Bohemian Beauty [Český Krumlov]

There were exactly two things that I knew about the town of Český Krumlov before going there.

1. It’s one of those real-life fairy-tale towns like Colmar, Rothenburg, Hallstatt…

2. It has a castle.

And I guess a third thing, although not about the town itself, was that I was going to fit a day trip there into my itinerary if it was the last thing I did.

Upon arriving in the tiny town of Český Krumlov, I walked down from the bus station and was greeted with the most spectacular view of a cloudy medieval town engulfed by a moat river and perched on one of the numerous hills in Bohemia with the castle taking center stage.

After descending down the steep, narrow, twisting streets (side note: wear good shoes here, especially in snow/rain. I may have slipped several times as the snow fills the crevices of the cobblestone streets, making for one slick and fairly even surface to climb up/down.) through the town square, I made my way back up the other side to walk through the castle.

Fun fact: there are apparently bears in the moat before the castle’s entrance. There are signs telling you not to feed the bears. Although I didn’t see the bears, I found it sad to see their cramped quarters.

The castle grounds were interesting to walk through. It’s weird, though, that instead of doing brick work, they made the castle of a solid surface and painted on surreal looking bricks and designs.

At the end of the castle grounds, you reach the gardens. Although they were closed off the day I went due to the snow, I am told that is where you can get the best view into/over the city. Even still, I found a pretty fantastic viewpoint just past the castle’s bridge.

After spending a couple of hours walking around the castle grounds, I wandered the streets and took in the sights before an early sunset (thanks, winter!).

As a tip for money, do NOT try to exchange money in Cesky Krumlov. You will receive a horrific rate anywhere in town. Do it in Prague if you are coming for a day trip.

It would be lovely to spend at least one night in this little town so as to wake up in the morning and have the town all to yourself (as though it would seem!) It seems like most people only come as a day trip from Prague (which is totally doable and recommendable as well).

If you haven’t figured out already, I’m a little obsessed with checking out UNESCO World Heritage Sites. And it is no wonder why the town center of Cesky Krumlov gained a title of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I can’t recommend a visit to the city enough. I’d imagine it to be breathtaking in any season.

The cutest plaza in Europe I ever did see [České Budějovice]

I was not initially planning to go to Ceske Budejovice (or České Budějovice if you spell it correctly with accents).

I was trying last minute to make travel plans to get to Cesky Krumlov (Český Krumlov) but was getting super frustrated when I found that all of the buses were booked until late in the afternoon (and because I already had accommodation in Prague, I just wanted to make a day trip of it). I got desperate and nearly considered booking an 80 euro day tour that didn’t have great reviews, but for some reason, I got the idea to stop in České Budějovice on my way.

To my luck, there was an early morning bus with a seat left to České Budějovice and a late morning bus to Český Krumlov from there, leaving me about 2 hours in the first city.

I almost didn’t find the town center, as I followed the arrows that ended up bringing in the total opposite direction of where I needed to go. Thankfully, I didn’t give up; I found the town center and was completely blown away.

It was literally out of a story book with the pastel colored houses and the fresh blanket of morning snow.

I think it’s the largest town square that I have come across in a long time and probably the cutest town square that I have ever come across.

All of the main sights of the city can be found in or right near the square, such as the Radnice (town hall…the blue building), the Cerna vez (black tower…in the photo above), the Fountain of Sampson (I think you can figure this one out), and a few noteworthy churches.

As I found myself a cafe to have a quick (and VERY cheap) bite to eat (about 50 euro cents for a slice of cake), I found it so enjoyable to sit in the window and look out onto the square.

If you ever plan to take a day trip to Český Krumlov, I can’t recommend a stop in České Budějovice enough. Even just for an hour or two.

Prague

Coming off the bus from Vienna, I was still a little bummed about being away from family on Christmas and everything being closed etc. etc.

I had high hopes for Prague, thus allotting it the most amount of days in my Christmas/New Year’s itinerary. I had seen the pictures and read the guidebooks and blogs and was overflowing with excitement to go there.

Then we get out of the bus and I was immediately underwhelmed.

