Konopiste Castle

Trip Start May 29, 2003
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Trip End Oct 01, 2003


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Flag of Czech Republic  ,
Saturday, May 31, 2003

Josef recommended that we head south to see Konopi�te castle, a hunting lodge built by Austria's Hapsburgs in the 14th century. The last owner was crown prince Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination in Sarajevo kicked off World War I. Ferdinand became the crown prince after crown prince Rudolph shot himself.

Of course, we took the tourist train up the hill.

Since we had to wait for the English tour to kick off, we rushed to the cafe and had a second breakfast.

Ferdinand was an avid hunter, and is said to have killed 300,000 animals (which he counted in his diary). About 7,500 of them are displayed in the castle, mounted, stuffed, or skinned. It is said that on a visit to Yellowstone in the USA, Ferdinand even killed two squirrels by throwing rocks at them (after they took away all his other weapons). We were not allowed to shoot pictures inside, so these were done on the sly. The tour guide had no clue (yeah, right...).

Befitting a hunting castle, there was a bear enclosure (but no bears visible), a display of (damaged) hunting birds - Pose with one!, and a watchdog.

Time to hit the road, Northward to Berlin. After crossing from Czechia into Germany, we stopped at a roadside station to have first dinner, Scott's first asparagus of the season (tender white asparagus is a special event in late Spring throughout Europe), along with a breaded schnitzel, goulash, and a jelly doughnut (known as a Berliner). The second dinner was later, in Berlin, where Scott had his second asparagus of the season.
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