. There is also a sort of summer house recreation building just beside the main villa that now houses a cafe.

Anyone fancy a game of bowls?

And just down the hill from the villa, tucked into the grape vines, is an elaborate gazebo where you can sip your wine as you look out over the scenery.

The hill is for real, y'all.

Perhaps the most distinctive thing about the park after the villa, however, is not the gazebo, but rather the fountain and grotto built on the north side of the park. Done in the same Italian Renaissance style, the fountain features a statue of Neptune and plenty of aquatic animals, and overlooking it is a multilevel artificial grotto full of passage ways, stairways, places to sit, and more little nooks and crannies than any English muffin ever had.

The fountain was not on, alas. I blame the Russians. (?)

Seriously, the grotto is crazy cool. At one point, I actually thought I had gotten lost in its winding stariways and little alcoves. This place would be amazing for a game of hide and seek. Indeed, the whole park is filled with hidden areas, stairways, and secret spots that would make it an amazing setting for a scavenger hunt. Being a) close to my current flat, 2) full of both natural and architectural beauty, and iii) where the grotto is all make Havlíčkovy sady a definite contender for my favorite park in Prague.

The trees are pretty nice, too.

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