Cesky Krumlov - a life-sized postcard town

Trip Start Sep 03, 2008
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Trip End Nov 13, 2008


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Flag of Czech Republic  , Bohemia,
Sunday, October 5, 2008

If you were to picture a post-card of a town with a castle in the background, rolling hills, cobble stoned streets and locals sitting at the local pub drinking an ale, you would have pictured Cesky Krumlov (Cesky for short). Cesky is south of Ceske Budejovice (which is the spiritual home of Budweiser - the ownership of that name is still being fought in the courts). It is nestled in the hills, with a castle located near the top of the hill, and the township at the base of the castle with a river flowing in (and around) the town.
When Shellie and I arrived, we had booked into one hostel and were told they were not using that anymore (not peak season) so we were "upgraded" to a double room in the sister hostel next door. Hostel Havana was fantastic, as it was pretty much just Shellie and I in the building, with an apple tree out the front, ample car parking, and a kitchen for us to use.
On the first evening we decided to "eat out"; seeing as we pretty hadn't done that since we set off on our own after the top-deck tour. We started with a visit to the local pub (recommended to us but the hostel owner), which was great. We did bump into a couple of Australian girls who were being "provided" with free Absinthe by the locals. They said to us "we only came in looking for Fruit Dumplings and have been trapped here for 45 minutes getting plastered - don't fall into the trap!!". They did succeed in escaping, Shellie and I both had half-a-litre of the local drop, before heading off to a restaurant. I had Czech Dumplings with Beef Goulash (very yummy) and Shellie had a nice basil-pasta. We shared another 500 ml beer at dinner, then walked home.We spent the entire following day exploring Cesky, which was easy to do. We discovered a rotating theatre platform in the palace garden, which would allow the audience to face the traditional stage, or have their seats moved so they could view a play being performed in the gardens. Images of having a play of Robin Hood taking place with actors leaping out from behind real trees came to mind. We also found lots of places where you could get a rather spectacular view of Cesky and its surrounds. Shellie also raided the apple-trees at the front of the hostel and managed to get some of the best tasting (and crunchy) apples so far this trip.Next stop, Vienna.
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