Cesky Krumlov

At the beautiful UNESCO heritage site.

Cesky Krumlov - Short Video

UNESCO description - "Situated on the banks of the Vltava river, the town was built around a 13th-century castle with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements. It is an outstanding example of a small central European medieval town whose architectural heritage has remained intact thanks to its peaceful evolution over more than five centuries."

Cesky Krumlov

April 19/08 - After Hluboka, Mike dropped us just outside the royal garden of Cesky Krumlov castle, so we only had to walk down and meet up with him later in the parking lot below the castle. For other tourists, they had to walk up to the castle which is up on the hill.

The view of the bohemian town from the castle was beautiful. However, the town's medieval buildings looked too new - too perfect. The town is surrounded by the Vltava river in a U shape bend (just like Aare river around Bern).

Bought tickets for the guided tour which started at the chapel and ended at the Masquerede Hall. After the guided tour, we left the castle through the main entrance which had moat with bears inside.

The town was pleasant to explore on foot. We found our way to St Vitus, the town square and a garden which had wonderful view of the castle. We wondered how it was like in the past, the town people went about their business with the castle people looking down at them and how the town folks looked up at the castle and wondered what it was like living up there.

We also found a "free toilet". Yes, as the sign said - the toilet was free and reasonably clean.
We had wanted to see how the town looked like in the dark - no such chance, at 8 pm it was still very bright. We gave up waiting for the sky to turn dark. Maybe next time, we will return for a night's stay.

Hluboka Castle

April 19/08 - We hired a chauffer, Michael Jakubuv to drive us from Prague to Hluboka Castle, Cesky Krumlov and on to Munich. This was a good option because we had the convenience of leaving Cesky Krumlov late at night and arriving direct at our hostel in Munich. Mike was very efficient although we had a little problem with the German police after crossing Czech border. I guessed it looked suspicious having a group of Asians travelling in a van with a Czech driver. After about an hour of checking through our passports and validating them through their phones, we were finally allowed to continue with our journey.



Hluboka looked very Windsor like because it was model after that famous castle in England. However the jewel of Hluboka was to be found in the wood panelling - very exquisite carving. Not surprising because the owner (Schwarzenberg) used to be a timber merchant. (same owner as Cesky Krumlov castle).

Karlovy Vary

Apr 17/08 - Took the early morning bus (about 1 hour half journey) from Florenc to Karlovy Vary, the famous spa town. Dropped off at the bus stop which is just at the edge of the main shopping street. (Note - the return bus does not pick up from this bus stop, the bus station is about 500 m away).

Bought some Czech waffles (flat and round with cream in the center) - tasted so good fresh from the shop. Hiked up the hill behind the Thermal Spa for a good view of the town. The open air swimming pool looked so inviting that we returned later for a swim.

Bought the special cups from the souvenir stands near Spa Colonnade and tried out almost all off the hot springs curative water. Of all, we loved the Becherovka (an alcoholic tonic, not hot spring water). There are 12 springs for drinking and they are all free of charge. Some of the water tasted like hot salt water whereas some had too much sulphur and tasted like water from rusted plumbing. Nevertheless, we tasted all, had more of those great tasting ones. The one at the Mill Colonade near the Becherovka shop must be the most famous ones - very long line of people, all waiting to take their turn to collect the water.

Becherovka is a brand of bitters prepared since 1805 from 19 herbs in accordance with a traditional recipe drawn up by the Imperial Count's personal Physician, Dr. Frobzig. We don't know if it did any good for us but it sure warmed us up against the cold.

The town is quite pretty, elegant pastel multi-coloured buildings along the bank of the Tepla river. The most elegant of these buildings must be the Grand Hotel Pupp. Fans of James Bond will recognize this building from Casino Royale. No time and money for bohemian spa treatment, we returned to Prague in the evening.