Fun in New and Old Czech Republic

Today we had a busy and entertaining day that mixed some great new and old sites. We started the day with a drive to Konopiště castle (more information here), about 50 km south east of Prague. The castle was originally founded in the 13th century and its most well-known modern inhabitant was Archduke Franz Ferdinand. We took a horse drawn wagon from the parking lot up to the castle (because Sofia seemed so excited to do it) and then enjoyed a picnic lunch on a bench just outside the castle. The castle itself is not a fairy tale castle like Hluboka or a large sprawling castle that is almost its own town like Prague Castle but it is indeed impressive and it's always interesting to think about the amount of history that has been seen and lived inside those walls. We took a tour of the castle and it is fascinating inside. The castle has a great collection of weapons and hunting trophies. The girls did a great job on the tour but after walking around outside and then taking the tour they were ready to go. We got a snack before getting in the car and then both girls were quickly asleep. When I packed things up this morning I threw together everyone's swim things just in case we wanted to go to a pool. As we were driving back Mary remembered that Aqua Palace, a new waterpark, is on the way back so we decided it was worth stopping.

Aqua Palace (check out their site) just opened in May and while I heard some good things about it I was stunned by what we found there. For startes the place is enormous. When we entered we were sent to the blue locker room area. The place is so big there are three different locker room areas and you are assigned to one. The kids were initially thrilled that there was a "river" weaving around a large standard pool set up a bit higher than the river. The river was about a 1.4 meter deep narrow channel with a current that you can swim in but the girls could just float and got pushed right along; great fun from the start. Before long we found the next big section of the complex: this is filled with a pirate ship with small water slides, a pool area with spraying fountains, a little kids pool area with a variety of mini slides and spraying entertainment, and a large wave pool. I think Mary and I were as excited as the kids so we quickly jumped around from one thing to the next exploring everything there. Mary suspected there was more there so we followed another river that carried us from that indoor area outside for a while, past other pool and eating areas and then back inside to the water slide area. I think there are seven or so different water slides in this indoor area. At first Mary went on a slide and then went to take Sofia on one while Ali and I continued to drift around and play in the river surrounding this section. One of the slides turned out to be perfect for both kids (and Mary and I thought it was fun too). After a few turns, Sofia and Ali were both going down by themselves and loving it. Mary and I then went by ourselves on what they call the "water bowl" slide. This is a steep narrow covered slide that shoots you into what is essentially a large bowl with circling water. You shoot out of the slide into this bowl, slide all the way around a few times before losing speed and dropping through the bottom into the pool below. I can only assume this is similar to being flushed down a toilet. I had a great time but Mary, with her lesser mass, couldnt get up as much speed and as result received a less then smooth ride, dropping down the hole at the end head first.

We arrived at Aqua Palace at 4:30 but had to be back in Prague for 7:30 because Mary was meeting someone to go grocery shopping together so they could share a car. We stayed as long as we could and then rushed out the door, drove back to Prague and the kids and I were jumping out of the car at 7:28, just in time for Mary to meet as planned. Overall, it was great to be able to tour a castle originally built 700 years ago and updated over the centuries and then move on to the largest, most modern water park in the Czech Republic.