Hotel Grand Cesky Krumlov

... from the old town. We walk to a bus stop and take it downtown. The problems continue. Sharon is exhausted and wants the nearest hostel, not one 100m further. We end up at Hostel Tyn with a private room. As luck would have it, our new home lands us in the middle of Old Town right behind the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn and the Old Town Square. A nice Thai dinner, bottle of wine, and some gorgeous views of the city makes the world seem much nicer.

Alex drops us off in the city for a few hours. A quick trip to a museum, walking the old town and popping into churches. We meet up for a final lunch before Alex takes us to the bus station. Alex and Richard spent the whole weekend taking us around. They were fantastic hosts and I very much appreciate their hospitality and the local perspective they offered.<br><br>It is off season and the shuttles I had researched between ...

Photos of Cesky Krumlov here:<br>http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=153006&amp;id=613699523&amp;l=a 21f3534ba<br><br>Oh my god the suns out!!! I need to put my sunglasses on for the first time since Brugge and I'm sitting on a train from Prague to Cesky Krumlov!!<br>It's an old rattler of a train, but it means I get to see more of the country side as it's not speeding past at 180km/h.<br>Then transferred to an even slower train from Ceske ...

... the afternoon and a night there, but that&#8217;s all you really need. It&#8217;s a tiny medieval town with a castle and a river running through it, and being there is like stepping back in time. We ate a traditional Czech lunch, wandered the cobble-stone streets, the castle grounds and went up the Castle tower for some beautiful views.<br><br>The ...

... the river. So I did some floating on a raft for a few hours. Sadly it&#8217;s def not the white water rafting type of place, more the float along type, but I can do that in Slovenia. Cesky K was for chilled out type activities. I also swam in the river for a bit, it was so COLD! And kind of brown. But beggars, aka those who've been hanging out next to the freezing Irish sea, can not be choosers, &amp; it was still pretty nice.<br><br>The ...

... potatoes, dumplings, millet, saurkraut, and yogurt.  It was fabulous, we all chose the pheasant except for Meg who was feeling the rabbit.  It was so much good food washed down with some incredible beer, when it came time for dessert all we could do was order the dumplings with blueberry sauce... wow.  The walk back to our room took a little longer for some reason. After sleeping the feast off, we rose for a day of exploring Cesky Krumlov.  We ...

... hadn't been all that successful to date and as I had already lost money on a previous booking id made in advance, and not arrived for, I talked myself into taking a chance. That chance seemed far from a good idea now. Everything was going smoothly on the journey and I was even managing to catch up on some much needed sleep as the train bombed its way through small villages and passed lush green farmland, however as the train crossed over into the Czech Republic I awoke into a rather large ...

... huge formal hedge garden and a large outdoor theatre &#8211; with the stage an entire double storey southern French style villa. It was all immensely enriching to explore, and the views back down to the town were incredible. <br> <br>In between all this, when the cold chilled our bones, there were quiet, relaxed and low-key cafes and restaurants to thaw out in, enjoy more hearty Czech food and ...

... the castle area. Once you get past it, and begin to wander the streets you can see why so many people enjoy this place. It was neat to stand in the square and think that Hitler once stood here, claiming his powerful and corrupt ideas. I looked at the castle and town and imagined all the changes it had been through. I often wish walls could tell stories. I am sure they would be much more intriguing than a tour guide. Sometimes it's fun to have no tour at all and roam ...

... cheap Bohemian glass. We did pick up a bargain though. In a toy shop we discovered a marionette of "The Good Soldier Sevjk", a Forrest Gump-like dolt who created havoc in the trenches of the First World War. It cost almost half the price of the same marionette in Prague. Wooden toys and marionettes are a speciality in the Czech Republic, and can be found substantially cheaper than in the capital. Restaurants ...