Ricany

Ricany. First the pronunciation... I know how you pronounced it. "Rickany" , right? But this is so entirely wrong that no one would have any idea that you are even trying to say the name of the town. Trust me, I know this first hand.The first letter actually has a little accent mark above it and it is a sound that we don't use at all in the English language. It is a rolling "r" with a "jza" sound attached. Very tricky. Then the "c" in the middle of the word Ricany  has another accent mark and actually makes the "ch" sound. The end result sounds slightly more like "rolling r-Chichany". That probably makes no sense, but anyhow, that is the challange we are dealing with every time we must buy a train ticket or tell someone where we are living. But, I am getting it... slowly but surely.

So, Ricany is a town on the outskirts of Prague where we will be living for the next year. It is a lovely place...  I think it is a nice place to raise kids, especially. There are many playgrounds, one excellent park with a pond for swimming, a large trek of wooded land with trails, and other small ponds for feeding the ducks and fish. 

I have always known that my friends were "sporty", but I did not realize how typical this is of the people of the Czech Republic. There are many, many sport clubs and fields for children and adults alike. On weekends you see throngs of people out riding bikes and doing all sorts of activities. My friends are both scheduled to run marathons in just over a week, and this weekend they are in another type of running competition. Competitions seem quite ordinary, with advertisements for kids bike races and track and field days, and many other type things. The playgrounds-- even now that school has started-- are always filled with parents and children. And the playgrounds often have very cool climbing equipment.(Climbing equipment that would likely not be allowed in the USA as people would be too worried about safety.)

There is a booklet published for the town of Ricany that lists all the clubs and activities available for the children everyday after school. (School gets out for everyone at 1 pm!) There are offerings for just about any activity you can imagine. Isaac actually began tennis lessons yesterday. It is just him and two other boys about his age. The lessons were at a tennis court located in a clearing in the middle of the woods. Just lovely! I pictured this as a quiet little lesson, as we knew when we joined that there would only be 3 boys in the class. But in actuality there were throngs of kids at the court having lessons with other instructors. There are many "courts" within this tennis arena. Happily, Isaac enjoyed himself, and will continue for one hour each week during the year. (They move to a gym in the cold months.)

Aside from the sports and the fields and the parks there are the more "typical" European sites within the town. The picture at the top of this entry of Isaac and Ava was taken at a castle ruin in the town. Below you can see it more fully. It is only a single wall that still stands, but even so, one senses the history when you stand among such old stones. It was built between 1260 and 1270! The city center has the typical church and statues and shops that surround the square.  The Church of St. Peter and Paul is a church originally built in 1270. Imagine it! Only parts of the original of church still stand.The vault of the church and some frescoes date from the 1400's, then even other changes in the 1600's. It has had various changes over the years, but has stood in this spot all of these thousands of years...

We are starting to find our way around, discover where the shops are and how to walk to our favorite spots. Of course, we had to find some ice cream spots first and foremost! We are enjoying this nice town!
Ciao! (The Czech's use this word as an informal hello or goodbye, daily. They spell it "Cau", however.)