Třebenice
Ústí nad Labem Region, Czechia, August 2016
Google Maps, Yandex.Maps
The views here are astonishingly beautiful — overall, the hilliness of the terrain is moderate, but sharp, conical peaks rise above it everywhere.
In some places, crags break through on these peaks.
Castles can often be seen on the highest mountains — where else to build them if not on the summits.
Near Mount Košťál, which also features castle ruins, lies the randomly chosen town of Třebenice, formerly Trebnitz.
The place is incredibly charming. It is certainly not like Most.
Although the houses are not quite as polished as they tend to be in Germany, their condition by Eastern European standards is simply pristine.
Germans once lived here, but the Czechs look after the heritage with dignity.
Though there are exceptions.
Sometimes the Slavicness breaks through.
A church.
Corner turrets just like in Jūrmala.
An Instagram backdrop.
Old signs. I cannot quite make it out — is it German or Czech?
A Czech mass grave. A stone dedicated to the Holocaust victims was later added nearby.
A little courtyard.
A side street.
Some sort of cargo moped, looks home-made.
Letterboxes often have a special tube attached underneath for post that does not fit into the box itself.
A sticker requesting no advertising material is frequently seen, but paper spammers ignore it.
The local bins are designed to be mounted on posts, but are attached to a short, cut-off metal pipe instead.
A "no entry" sign split into several sectors, each depicting the type of vehicles to which it applies. Quite common in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe.
A bus stop sign, unexpectedly round.
Loudspeakers.
Czech hydrant signs are made as painted metal frames into which plates with stamped numbers are inserted. The paint flakes off over time. Not as neat as in Germany, but more practical than in the former USSR, where they are simply painted on by hand.
A convex mirror is placed at difficult junctions.
A dog-cat.
We continue our journey through Bohemian landscapes.
Once on the motorway, Prague is just a stone's throw away.
There it is already.
