Thursday 5th August

 

05/08/04 - Day 35.

I awoke to the sound of the church bells and looked out of the windows to find the river still glistening and flowing and I enjoyed a nice cup of tea in bed. What I like about Rybpa hostel is that there's no 24 hour reception so you feel as you can do as you please and you're not being watched over. We set out to find breakfast and secured that as one of the very few faults of Krumlov is the lack of patisseries. We sat and ate by the river so the sun and it was very hard to get up after we'd sat down. The castle (quite frankly) was prettier, grander and more pleasant than Prague. They had a bear pit with two huge but very cuddly brown bears in - never seen a bear so close up before (if at all). The courtyards were really pretty with water fountains and frescoes and space. I feel you see. The view tower offered a great view of the town, river and hills surrounding it. Brian got excited about the bells. The queue for thetour was a pain but we got early one anyway. However it was in Czech luckily our tour guide was crap and we managed to join the following German tour which was being given by a really sweet girl who was clearly practising her German but that meant I could understand most of what she said and could translate, highlights - a prince sold carriage - a golden sleigh and the masquerade room. The rooms were actually filled and had interest in complete contrast to the blank walls and furniture-less rooms of the Prague palace. For me the highlights of the castle were the bear and the town (by this time everyone was out eating, by the river (swimming, canoeing and having fun), the gardens filled were stunning (prettier and bigger than Prague) forgetting time of the top 3 water fountains and used of the mountains for a backdrop. We made the bear area controversial for lunch. We had a wander around the little streets by all at time, the heat was scorching so the coveralls were the only way to go really (note - we're white men). And I momentarily fell asleep on the banks of the river in the sun (and quite Brian was talking home). Dinner was perhaps not as fantastic as last night's but we were sitting out on a balcony over the river and had a very tasty meal for relatively a good price. To sum it up Cesky Krumlov is really very worthy on we favourite places list - merely for its attractive streets, boat flowing river atmosphere, relaxation qualities and cheapness. Would definitely visit. And it was just what we needed to split up Prague andVienna.