August 2014
Today I'll tell you about one interesting place near Podebrady - "Loucen" castle. The castle itself may not be particularly interesting, but around it is located a "Labyrinth park" - a collection of various labyrinths.
Labyrinth park
I'll immediately note that I didn't go into the castle itself, because the price was quite high. I don't know if I missed anything, but if I have time - I'll return and definitely go :)
At the entrance they immediately give you a map, helps with orientation, but not more - paths have already been trampled plenty. We got a photocopy, some got a full-color version :)
Right away you need to tell that in Czech language there are two words for labyrinth
The word "Labyrint" means such a structure where only one path leads (i.e. you can't get lost, just walk long). But the word "Bludiště" (reads like "bludishte") means a type of labyrinth where you can hit a dead end and get lost. Live and learn.
Further I'll tell you what awaits you along the way.
The first labyrinth is "boxwood". I can't imagine what that is, but it looks like this
In reality - many children run around, everyone tries to reach the fountain
Generally fun, the only minus - many entrances have been trampled already, some are just lazy and step over.
The second labyrinth was light. You need to come there in the evening, during the day it's a very sad sight.
Supposedly it should glow :)
Then you're greeted by the "grass labyrinth". Nothing, nice, but very small
By this moment it starts to seem that not everything is as interesting as it seemed. In reality - all the interesting stuff was ahead :)
Next on our path appeared, probably, the most fun labyrinth - yew.
Firstly, you can get lost in it, secondly - it's big, walls at full height
An interesting feature are the doors - workers periodically change them around, thus the labyrinth is always different, hard to learn by heart.
If everything's really bad - you can climb a wooden tower and tell friends where to go. From these towers you can also just exit the labyrinth, but that's for really cowardly ones.
Next will be a labyrinth of colorful bricks
Its meaning is simple: either just walk to the center, or with brains - each time at blue dots you need to step on another color (i.e. if you walked on red, you must turn onto something yellow).
In reality everything turned out harder than we thought :) Here you can get stuck for 10 minutes.
Then comes the wooden labyrinth.
It's generally similar to the yew one, just walls are smaller. And also, supposedly from above it should look like a human footprint.
Unfortunately didn't take a photo here, but you can look at me (or at wall height, at least). To exit the labyrinth you need to slide down a slide. The slide will hold adults too, but most just open the door and pass through.
Then comes the stone labyrinth
Its feature is that it's long. You'll have to walk more than one circle. For the way back nobody has energy - everyone walks straight.
It's written that in the center there's a mysterious Celtic grave. Not true, just a pebble lies there.
Next we had a labyrinth of stretched threads.
No matter how hard we tried, we didn't understand its meaning. Generally - it's still for kids - you need to run and jump for speed.
Next came the sand labyrinth.
It's big, but uninteresting - just a path leading in a circle.
Next we had the finger labyrinth.
In theory, there's a sign, and near it nothing. We thought for a long time what's the deal, already walked back, saw a statue, thought it just stands there.
Somehow I guessed to walk around it, and voilà.
Last was the letter labyrinth, for some reason it wasn't on the map.
Its meaning is simple - someone stands at the sign and reads text, and someone walks on letters. You can get confused, letters repeat. Attention, you need to know Czech.
It all looks something like this.
The labyrinths ended. But in the park there's also much more interesting stuff.
For example, a pond with a bunch of fish (really a bunch of fish, they swim, literally, on top of each other)
There's also an "amphitheater".
In the castle itself weddings are often held.
Conclusions
Once to visit definitely worth it. And not only for kids, but adults too. Generally, the walk turned out quite interesting, educational. From Podebrady the castle is located very close, so during the school year I definitely recommend visiting.
Price, how to get there
For an entrance ticket to the park students will have to pay 69 crowns.
You should go like this - first to Nymburk on train (about 20 crowns one way, 10 minutes ride). Then right from the local bus station go by bus, ticket costs 25 crowns, ride 20-30 minutes.
The whole trip for a student from Podebrady will cost about 160 crowns, which is very little.