September 2nd - Visit to Stromovka

On the day before school started, we wanted to do something fun and new with Alex so went to Stromovka (place of trees), another large park, which is relatively near us. There is a large exhibition area with large halls, theaters, and a fountain show. It is called Holesovice and was built in 1891. Just beyond the exhibition area is a small amusement parkt. It contains about a dozen or so kids' rides...the largest being a pretty big ferris wheel. Alex decided to start with the very first thing she saw...a large bouncy house with rope climbs and two slides. You pay for a certain time period and it was actually longer than most kids got - probably due to her being the only one in there for a bit until other kids were attracted to her peals of laughter! We then moved on to the ferris wheel which Pam and Alex went on together. It had a neat feature in that you could rotate the gondola so you could change your view as you went around. The view from the top was nice but not as grand as you might think. Of course, with all the trees in full blossom some of the sights get lost. Alex then went on a swing and, after an intense discussion as to why she could not go on every ride there, we headed out.

We then entered through a gate into the park proper - it is completely separated from the exhibition grounds by a large perimeter fence. The park is immense...234 acres of green space with ponds and bridges. It lays right along the river, has a duck pond, a few other small ponds, and was originally set up as a hunting ground back in 1268. We walked around and fed some ducks at the bigger of the ponds and looked around at some of the beautiful buildings around the edge of the park before heading home. Alex was quite happy and tired and we all enjoyed seeing yet another part of this amazing city. (More Pictures)