If you read Linda’s ˈshortˈ story ˈIn the Tatras with Lenkaˈ, you already know that we miraculously managed to coordinate our family vacation – do you know the urban legend that says that the menstrual cycle of women living in the same house or working in the same team synchronize after some time? Well, that is not really our case, but our vacation cycle has already synchronized, obviously – we chose exactly the same date and the same length of our trip, absolutely independently on one another. At least, not the exact same location.
My husband and I, unlike Linda et al., are quite experienced tourists and travellers – to be honest, more of the urban explorer-kind than mountain and nature lover-kind of tourists, but we managed to travel around quite a piece of the Czech Republic and the whole world as well before Emilka was born. Anyway, it is necessary to let the little one breath in some fresh air in the nature from time to time, and it is not really possible to attend hour-long guided tours around castles and galleries anymore because of her fidgety nature and strong vocal cords. Therefore, we have become more and more focused on the outdoors where nobody (except maybe for poor wild animals) really minds some squealing and howling. For example, last year we hiked to the Radhošť Mountain with then-3-months-old Emilka, and this spring we conquered the top of the Prašivá Mountain in the Beskydy Mountains. Not that these hikes are anything like climbing Himalayan giants but one has to start somewhere, right? 😉
I will try to be brief with this ˈMy dear travel diaryˈstuff and give you some tips ˈwhat, where and howˈabout a relaxing holiday with a toddler. Our base in the Jeseníky Mountains was a little hotel in the town of Lipová Lázně, not far from the town of Jeseník city; baby-friendly through by through (thanks god for the childrens’ playroom!!!). There is Fauna Park right in Lipová (a very interesting and well-kept mini zoo; of course Emilka slept through most of our visit 😀 ). If you take a train, there are beautiful stalactite caves Na Pomezí just a few minutes far, and from there you can take a very undemanding walk to the Jeseník Spa. Everything super-suitable for a vacation with a tiny tourist. If you are as lazy as we are, you can get to Ovčárna by car or by bus – getting up to the top of the Praděd Mountain (the second highest mountain in the Czech Republic) from there is like a walk in a park (is it still surprising that Emilka slept through the hike again? 😀 ). If you get tired anyway, you can just roll down the hill to a picturesque little spa town of Karlova Studánka and relax there. At the end of our trip, we took a walk around Rejvíz peat bogs where most of the paths are also suitable for strollers. If you decide to go any place mentioned above with a tiny walker, partial-walker or a small cyclist, you can be sure that it will be a great trip!
I spent all our vacation in barefoot shoes – asphalt, forrest paths, caves. During this summer I have become a Vibram Five Fingers addict; these are truly the type of shoes that you cannot take off once you try them on! Moreover, if you try them on such a shapeless, small but wide foot I have. I brought three types of Five Fingers – sort of ˈcityˈVi-S, Vi-B ballerinas and Trek Ascent – my duck feet were more than content in all of them, were hardly sweating and smelt just a little bit after a long day. 😉
Originally, I wanted to write a story called ˈWhat wraps I took for our vacation and whyˈand everything you just read above should have been a very short introduction. Ehm, OK, next time. However, what I was trying to say – there are a lot of mums around me who are afraid to travel with small children – we want to encourage them a little by these stories about our travels with our baby girls. Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid to travel even without a stroller – if you are used to babywearing, you are going to wear your little one in the same manner as at home. Do not be anxious about the things such as where to change a diaper, where to feed the baby etc. – in case it is necessary, you can improvise basically in anything (Emilka will have a lot of stories about our ˈintelligent travel solutionsˈof some situations if she remembers them!). On the contrary, enjoy the change of the boring everyday routine and your kid will enjoy it with you, too!
