"I set out and my eyes, no less, had long since lost sight of the sunny hills. Thus, something we do not understand seizes us, a revelation that rains down from afar - even if we may not reach it, something changes us into what we are, the unknown; it interprets sign after sign ... and we only perceive the headwind."
— Rainer Maria Rilke, A Walk

“Oh tell me, poet, what are you doing? – I celebrate. But deadly, what monstrously goes dark, how do you endure it, how do you accept it? – I celebrate. But, poet, how do you call the nameless, the anonymous by its true name? – I celebrate. Where did you get the right, that you are the truth, the exhorter in every costume, in every mask? – I celebrate. That the quiet, the thunder that thunders, the storm, knows you? – Because I celebrate.”
— Rainer Marie Rilke, O Tell Me, Poet...

Friday, August 18th / walk through Prague through poetry: We will meet at 10 am at Charles Square at the lower fountain, near the house where the poet Karel Hynek Mácha lived. From here we will set off on the planned route paths of poetry Prague poets to Vyšehrad, then along the embankment along the Vltava to the National Theatre and further across the Legions Bridge to Kampa to the house where the poet Vladimír Holan once lived. Here, under the “Holan plane tree”, we will remember the outstanding German poet and playwright and one of the greatest manifestations of 20th century poetry, Rainer Maria Rilko (1875-1926), who was born on December 4, 1875 in Prague on Jindřišská Street. Rilke graduated from the gymnasium (Na příkopě) in Prague and also studied at the university there and lived here until 1895. He declared about himself:"I am from Prague, but of Russian blood, and it is just a coincidence that my native language is German." We will remember Rilke's early years, his poetic work connected to Prague and read some of his poems. From Kampa we will then head up the slope of Petřín to the statue of Jaroslav Vrchlický and further through Prague Castle and Chotkovy sady to Letná. We will end the journey at the Alchymista café in Letná between 2 and 3 p.m.                                              

"We are the ones who drive; however, take haste only as a sigh in eternal duration. When all the hustle and bustle has been absorbed into itself, time, which knows how to linger, will dedicate us."
— Rainer Marie Rilke (Sonnets to Orpheus)

Pilgrimage of the Giant Mountains

We will embark on our own journey on Saturday, August 19th at 8 am from the observatory in Ládví. The best way to get here from the center of Prague is by metro to Ládví station, from there on foot to the Ládví observatory on a beautiful rocky promontory with an iron cross. From Ládví we will follow the yellow sign to Ďáblice and from there along a dirt road to Zdib. Further to Zdibsko, Sedlec and through the forest to Panenské Břežany, where we will see the beautiful Baroque chapel of St. Anne by architect Jan Blažej Santini. From there we will head to Čenkov and through the charming natural monument Kopeč and Netřebská slaniska we will reach Obříství on the banks of the Elbe. Here we will have lunch and then cross the Art Nouveau bridge at Štěpán and along its course we will reach the confluence of the Elbe and the Vltava under the castle in Mělník. We will spend the night under a canopy on the other bank of the Elbe in Hořínský Park.

Sunday, August 20 We will meet at 8 a.m. at the viewpoint above the confluence of the Vltava and Elbe rivers at the Mělník castle. From there, we will follow the red Mácha path sign towards Chloumek, where we will visit the pilgrimage church and cemetery. We will then travel to Lhotka, Harasov, Kokořín and further through Vojtěchov, Olešno and Ráj to Houska. We will visit the beech grove behind Houska castle, the Na konci sil pub and go down to Hostince pod Houskou. We will spend the night under a širák or in an inn.

Monday, August 21 we will go through Borejov (where we will visit the Church of St. James the Elder with a modern altarpiece of the pilgrim St. James the Greater), Ždírec and Windows on the Mountain and Castle Bezdez; we will visit the beautiful Gothic chapel here, in which we will read a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. Then we will head to Bělá pod Bezdězem and from there follow the blue trail through Bitouchov to the ruins of Zvířetnice Castle. Our friend will visit us here in the evening, Máchov researcher Mr. Miroslav Koloc&nbwithp;with&nbwithp;telling the story of the poet Karel Hynek Mácha's journey through the Pojizeří region.  