The buildings surrounding the area were a little dingy and the metro station was a wasteland (plus nearly impossible to navigate…it took us at least 5 minutes to buy tickets and 10 minutes to find our line).

Once we made it into the actual city, though, I was blown away. Prague quickly became one of those cities that lived up to my expectations.

My first impression of the old town came after sundown (despite being only 4 in the afternoon) and consisted of Christmas markets, tasty treats, and an amazing folk band blasting their hits.

I know that we saw the Christmas markets in Prague after Christmas, but I wasn’t impressed for the most part. Sure, there was great food to be had and some neat trinkets to buy, but by and large most “gift stalls” (as opposed to food stalls) were selling things that you would find in any of the numerous souvenir shops around the area. I didn’t get that authentic feel that I have grown to know and love from so many other Christmas markets.

So, I won’t be rushing back to Prague at Christmastime.

Instead, I’ll maybe head back in warmer weather!!

Prague is, by far, the coldest city in Europe that I have ever visited. Well below freezing most days we were there plus a wind that cuts through you and literally chills you to the bone.

Need I remind you, I was wearing 3 pairs of pants, at least 8 layers on top, and as many socks that would still allow my foot to have circulation in my boots. Even still, I was somewhat miserable after about an hour of being outside. Then we had to retreat to a café to thaw out and then give it another go.

On the plus side of that, though, is that you don’t have to worry about rain because precipitation brings snow and snow brought out such a beauty of the old town. I got to view this my last day and a half in the city and it truly felt as though the city came to life from a fairy tale.

We allotted time to do a free walking tour of the city (something I ALWAYS try to do whenever I visit a new city) and finally got a better sense of where everything was and what it was all about.

We started in the Old Town Square which is actually still intact. Only one major building was bombed and removed from the destruction in WWII. Compared to all the heavily bombed and rebuilt cities I have seen recently in Germany and Austria, I enjoyed seeing the original architectural beauty of the city.

We made sure to see the Astronomical Clock which was ridiculously disappointing. I mean, for the time that it was built, it was really revolutionary. Even compared to the Glockenspiel of Munich, which is considered to be the most disappointing tourist site in Europe, I would say that this one was even lamer! (Don’t get me wrong, though. The clock itself was neat. It was the “show” that played on the hour from those little windows, if you can even call it that…)

Wenceslas Square, the largest “plaza” in the city (I use quotation marks because I would not call the large majority of it a plaza…just a road) is/was home to a lot of major demonstrations in the city, especially during the last 60 years or so with the Nazis, Soviets, Velvet Revolution, etc.

One area that I found really interesting to see was the old Jewish Quarter. This small area lies a short distance away from the Old Town Square and was (and still is) the home to hundreds of Jews in the area. The Old Jewish Cemetery sticks up above the street for a singular reason: space. It was impossible to acquire more land, so when they had filled the plot of land with tombstones, their only option was to build up and very tightly together.

A short walk away from the Jewish Quarter, we came across the Vltava River. Across the way is the other main touristed area in Prague, principally the Prague Castle.

The favorite way to get over to the other side of old Prague is via Charles Bridge, a half millennium old bridge decorated with statues and images (that you have to rub for good luck, obviously) and filled side-to-side with tourists, vendors, and (I’m just guessing here) pickpockets. I would have loved to stroll the bridge at sunrise (in warm weather) to get it a little bit more to myself because it was hard to completely enjoy waddling like a group of penguins across the river.

Once on the other side, we wandered the gorgeously old streets and made sure to check out the John Lennon Wall.

*Sad Story Time*

A couple of months ago, some art students decided to completely paint over the John Lennon Wall with white paint and left the message “wall is over” in order to spike a wave of artistic talent from the new generations.

If you look in my pic, where it says “war is over” was where it said “wall is over.” I’m glad that it’s not like the wall is bare (had we come a month and a half earlier, it would have been devastating!) but it was still sad and barer than it should have been.

I decided to take a tour of the Prague Castle in order to learn more about the history of it all. Sadly, because it was so cold that day and the wind at the top of the hill was atrocious, I had a difficult time fully concentrating on the stories being told.

