Hotel Cerny Orel Telc

... them in the Czech republic now)!! I met a couple of kiwi girls at the hostel, & decided it is pretty much the only accent I am willing to guess & say oh so you’re from NZ? Everyone else I stick with the so where are you from. Much safer, & it means I can’t get into trouble by asking Canadians where in the states they’re from. Although I'm sure I look kind of stupid when I say it to Australians.

... typical meal here in Bohemia is some type of meat cooked with a sauce, some dumplings which are cut like slices of french bread and everyone here is walking around with a 50 cent ice cream cone. They also have a french-like crepe that they make. We had it yesterday with strawberries and whip cream. MMM. It was nice and hilly yesterday. The hills have been relentless. But, as our English friend Ian said: you always get to go down the other side.

... in Telc around 10:30 a.m.and made our way to the castle, where a tour was just starting. We got on the tour, which turned out to be just walking through the castle with an information pamphlet that they had made. Our guide did not speak much English, so I wouldn't really say that it was a guided tour. It was a pretty neat castle, though. One of the previous owners was big into hunting and ...

... how much it would have cost us if we had to replace a lost canoe! And the hostel... hmmm, probably one of the worst on the circuit according to other people who have stayed in most of them during their journey! We got a room with 2 singles beds, a table and 2 chairs. That's it! And we had to walk through another dorm room to get to ours! Like I said, an experience. But we finally met a few people and went out for dinner & a few ...

... in my left hand, i saluted random restaurant patrons and bar-goers along the riverbanks, exuding a casual arrogance that made them grin and 'cheers' me back. It was sensational. Coming up to the first rapid, my bum skidded along the concrete incline, and got cleaned up by the whitewash at the end of the slide, knocked out of the tube, into the drink, yet managed to salvage my only beer with a fierce left arm thrusting it safely in the air. Mike was not so fortunate, and lost his ...

... suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and we had a good chat on the bench, before parting ways, and heading to our respective hostels. After failing to meet up with jake for a nightcap pint, i stayed in with the krumlov crew and played a game of 'Settlers' with Mike, Lisa the Canadian and Elena the Sydneysider. Mike wiped the floor with us all. It was like monopoly, but less urban, and less brutally Capitalist. Time really does go too fast in the Czech Republic.

... end this way, as if they are unique moments that dissolve when exposed to the air of sedentary life. I like to think that if I do email them someday, nothing will have changed. Perhaps we will even meet again someday. Most likely, though, we will not. We left that hostel and crossed the old bridge over the river, and out of Cesky Krumlov. Already the place felt like a distant memory, almost fictional. As I closed the door of the hostel Sam had said, 'Come back someday.' God, I hope that I do.

... was really very nice and it was a beautiful day. The first 90 minutes were on expressway, but the last hour was over narrow, winding roads in hilly terrain. The countryside is really quite pretty. We passed many fields that looked similar to the ones in Wisconsin, but we also passed many fields of white poppies. (We don't know what these are grown for but they certainly make a dramatic picture.) The bus station in Telc is away from the center of the town, and we were unsure ...

... a wooden, gothic town. The king was very educated and wealthy (he had lots of money from the local silver mines) and he brought in Italian Renaissance architects to rebuild it the way he thought it should be. It is the finest and best preserved Renaissance town north of the Alps. The old town is bordered on two sides by carp ponds that used to be part of the moat. We spent lots of time walking in the arcades of the ...

... Jan Hus (whose giant statue can be found in Prague's main square) was martyred after beginning this movement in defiance of the Catholic Church who at the time was full of corruption and crushing the poor and common people. The Hussites became great, yet barbaric fighters as they learned to defend themselves against the King's Knights. Tabor was their fortress. In the museum in Tabor we saw their crazy weapons and learned of their great successes in ...