Regent Trebon

... in time to go out for lunch at, of all places, a Chinese restaurant that overlooked the square. After lunch it was shopping time! Spent more money than I intended but got some great souvenirs before heading back to the hotel to pack up and head home.

As with Prague I could easily have spent more time here. The town is GORGEOUS and so much fun. In the summer they have a medieval festival that I think would be great to go to sometime.

... or something. He was standing there yelling ‘what about the boat?’ but she just kept walking and he eventually ran after her. Not sure what became of them or the boat!

Anyway, our guy came back with the other paddle and I waited for him to stop and give us some instruction, but no, he just dumped the paddle then tore off down the road leaving us to work it out ourselves. Shouldn’t have been surprised after the horses I suppose!

We worked out how to get ...

... down by an attack dog, while sprinting accross a field. The kids loved that.
Then we headed back to the barracks for a ride in a real Soviet military jeep. The machine was old and balky, but tough. This was no gentle tour in a museum piece. We tore through potholes and did some drifting in a field. The Soviet jeep was quite a beast. No top. Creaky doors. 4 forward speeds with no synchro. The kids had a hoot.
After ...

... went about getting ready for the long fast drive down to Bratislava to get Cheryl to the British embassy to get her passport sorted in time for her flight. I was taking Cheryl's tent down (we'd just abandoned it the night before) and decided to go off looking in the long grass while it dried off. I couldn't believe it, there was her big rucksack just lying there, found a stray jumper too. The joy of finding it spurred on further searching for discarded spoils. Nothing else to be found ...

... exactly what we had missed with all the rain the day before. We decided that if we take enough snaps from this fast moving train and tell people they were from our "special ride" no-one will know any different! The trip was interesting but long (especially for the kids) but we arrived at Linz railway station with 10 minutes to spare before connecting up with our pre-arranged shuttle for a 40 minute drive into Cesky Kromlov (or as Ken keeps calling it ...

... in a different direction and the sign should point up not right. So for an hour and a half I walk along a two lane road and see some beautiful scenery. It is nice to be out in open air with no real destination in mind. When I think I should have at least seen another sign for the Horse riding the road looks like it continues for quite some time I decide to head back. On the way back I find another ...

... a way that didn’t feel tacky or overdone and there were no overhead power lines strung up between buildings to blemish the view of the charming streetscapes (a particular regret of mine in most European Old Towns).

From afar, the brightly coloured brickwork of the exterior of the castle looked as if it had been carefully put together by master craftsmen. But once up close it was clear it was an illusion – the masonry had all been ...

... At 8:30 pm I was finally checking in in the hostel (Krumlov House - great place!). After getting some food at "Two Mary's" I tried some night shots with my camera. In spite of my lack of talent they ended up being quite good. Day 39 - Still in Cesky Krumlov. I used the morning to do some daylight sightseeing (Cesky Krumlov is so nice! Sometimes I had the feeling I had gone back 500 years in time) and to answer some emails and do some phone calls ...

... were pumping out the same metal playlist as last night. The two Irish girls staying up at the hostel came down to join up, as well as Alex the Sorority girl, and another 'quiet' evening had turned into the polar opposite of what i'd originally intended. Pints kept getting pulled - i stupidly thanked the goth metal barchick each time she took away my empty pint glass with a friendly nod, eventually finding out that this indicated that i wanted another one. I nodded a few too many ...

... tracks made me Train Sick. We had a close connection at one stop and our train was 5 minutes late. We ran like crazy to get to the right platform. There were 4 to 5 passport agents / conductors outside the train who know at least one English word - RELAX!!! So we did and got on the train. Hyper Americans - they're too much. We had a nice ride. We got to our destination, Cesky Krumlov and, with no sign of a bus, we found one lone taxi driver who took us to our pension for about $3 ...