Český Krumlov
Went back to the castle today to do the tour, but first grabbed some breakfast at the restaurant attached to the hostel. The special was 99Kč (Hostel 99, Restaurant 99… get it?) Not quite a full English, but close… eggs, meat, potatoes, fruit, toast, and coffee or juice. Not sure what they put in the eggs for seasoning, but it was damn good. The potatoes, too. Went to the castle to buy the tickets and decided on the Tour I in English (50Kč student, 100Kč full price), but still had about two hours before the next one started, so I went back to wander some more. Stopped by the Egon Schiele Museum to check that out, but it was closed for preparation of a new installation.
The tour of the castle was nice. It’s the second largest in the country, and the tour went through various rooms giving some history and info about the art. Lots of Dutch artists contributed. One thing I’m interested in learning more about was the use of frescos. They adorn many of the walls, including the exterior… yet something about the way they paint decorations that are often integrated into the architecture gives it a bit of a “cheap” feel. The paintings of scenes is one thing, but when it also includes door and window trim, and along the ceiling arches, made to look like architectural motifs… it looks a bit cheeky. The work in the chapel and some of the waiting rooms, however, more than makes up for it with its intricacies and design.
Once done exploring the city, I headed back to the hostel for a bit, intending to just chill a bit before finding some food for dinner. I ended up just hanging out there with the other guests for the evening and getting dinner from the hostel restaurant again. It’s good and cheap! And, they have cheap beer at the bar. The place is nice, with the outside terrace looking out over parts of the town. There’s several picnic tables for everyone to sit around. Most of the travellers there were, of course… they’re everywhere, Aussies. Also a few Canadians and Brits. I was the only American for a change.
Český Krumlov is a nice town, but two days is plenty of time to get your fill, unless you like to spend a lot of time hiking. Then you could spend some more time in the woods. Although being nice and quaint, it is quite filled with tourists. An American tour group must have been there the first night, and a Canadian and Japanese the second… since the town isn’t very big, it’s rather evident when a large group is there.
My plan was to get out early in the morning and catch the bus back to Prague, though I was also debating getting some horseback riding in before I left. Come morning, I grabbed a final breakfast in Restaurant 99, and the weather was beautiful and warm, but I decided I should get on the road. The bus schedule for getting directly to Praha was unclear, so I decided to just catch the next one back to České Budějovice and go from there. It was only an hour to České Budějovice, and then I had about a half hour til the next bus to Praha. But of course, not everything can go perfectly… I got to the bus platform with plenty of time, but there were a lot of people just standing around, not getting on the bus, even though others were already on. I asked someone there if that bus was going to Praha, to which he responded yes. I guess I assumed that was the bus others were waiting for, but there was some reason they weren’t boarding yet… and before long the bus shut the doors and drove off… Oops… guess they were waiting for the next bus. The next one left in another hour, so I did what any traveller in my position would do… find beer… I walked to a restaurant and ordered a beer and some soup, giving me just enough time to finish them, use the WC, and actually get on the bus this time. It was a three hour ride, and not particularly comfortable. The overhead luggage racks weren’t tall enough for my bag, which is acceptable carry-on size, the racks are just that small. And the bus was quite full most of the time, so I ended up sitting with the pack for most the trip. I got to Prague around 17:00, jumped on the metro and headed towards Hostel Elf, recommended by some of the Travellers in Český Krumlov.
Tags: castle, cesky krumlov, Czech Republic, Europe, Travel
nerokerr1
Leave a Reply