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Czech it out now

Friday, October 28th, 2005

27 Oct – 28 Oct, 2005

Another deja vu situation, as we took an identical photo to one that we have at home from 1995. A shot of Cesky Krumlov through an arched window in the castle.

Cesky Krumlov

This time, though, we spent the night in Cesky Krumlov, as last time I think we only spent a few hours. Had one of the bestest meals, too. Medieval vaulted cellar, decorated with armour and weapons, lit by candles, food roasted over hot coals (mixed grill for me, while Jo had the pork knuckle), and wine served in ceramic goblets.

Cesky Krumlov

Brunch by the river, and Jo bought another pair of bargain jeans. (No, not as cheap as her famous 85 cent Bolivian pair, but for Europe, an excellent price at 14 Euros. Go, bargain hunting Jo!)

Czech, please!

Thursday, October 27th, 2005

24 Oct – 27 Oct, 2005

Sometimes you meet those people who you cannot but help go out of your way to see again. We only met Ludek very briefly in Venezuela, but his invitation could not be turned down. Back to Czech. And what we soon ascertained was that there were a lot of things we did not do ten years ago. Before this re-visit, I personally thought that Czech was one of those countries that was “complete”. Pretty much “done” (whatever that means). Now after 4 days in Pilzen and surrounds, we are wondering when we can come back for a third and detailed visit.

And a car. Thanks Ludek. Oooh, choosing to go where we want, when we want. Nebilovy, Rabi, Klatovy, Svihov, Horsovsky Tyn, Kladruby, Loket, and Karlovy Vary. If your Czech geography is as good as ours, then you wouldn’t know where they were (although some people may be able to place Karlovy Vary if referred to by its German name of Karlsbad). Each seemed to have some amazing castle, chateau, monastery, or similar.

Horsovsky Tyn
Horsovsky Tyn

Loket, near Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad)
Loket

Stebanka, Ludek’s girlfriend, who understands a lot more English than she admits, made us schnitzels to take as a picnic lunch. Yum!

Karlovy Vary is an incredibly beautiful city, with only one monstrous concrete blight. We were a tad disappointed in our “hot spring” experience, as it wasn’t particularly hot, or beautiful. Just a pretty uninspiring swimming pool. Lucky the view over the town was nice.

Wandering through town, we munched on our genuine Karlsbad spa wafers, carried our genuine and obligatory Karlsbad spa cup. We gathered with the sick people and the hypochondriacs at many of the fountains and joined them in guzzling the various hot spring waters. Bloody awful, if you ask me, but allegedly good for you. I gave up after only a few mouthfuls, but Jo persisted. Karlsbad also has a geyser, making us question how much of the information we read in Bulgaria is true, as they allege to have Europe’s only mainland geyser. (Czech is very much mainland, or as mainland as Bulgaria is, anyway).

Ludek