Sporthotel Zaton Cesky Krumlov

... castle, up on the hill. We are basically operating off of a Google map to find it. The tram map does not have the detail we need and we quickly lose track of where we are. Well, an hour later and eventually use of a cab to get to our hotel. <br><br>There are no lights on. No one answers the door, despite my having received a confirmation. After an hour, we give up and decide to find a hostel in old town. We are on the edge of a park, well ...

... and Ceský Krumlov are sporadic. It is only a 90 minute ride but with limited traffic. The alternative would be a 5 hour train ride. One company wanted $200 to take us since they had no other passengers. Luckily, one shuttle had 30 tourists from Thailand and a few extra spots. We get there for $34 total. It is a very pretty town with a couple of small castles appearing along the way. <br><br>Ceský Krumlov is gorgeous. It ...

... more difficult to get the full impact of the presentation. <br><br>An estimated 100,000 people were killed here. Auschwitz and Birkenau, near Krakov, were massively larger than this. The presentations of personal effects had also been exceptionally poignant. Never the less, the experience here is very powerful. <br><br>As we leave the camp, we walk around an exceptional sculpture presentation. The powerful material is contrasted ...

... noodle cup-a-soup, we didn't really bother with the kitchen at our little place, and why would we, when the food is yummy, interesting and very cheap. We realise this means we'll be living on two minute noodles at some point, but we figure its silly to deprive ourselves here...France will be a baguette and cheese experience we thinks!<br><br>Our culinary adventures extended to trying a tea house, which again was recommended by our Kiwi friends. We should have known better, when we went ...

... steer clear, but it was actually pretty tasty. There was no way I could even attempt dessert (because of my earlier extravagance and because it was like 11 or 1130 when we got done with dinner). So, we headed back to his house and basically just hit the sack &#8211; it was going to be an early morning the next day (now later that same day) &#8211; 8am flight, meant leaving his house at 530 &#8211; arrrggghhh &#8211; but good times and well worth the pain!

Czech this out!<br><br>Wow OK so we spent 12 nights all up in the glorious Czech Republic...let's sift back through the memories and figure out what the heck happened.<br><br>Flew from Moscow to Vienna, stayed one night without doing anything thrilling. Next morning hopped on a couple of trains to arrive in the small village of Svitavy, Czech Republic.<br><br>Waiting at the platform for us was Alicia's dad's cousin Lenka, and his other cousin ...

... the end of the meal Anthony and Tamara were working on me to spend one final night. I have to admit, I argued with them a bit saying that I had to move one eventually. Tam was pretty persistant so I decided to change everythng for the 3rd day in a row and chill out for one more night. When I got up the next moring I decided I still wasn't ready to leave. Evey day Anothony and Tamara had to convince to to stay, this time I was asking them if they had room for one more night ...

... get. Lets be honest here, she couldn't have done much more for me even if she walked me to the bus herself. With what should have been the hard part over, I arrived at the station and joined a queue to get a ticket. When my turn came around I checked first if the woman behind the desk spoke English. With a nod of her head she gave a hand signal to imply she spoke a little English. Perfect, I thought and asked her for a ticket on the next bus to Cesky Krumlov. Her response of a straight 'no ...

... carefully put together by master craftsmen. But once up close it was clear it was an illusion &#8211; the masonry had all been painted onto flat and otherwise plain surfaces. This &#8216;mutton dressed as lamb&#8217; approach to exterior design lives on today in those skilled artisans who can craft an exterior wood finish without the need for treating timber or worrying about the ravages of ...

... carvings and flowerbox windows to discover it is a shop selling 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 ...