Thursday, March 15, 2012

Where? Cesky Krumlov!

Well, after four exciting, fast-paced days in the Czech Republic's colorful capital city, Sam and I were ready for a break, and a change of scenery. We elected to head a few hours south-east of Prague, to a village named Cesky Krumlov.  I could feign cultural superiority, but the truth is, neither of us had ever heard of it until it was recommended by someone at our hostal. We reluctantly took a free map, and decided to take a risk. It's the second most-visited town in the country, after Prague, and is apparently a hot spot for kayaking and biking in the summer. None of that in the dead of winter, however. But still worth it.

Upon arriving, I was elated to discover that the strange Czech irony that permeated Prague was still well and alive in this small town, and perhaps slightly more pronounced against the tiny town's cobbled streets and lazy river walks.  Basically, the modern art is super weird here, too.  But, more about that later.

For starters, here is the town's main street, and lovely bridged entrance.



 
And this was our lovely hostel! As is to be expected, but not hoped for, with all old buildings this one has some history. There is a staircase in the living room leading up to an attic, which is apparently haunted.  The place used to be a leprosy hospital. Yep. 


This is the town's castle. Sam really wanted a castle, so we chose this place partly because of this. It is actually more of a 15th century military fort, but it sufficed. One of the strangest castles I've ever seen, though, considering it is painted completely. It gave the entire place a very surreal, honestly kind of tacky vibe. Sam wasn't thrilled, to say the least.


This is the lovely view of the lovely little town as seen by the castle.


And the coolest gutter I've ever seen.


...Until it attacked!!!!



Oh yes, and this is the nicest looking casino maybe ever.


So we took a walk around the Palace gardens, which I imagine in the spring and summer are quite impressive. This time of year, they contained large expanses of frosty grass, bare trees, and lots of juniper and boxwood, which was still great. 


We stumbled upon this building, which looks like the most incredible outdoor stage ever.


We knew it was a stage because this was facing it:


And here are the lighting rigs...


But these are the stairs!


So, then after exploring the theatre nerd in me and reciting some Shakespeare, I found a good tree.


And this gorgeous frozen pond.




No idea what this says.


It might have said "private property," because we walked up to this old building, and were shooed away by the owner.


So, we took a walk...
















 What are these for? I thought maybe rabbit hunting?


After exhaustive Rabbit hunting, night fell, and we headed back to town.


So, this was perhaps the best experience of all. Tired and hungry after our long hike, we headed to a local (and Rick Steves recommended) vegetarian restaurant to get our fill of something NOT consisting of meat and bread. Beer is, fortunately, vegetarian, so we didn't have to break with all Czech tradition. What we found was an inviting, warm restaurant, with the most incredibly kooky Honduran guy who hung out with us and chatted as he served our meal. We walked in, and his eyes lit up with excitement as he told us he had just whipped up a batch of amazing Veg. chili. He hoped we were hungry, and told us he would give us twice of what a normal ration would be. Which he did. It was a challenge, and we managed (Sam better than I) to eat it all.  SO GOOD! We then spent the night playing chess and drinking in the night (among other things).

Sorry for the blurry focus. Fits the ambiance though. 


Ok, so the next day was our "Get Even Farther Our of the City" Day! We took the train outta town a few hours, to a tiny town called Holobov. Three streets, and a town square. A short hike from town are the ruins of the Divci Kamen Castle ruins, with trails around Klet Mountains. The old Gothic castle was built in the 12th Century, and very little of it still stands. However, the dereliction made for a visually stunning setting, and not to mention, we got to climb on the old stone walls!



Then we found a river.



 Then we stumbled upon this abandoned building. really cool, but I have no idea what the story is behind this place.

 

Succulents!!






And there is clothing on the line, so maybe someone lives here...???


Then we approached the castle!


Castle!

Trees from the Castle! Eating our lunch. Not bad.


View.


More Castle!





Heading back through the woods.


Ahhh sunset.


Alright, and this is what I mean by the weird sense of humor. I recognize that this picture is of terrible quality, but I have to include it because I want to how a little of the weirdness of this quite town. Sam and I went on a walk one night, and randomly found this artist's gallery. It was still open, so we walked in. Inside were a multitude of metal and wax sculptures, lamps, ashtrays, chairs and tables made out of somewhat grotesque body parts. Nose lamps, and giant finger table legs, for example. Just unsettling enough. In the back there was a patio, and everything had an other-worldly feel to it. I felt like I'd wandered right into David Lynch's "Blue Velvet."

 

I had to include this. It's mostly for my sister. Here were, in a village in the middle of the Czech Republic with 14,000 residents, and the guy working at our hostel turned out to be a Bro from Oakland. Straight up wearing a DC beanie, hoodie, and Vans. This is him with his Bro friends who were visiting him from Prague. They are drinking beers, talking about South Park. I'm not even kidding. I couldn't make up something that good.


That's all for now.  After an amazing few days, we reluctantly returned to the city, heading westward ... next up, our adventures in Munich!!