Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Castles and Ghosts and Bears, Oh My! Rafting and Pommies and Beers, Oh My!
Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
For the last 2 weeks we had been running all over 4 big cities, which was wonderful, jampacked, exciting and...exhausting. So when our bus rolled into the gorgeous little Czech town of Cesky Krumlov we all breathed a satisfied sigh, kicked our feet up and got ready for some serious relaxation.
What a picteresque little town. While the boys did a little grocery shopping, Gem and I went for a wander with a few lovely Busabout kids to czech it out. (Oh, Oh, another cracker of a Czech joke, she's on fire!) With just the one main street and a few side streets it didn't take too long to explore the little shops selling scarves and silver jewellery, or the single tourist attraction of the castle.
The castle is pretty, although all the walls are painted with designs of statues, bricks and other embellishments - it gives a strange impression that you are on a movie set. The bears in the pit below the castle are very real however, and look quite happy and kind of cuddly in their lush enclosure. The castle gardens are small but pretty and we all lay in the grass for a while and chatted, soaking in the sunshine. It's also a great view of the entire town with it's gurgling river winding through gorgeous medieval buildings.
After a wine in a vegetarian restaurant next to the river and a little free entertainment compliments of the high as a kite waiter, we wandered back through the town slowly, basking in the sun and thinking how peaceful it is here. Then we watched a car run over a tourist.
Ok, well that's an exaggeration, but only slight. As the driver pushed impatiently through the crowds over the bridge, she made no attempt to beep, and after smacking this poor guy in the leg with a huge thump, she proceeded onwards revving her car violently to warn others to move it or lose it. I get it, I get it - so many tourists with so little spatial awareness...but sheesh!
We got back to the hostel and had a dinner of enchiladas and a side salad compliments of Ben "I don't know how to cook" Odgers - a lovely, delicious surprise! Very impressed, although now his cover is blown and we'll be looking forward to more of the same ;-) And then it was off to bed by the 10am noise curfew, as there is nowhere else to go really. Forced sleep...a good thing.
I found it a little hard to sleep that night though, as the staff had earlier told us that the hostel was a leprosy hospital previously and is now haunted.The horror movie 'Hostel' was also partly filmed in Cesky Krumlov. So when I realised my bed in our attic dorm was tucked away from everyone else's, next to a window and a mysterious locked door, I threw my pride out said window and ended up crawling into Mark's tiny single bed! Truly am becoming a wuss in my old age!
We woke up fresh and excited for the day's events - it was perfect weather for a rafting pub crawl! The Aussie hostel worker drove us all 20kms out of town and dropped us beside the river with some inflatable rafts, paddles and our stash of alcohol. After a few yelled instructions and chest beating antics which had us all eye rolling madly, he drove away and we were on our own for the next 7 hours.
Despite the apparent OHS nightmare there was only one girl who had a bit of a chunder over the side (at 18 she bounced right back afterwards though!). Oh and then there was the English fellow who dived in to the knee deep water to retrieve an oar and emerged with a big bloody gash on his head and chest, possibly a mild concussion and definitely a wounded ego.
Otherwise, a great group of people, wonderful warm weather, some tunes and extremely cheap drinks set us up well for what became one of the most memorable, fun days of our trip. We linked our four rafts together and drifted down the icy river, only separating and paddling to maneuver one of four 'rapids' or to pull into one of the many campsite or backyard bars along the way. A perfect summer day.
The following day our Busabout mates departed and we stayed on for a day of pure relaxation - we all drifted our own way for a couple of hours to read books in the sunshine, go for a wander, watch some movies and just generally chillax. That evening Gem and I had intended to go back to the castle gardens to watch a play at the revolving theatre - Robin Hood, all in Czech, set in the open air with real horses and forest etc. It sounded like a great, unique experience...but we got distracted and lost track of time when the hostel pulled out a free keg of beer and a ping pong table!
By the morning, Gemma had been throwing up all night and I was nursing a piercing headache. However it's not what you're thinking, we went to bed as sober as Sue apparently always is. Gem's stomach bug lasted a full 24hrs and passed onto Ben next, while I was embarking on five days of the worst flu I have ever experienced. Unluckily for poor Gem we had to catch a 3 hour bus that afternoon, but the lovely Czech hostel worker, Z, let her stay in bed all morning and even brought her some ginger and honey tea - so sweet! Above and beyond service, and we will recommend this hostel now to everyone. (Hostel 99!)
A bit of a crappy note to end on, but we all loved Cesky Krumlov, and the bus ride back to Prague was easy and vomit free :-) Before we knew it, we were waving goodbye to Ben and Gem across a jampacked train, no time for hugs as they pushed through and went off to their separate accommodation. The next morning they were flying to Croatia, while we took a longer route on a tour through Poland, Slovakia and Hungary . It will now be 5 or 6 weeks until we meet again for our last few days of the tour at Oktoberfest in Munich!
Where is the time going?
- comments