I do remember that it was a beautiful and huge castle. It was like a city inside the city. The cathedral, St. Vitus Cathedral, had the most breathtakingly intricate stained-glass windows I have ever seen.

As we walked through the castle’s grounds, we also came across the Old Royal Palace, the Basilica of St. George, and the Golden Lane (gorgeous old houses) among other buildings I’m sure were pointed out to me. My brain was just frozen.

As you leave the castle, you are greeted with the most spectacular view of Prague.

Seriously, look at this!

I ended up loving Prague, just as I thought that I would. I only wish that it was warmer thus I could have enjoyed it a bit more!! I actually extended my time there (and then remembered that I set my itinerary so I would be back in Germany before my 90 day visa expired. Oops! They didn’t check my passport, so thankfully it didn’t end up mattering) and know I’ll be back again.

Czech-ing out central Europe

I apologize ahead of time for the overtly cheesy title. There was this one hostel we came across called the “Czech Inn” and thought that that was just about the most clever thing ever.

Anyways…

Until we ended our bus journey in Prague, I had never really had a moment in Europe where I thought “Wow, we are really in a different land.” In my first minutes in the city/country, I had this feeling it was something completely different than anywhere in Germany or Austria or Spain or Italy or anywhere else I’ve been to in western Europe.

But then I came to find out that it was mainly just in language, money, and food…

Neither of us knew a single word of Czech going into it and I don’t think we know a single word now even. Despite having spent 4 days there.

We would always just give a nervous, wide-eyed look when we needed something at a restaurant or walked into a store, not even knowing the proper way of greeting someone…I know, I know. This is terrible travel etiquette on our part, but thankfully we never had a problem with finding English speakers.

The Czech Koruna provided us with the favorable exchange rate of 1USD=20CZK and 1EUR=28CZK (the best one we found was the bus station at over 28; the worst one was a club at 22.5!!!). So this was about 4EUR/100CZK. I, having clearly not been in a math class in far too long, kept optimistically dividing by 2 instead of 4 and thinking/saying, “Look! This is only 50, aka 1 euro” or “Wow. This big meal only set me back 4 euros.”

Granted, the prices were very reasonable, especially for a capital city and for a city as touristy as Prague. Even for 8 euros, that meal was a fantastic bargain.

Prices in the capital, as expected, were more expensive than the smaller towns I visited or the roadside stop we made on our bus trip…THAT was CHEAP!!! I got a big bowl of soup, breads, juice, and cake for 3 euros something (they accepted euros there, so I know I’m not screwing up the math this time.)

Speaking of food, the food of the Czech Republic was glorious. Not to mention cheap.

Knedliky (dumplings). Guláš (goulash, although technically more Hungarian than Czech). Svičková (this sounds bizarre but became one of my favorite dishes. Basically ever. It’s roast beef sirloin in a cream sauce topped with sweetened whipped cream and cranberries. The whipped cream seemed weird to me to eat with the meat, so I saved it for a dessert!). Česneková polévka (garlic soup). Beer (Pilsner Urquell, Kozel…you name it, Czech breweries deliver).

My favorite, though, was the brilliant pastry entitled Trdelník (we called this one turtleneck, not being sure if that was the correct pronunciation or not). This thing got to me as badly as the sugar waffles in Belgium, making me try one from every new stand I came across. Having at least 2 a day.

Basically, it’s a long snake of dough wrapped around this metal rolling-pin thing that is then rotated over open flames. Once fully cooked, it is rolled in a topping of cinnamon, sugar, and chopped walnuts (usually), knocked off of the pin, and doused in more of the sugar mixture to coat the inside.

Overall, it does look like a turtleneck, so I think our “translation” fit.

Seriously, if I haven’t convinced you enough already, Czech food is superb.

After getting to know the city/country more than just the very initial sighting when we got to the bus station, I found that the Czech Republic really isn’t that different from Germany or Austria. They have a diet heavy on meat, breads, and beer, and the architecture is “European” (although that’s really not a type of architectural style).

Truth be told, I mainly did this post to show you some of the amazing food I ate. And the money is fun too, because it makes you feel like you’re rich!

Until next time.