"Oh, not to be separated, not to be excluded from the law of the stars by a thin wall. For what is the interior, if not the high sky, woven with the flight of birds, and the deep, with the winds that return home?"
— Rainer Maria Rilke

Tuesday, August 22 we will set off along the Jizera River to Malá Bělá and then through Nová Ves to the Račov National Nature Monument with moorland meadows and wetland alders, around the St. Prokop spring through the Klokočka field to the Hradiště nad Jizerou Monastery and to Mnichovo Hradiště. From there we will continue along the red trail to the Bohemian Paradise, first to Mácha's favorite rock castle Valečov and then along the green trail to the Komárovský pond, where we will swim. We will then set off along the green trail and then along the red trail to the Kost Castle, from there along the blue trail through Dobšice to Vyskeř, in front of which we will spend the night in a meadow by the forest. If it is clear, it will be possible to observe the starry sky without light pollution.

Wednesday, August 23 We will ascend the Stations of the Cross to the chapel on Vyskeř (466 m above sea level) and from there we will continue along the blue trail to Hrubá skála and then along the red trail to Trosky. From Trosky along the green trail and then along the red trail through Mladějov to the rock castle of Pařez, near which we will spend the night in a rocky overhang.

Thursday, August 24 we will follow the green trail through the Prachov Rocks to Prachov and from there follow the blue trail through Přivýšina, Brad and Kbelnice to Jičín, where we will have lunch. We will visit the Wallenstein Loggia and Zebín. In the evening we will follow the green trail to Železnice and further through Bradlecká Lhota and the ruins of Bradlec Castle to the ruins of Kumburk Castle, where we will spend the night.

"Breath, you poem of pure breath! You are the universe, which I exchange for my own being constantly and directly. A balancing in which it is rhythmic for me to be born. You are the only wave that I have slowed down by the sea, I the creature; you are the most economical of possible seas, – a game of space."
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus

Friday, August 25th – we will hike along the red trail to Nová Paka and then continue along the red trail through Radkyně to Pecky. From there, follow the yellow trail under Jelení hřbet to Borovnice and further under Čistecká hůra (586 m above sea level), where we will spend the night at the edge of the forest.

Saturday, August 26 we will follow the yellow path over Čistecká hůra to Čistá and from there we will continue along the dirt road to Bukovina u Studenec and further along the road to Studenec; from there we will follow the red path to Strážník hill (630 m above sea level). From Strážník, follow the blue path to Martinice v Krkonoše and to Horní Braná. We will pass Horní Braná to Valteřice and from there we will follow the blue path to the foot of the Krkonoše, where we will spend the night in the meadows under the forest (we will possibly sleep in our makeshift hayloft).

Sunday, August 27th We will follow the blue trail to the Křížovka crossroads on the border of the Krkonoše National Park and from there the yellow trail to Přední Žalý (1018 m asl). We will continue along the ridge along the red trail to Černá skála (1038 m asl) and further to Mechovinec (1074 m asl) and Horní Mísečky, from where we will descend along the red trail to Špindlerův Mlýn, where we will have lunch. From Špindlerův Mlýn we will set off along the yellow trail through the Bílé Labe Valley to Luční bouda. We will spend the night at the Luční bouda.

Monday, August 28 We will climb to the sunrise on Sněžka (1602 m above sea level). From the top of Sněžka we will descend via Obří Důl to Pec pod Sněžkou and from there we will return by bus to Prague. Or we will take the road via Horní Mísečky to Horní Maršov and from there by bus to Prague.

“Oh life, oh life, your time, a strange, contradictory journey and burden, a creeping, miserable trace or furrow, like an angel, but suddenly raises its wings again to ineffable distances, … Can one of all the courageous beings burn more boldly, emit a greater sparkle? Each one crosses its limits, feels the unknowable, wants to captivate them, …“
— Rainer Maria Rilke

NOTICE

If you do not go with us for the entire journey, you can join us anywhere, preferably at the main points of the route (Mělník, Houska, Mnichovo Hradiště, Jičín, Pecka, Špindlerův Mlýn, etc.) and go with us for as long as you want. We do not provide accommodation in advance. We sleep under the stars. If you want to insure your accommodation, please book it yourself. Everyone is free on the journey and is responsible for themselves. We only ask for tolerance towards other pilgrims.

Bus connection on August 28 from Pec to Prague

Pec pod Sněžkou / departure: 10:20 – Prague, Černý most / arrival: 13:12; departure: 11:50 – Prague, Černý most / arrival 17:10; departure: 15:05 – Prague, Černý most / arrival 20:03

PILGRIM / CONTACT

• Tomáš Hrůza, tomashruza@gmail.com, mobile: 775 052 607
• Jiří Zemánek, sarvanga@centrum.cz, mobile: 777 117 466
• Karel Čtveracek, ctv@seznam.cz, 603 355 072
• Vladimir Drábek, drabekvladimir00@gmail.com, mobile: 602 646 665