Monday, August 24, 2009

Ancestral Villages - Holovousy

From the depressing ruins at Chric, we went on to Holovousy to find House No. 14, where Martin Zetek and his wife, Anna Pazak, lived when they were married. Later they lived in No. 12, which no longer stands.

No. 14 has been out of the family for a number of years, but the gentleman living there very graciously let us walk into the side yard, where it was evident there was a stable, chicken yard, and other farm buildings. He said that the house has been remodeled and many changes made to the yard, so I didn't take many photos. This is the front of the house facing the street.

I have to comment on the warm welcome we received at all of our stops. Cousin Martin is chatting with the mayor of Holovousy, who came out to walk with us to the house and welcome us to the village.

The village had many interesting houses. These were across the way from No. 14.
From here we drove to Kralovice, a larger town nearby, for a refreshing lunch at a pub and a chance to talk about all we'd seen this day. Olga promised to do further research to validate the relationships she'd established informally. She expects to be able to do this in September. I look forward to her report!
Although none of the cousins we met spoke English, and I don't speak Bohemian, I was assured that their children have internet and speak English. We exchanged email addresses. I've sent some photos of the US Zetteks to them and hope they will reciprocate.
Next post: The Plzen Cousins

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