Czech Republic
Cesky Krumlov Prague
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Cesky Krumlov
Cesky Krumlov is a medieval city that was built on an S-curve in the Vltava River. It was our first stop in Eastern Europe. We arrived in the city late at night (the journey from Rothenberg required 4 different trains and a bus), and in the dark it loomed at us rather menacingly. But in the morning, it was easy to see why Lonely Planet had recommended a stop here. The medieval part of the city has meandering cobblestone streets with a town center that oddly enough looked a lot Rothenberg, where we had just come from. The river is clean (or at least it looks clean) and we got some great shots of the riverside houses being reflected in the still water.Cesky Krumlov has its version of a castle. The castle was rather odd to us, because it is basically painted to look like an extravagantly built building. But it appears to be just stucco or concrete. Check the pictures section, it's hard to explain. We found a town map near the castle directing tourists to the sites of the city with pictures. In the middle of the map was a picture of a bear. Jeff and I had a good laugh about this trying to decide if the bear was supposed to represent the location of a zoo or something. But the laugh was on us as we approached the castle to find 2 bears living in the moat. We never did figure out why they were there. Maybe some king at some point liked bears or something? Anyway, although the enclosures were a little bleak, they did seem very well cared for, and had lots of toys around.
| A map of town, it's built on an s-curve in the river. |
| The river view from our hostel room. |
| These riverside homes match the fall colors. |
| Jeff finds a friend. |
| The town square looked a lot like the one in Rothenberg. |
| Cesky Krumlov's version a castle. |
| The castle tower was pretty impressive. |
| The painted walls of the castle. |
| And more painted walls, this was a new concept to us. |
| An overview of the city from the castle hill. |
| Jeff ponders Cesky Krumlov's treasures. |
| One of the bears living in the castle moat. (He's got lots of treats.) |
Prague
Prague is Europe's most touristed city, or so we've heard. There were certainly a whole gaggle of tourists in the old town. We spent our first day in Prague in the new town, which has its version of the Champs Elysee. Unfortunately, the shops along this bustling area of Prague include names like United Colors of Beneton, Marks & Spencer and Nike. So it wasn't very interesting. We discovered the old town and all the tourists on the second day, and admittedly, Prague's old town is an enchanting area. We could see why so many people are flocking there to check it out. Prague's most celebrated monument is the clock tower that has a perpetual calendar as well as an astrological clock.We only spent 2 days in Prague because we thought we'd be returning to meet a friend. We wanted to see the city just in case the plans fell through, but didn't want to spend so much time that there'd be nothing new for us if we did come back. As it turns out, plans changed and we didn't get back there after all. So Prague became yet another place on our list to revisit at some point.
| Prague's charming old town. |
| There are two churches on the central square. |
| This one is much older than the other. |
| The famed clock tower. |
| The astrological clock and perpetual calendar. |
| A couple of the odd figures decorating the clock tower. |
| At noon, the 12 apostles come on parade. |
| St. George's bridge, the center of the tourist area. |
| The bridge from a distance. |
| Rubbing this plaque on the bridge is supposed to bring good luck. |
| The Prague castle. The view is dominated by the cathedral. |
| The castle statuary was rather brutal. |
