Maly Pivovar Ceske Budejovice

... bridge which links one side to the other across a deep crevice in the rock, and we saw the moat where they keep bears. Most of the time you think of moats as being full of water, but here there have traditionally been bears to guard the entrance. The first ones were put in the moat in the 1600’s and there are still 3 who live in the moat, although they are rarely seen during the day, preferring to stay under the stone bridge. We did ...

... rough parts would not have even rated a 1 on the white water scale though so it wasn’t too exhilarating, more of a laugh really!

About halfway through our trip my shoulder started to play up so Witek very nicely took over the paddling duties and I stuck to helping him steer. I have had shoulder trouble for years but it has been pretty good on this trip. I was optimistic of it surviving a 3 hour paddle for this reason!

I helped him when I could but for most of the ...

... went to the castle and the tower, to some little museums and finally to the underground tunnels. We didn't realize the only way to see the tunnels is to be on a tour and they were filled up for the rest of the day. So...we did what has proven to work for us the most - pretend we have no idea whats going on and look really sad when it doesn't work out. We walked in with the group and when we went to put on our hard hats they stopped us because we didn't have ...

... my knees as if praying to Mecca and bow in front off the driver who had taken me this far. I don't think he quite knew how to react to my homage and rather nervously he boarded his train to begin his journey back over the boarder to the Czech Republic. With my faith in humanity restored I lay down in the waiting room and tried to sleep but with the adrenaline still flowing through my body I couldn't sleep a wink. As I lay I relived the whole crazy experience in my mind, determined not to forget a single moment.

... I am staying with are veggies too. I don't know if this breaks my veggie streak but I ate some chips here on the river that were "Peperoni flavored". I czeched the ingredients and it appeared to be smoke and spices only so I think I am safe, and it didn't taste like meat LOL but it was the only food on the river. Then back to the hostel were it was about 10pm now and we met up with Katie and Cassidy from Vancouver island. At Eric's ...

... wandered the streets until we found a place called the 'Two Mary's'. We had to wait for a table for a bit but when we ordered drinks and were seated shortly after on picnic like tables outside by the river. We shared a table with a Czech couple (who spoke no English so that conversation was short lived) and an Aussie woman who was traveling alone. We ended up talking travel with her throughout our whole meal and had some good laughs over the absolutely ...

... bottling plant this time. Oh.. they also had malt and hops (in their natural state) there for tasting.. so that was kind of a treat. Upon finishing the tour of the great and magnificent Budweiser Budvar brewery I moved to the next city on my list.. which i almost didnt go to.. Cesky Krumlov.. (sounds pretty random huh?) Turned out to be my favorite city in czeck.. maybe one of my favorites small cities in all my travels!

... off season mellowed it quite a bit and we slept in a new wing away from the college kids. We met quite a few Canadians and the receptionist was South African. Her and Julius were able to commiserate about traveling on an African passport (ie visas for everywhere you want to go). One rainy night when we were hanging out and chatting in the lounge some of the young Canadians came in and said that one of the bars was ...

... platform. With half worried expressions of confusion, a chick who sounded fairly Aussie questioned whether i spoke any English, and began to discuss with her whether or not this was the right bus. Its always good to meet people who are heading the same way as you, making it more somewhat fun if you all end up in completely the wrong city. So i once again met up with a group of Aussie chicks, Queenslanders Tiff, Therese, Lizzy and Renee, and rode together in the gloomy nastiness ...

... ruined Prague. The last room was filled with ugly, muddy art pieces from the locals, I assume. Certainly not the greats or any one from the secession movement! Yuck! We left the Regional City Museum and want right to the Egon Schiele Art Centrum (www.schieleartcentrum.org) Regional Art Museum. They had a big collection of Salvador Dali works and a permanent collection of Schiele (plus lots of information on his life). It was a wonderful old museum in an old building. Dali gives me a ...