October 2016
We decided to visit the town of Benesov near Prague on the weekend. It's about 40 km away, so the trip took one day.
The trip, however, started with a blunder - on the train the conductor said he couldn't read the ticket on the in-card (discount card where you can also store tickets, convenient). Then it became clear that the ticket was there, but the discount wasn't: turned out the discount was issued for 3 years, and we made the card almost right when we arrived in Czechia. That's how we realized we've been in Czechia for definitely more than 3 years :) It all ended with us paying the conductor 36 crowns on the spot, and in Benesov we issued ourselves a discount online for the next 3 years. So you could say everything went without extra problems.
Where to go? We planned to walk through the town, and then walk to Konopiste castle.
On Sunday the town was almost dead. No people.
Silence.
Right by the station there's a police station (where you can't go with weapons, so I with my sense of humor can't go there), very convenient to travel.
What's new? Well not too much.
We're welcome here.
In Benesov we found interesting doorbell buttons - you need to stick your finger in. The point's unclear.
Also interesting - all the trash bins have stickers from different years, apparently there are some inspections.
You can get to the castle on a little train, but it's only 2km to walk, so we walked.
Benesov gymnasium. I'm also a gymnasium student.
Cool drawing on the building.
By the gymnasium there are benches for people like me.
And for people like you.
Benesov gymnasium students can play football and basketball. I could too, on a field of broken asphalt with a pipe sticking out.
Also gymnasium students can get beautifully wasted after classes, we really lacked that in childhood.
And the town's still quiet.
Some dude drove by on an antique, rattles, but definitely picks up chicks.
Benesov residents remember.
How do you like the name?
In Benesov there's also eye-level advertising, but not as fucked up as in Liberec.
Typical Benesov.
Like in any self-respecting provincial Czech town, there are tons of "gaming" places - read: casinos, where they rip money off beer lovers and those who waste money\time.
Everywhere there are interesting parking devices.
Trendy storefront.
Benesov landscapes.
By the way, no antisocial elements were found in the town all day. Although, here are the apartment buildings.
Benesov is QUIET.
Here I had a good laugh. The dude praised his cafe better than I praise my blog. Well it's not for nothing, after all he studied under Jaroslav Sapik himself (wut?)
Benesov is being built. Buildings are relatively young.
First floors are often given over to shops.
Here, for example, there's even mini-golf and bowling between two buildings.
For those interested, there are many real estate offers.
In Benesov we found some decent graffiti.
Lots of kebab places (shawarma joints), apparently popular among locals.
Some buses run, but it's hard to say anything about public transport in the town, most likely the buses here are only suburban.
Benesov in one picture.
They sell "Kostelecke uzeniny" here, the most tasteless sausages in the world.
Interesting, why is this bad
But this is OK?
In Benesov they play "nohejbal", aka football tennis.
Sports here are generally fine.
Romantic views of the railway.
Slowly leaving the town and heading toward the castle.
You need to walk following the tourist markings (notice the yellow lines).
Beautiful train cars standing in the open.
This is how Benesov residents live.
We walk.
Czechs love dogs.
Second picture easily describing the town.
By the way, there is some transport in town, but there was nobody at the stop.
Going in the right direction.
But all roads lead to Prague :(
Keep walking!
Pedestrians, of course, have it pretty tough in Czechia. Careful, dangerous doggies.
Just outside town, and mean uncles will kidnap you.
Romance all around.
Well anyway, we'll keep going, and tomorrow I'll write about what that Konopiste castle is in the distance.
We returned to town in the evening, walked around a bit, ate and went home.
Actually, the town's small, you can walk around it very quickly. We returned to its central part.
Remnants of the past.
Elections already passed, remnants of campaigning are still visible in town. How shitty do you think a party is that puts a clock on the main square, 90% of which is taken up by someone's mug?
The town doesn't look completely old. But it doesn't look modern either.
Naturally, some restaurant uses the image of Švejk.
Benesov is definitely the capital of Czech trash bins. Here - cosmic underground ones.
In the center there's a medicine vending machine. IMHO, almost useless thing, didn't find anything useful in it. But looks trendy.
In Benesov it's still 1996.
It was slowly getting dark. Benesov - looks like a standard Bohemian town, similar to Podebrady, Nymburk.
Traces of the past. But where are the čarka?
We decided to stop at cafe "U zlate hvezdy" ("At the golden star").
I thought I'd drink local beer "Ferdinand". I really didn't like it. Drank it before, impressions only bad.
Czech food is perfect for tourists who spent the day on their feet. In total we paid 310 crowns for two.
Isn't this just like Podebrady?
Well-maintained lamp post.
And people live like this.
Some sticker was found on utility boxes. Almost all boxes have one. Don't know if it's amateur work or some analog of local trash bin inspection stickers.
Decided to drink coffee in the evening - so-so.
Calls to vote. "This country is ours".
Lighting in town - warm colors, like almost everywhere in Czechia.
Repairs underway. By the way, the town definitely doesn't look run-down.
Evening in Benesov.
Near the station - architectural delights.
Well, it's time for us to go back to P-gue. The train goes fast, less than an hour.
That's what it is, this Benesov. No point visiting more than once.
February 2022
I was obviously wrong when I said there's no point coming here more than once. After all, you'll definitely want to walk around Konopiste again
The thing is, you'll have to walk through Benesov :( Something like - bam, and the road ended.
So the first half hour of the walk will be so-so
The rest of the hour - will be OK
But let's return to Benesov
Gotta give credit - the town's not completely faceless
The atmosphere here is "its own" - like it kinda smells of youth
In a bad way
Well in the sense that here they rejoice that now you can pay by card. That they sell shawarma. That motorcycles make the sound BRRRRRRR, so you need to let all 3.5 girls in town know about it. In short, a teenage town.
Not for a happy life, in short.
