Cesky Krumluv, Again... But with the Bob this time!

Once we made it to our hostel we found a note on the door...

"Lorna, we have gone to dinner. You can check in with Carolyn at blah blah blah.. Here is a map"

Great. I really needed to use the bathroom after 3+ hours of traveling by train. So with the map in hand, the Bob and I twist down these tiny little steps onto a dark residential looking street... Could not for the life of us find this place mentioned on the note. So there is this place called BarBar... I walk in and ask for help. The barkeep doesn't speak English but does speak German.. great so after awhile of really terrible German between the 2 of us I get the directions straight and he says "Ahoj!" Great he spoke Czech...(much easier for me than German).

So we find this Carolyn and she checks us in. We drop our bags and head straight out to the restaurant that I had reserved for us on our way into town. We go down these tight little corkscrew stairs into these catacombs. We are then served the beer that is brewed there and lots of meat! Bob loved it.

The next day we got up and went to redeem ourselves at Laibon, a vegetarian restaurant on the way out of town. The food was so good... I don't think Bob understands how much I miss a variety of well prepared vegetables that don't include potatoes!



After lunch we walked towards the castle. We walked the bridge over the mote and look down... what do we see?

A huge brown bear! No kidding.

The castle was once entirely protected by a mote that was filled with bear... I think I would prefer water and alligators but hey... when in Czech land.

We climbed the largest tower in at the castle and looked down upon the tiny little Cesky town...

I sort of felt like a princess till Bob was like telling me to check out how far he could spit...



After the tower we walked the rest of the castle grounds and all except the castle gardens... like anything worth while in the Cesky Republiky.. closed till April. The lengths I will go through to see a garden...


Right on schedule the clouds came together, blocked out the sun and out came the rain... Just like a normal day in Eastern Europe. We left the castle grounds and retreated back into the town and found a little cafe near an art gallery... where I picked up a print by Egon Schille (20th century Czech painter) love it!

Bob and I got some of the traditional horka cokolada which resembles hot pudding and is quite good.. but you need to order another drink just to wash it down.

The rain continued so Bobby and I headed back to the hostel to hang out. We read, played on the computer and talked with the Aussie couple that ran the joint. Later that night we went into town per their recommendation and ate at a little place called Two Marys (Dva Maryz).

We barley found the door and as soon as we walked in the smoke pour out of the little room. "Restaurant upstairs" So up we go. Into this little room with 4 tables. We were the only ones there. We ordered garlic soup and the bohemian for 2... loads of good food.

I then took Bob to all the local bars and we finally settled at the Travelers Hostel Bar which really doesn't have travelers... more like all the townies...Then headed back to the hostel.

Next morning was Czech out. We left our things and hit town for breakfast. We also went to a cucarie (sweetshop) for dessert. That afternoon we climbed to the ridge opposite of the castle which has an abandoned church at the top. Every 50 meters or so there would be a shrine assuring that you were heading in the right direction. This is the hill I went sledding from in January to give an inclination of how steep it was... also very slushy from the thaw.

So after seeing the view we headed down and said our goodbyes at the hostel. Went to the bus station to catch our bus and took the 3 hour trip back to the city...

for pictures of this trip check out http://picasaweb.google.com/allen.lorna/200903_CeskyKrumlovBob#