Shortly after crossing the border to the Czech Republic, we arrived at the Cesky Krumlov Bus Station, and stopped for views of the city.
It was high above the town which is near where we took this picture of our group. Our group from left to right is: Simon, Mark, Rebecca, Michael, Doug, Krzysztof, Rebekah, and me.
We walked down into town on the cobbled streets to our guest house called Hospoda Na Louzi where we stayed for two nights. This guest house was originally built in 1459 and occupied by families whose trade were as Tanners and carpenters. Our two breakfasts here were included during our stay.
We got a tour of the city from Christian, who was originally from San Francisco and married a local girl here. Both his wife and daughter are also tour guides.
We began our church tour by visiting The Saint Vitus Church which was built in the early 1400s.
There’s a small tomb at the side of this area where the hearts of the Cesky Krumlov Dukes and their spouses were placed.
As we walked along the former monastery, our guide pointed out that the painting dated from the 15th century and appears three dimensional, and were well preserved. We would later find this painting style throughout the castle area.
We continue at our walk through the cobblestone streets past the City Hall and Plaza.
We crossed the river on this bridge where we saw many rafters flowing down the Vitava River.
Just outside Castle across the bridge entrance, there was a large area where three bears were roaming about.
Our guide filled us with information about the history of the rulers of the castle and where we would go for a tour of both the apartments of the rulers and the tower.
That evening we went to a riverside restaurant called Laibon which was a vegetarian restaurant run by a friend of our guide. For dinner, I had a mushroom plate along with a ginger-lemonade. The others had a variety foods from Nasi goering, chilli, goat cheese salad to quesadillas.
After breakfast the following morning, Doug and I ended up the castle for our tour of the apartments and the tower. We were able to buy tickets online for 240 Czech crowns as seniors.
The opulence of the Renaissance owners was astounding.
After viewing the living quarters, Doug and I went to purchase the ticket for the museum and tower.
The views from the tower were amazing.
After that, I went to find the post office to send off some postcards to my grandson. Doug headed out to explore more of the village.
I stopped at a restaurant along the river and had some goulash while watching rafters float by.
Most of our group enjoyed the afternoon of rafting down the river for 500 crowns for a half hour float. Here’s some pictures of their experience.
After rafting, we gathered for many to try the flights of beer samplings. There was complete agreement on which beer was the best and which one was the worst. I enjoyed the raspberry lemonade.
A few of our group hiked up to a church about 2 km up the hill. I decided to just go for a walk along the river.
I then had dinner at the Bolero restaurant which was right along the river across from where we had eaten the night before. I again ate the national meal of pork, sauerkraut, and dumplings, along with a mango lemonade. This one was much better than the first one I had back at our guest house. Here they serve the sauerkraut hot, and it is a bit sweeter than the sauerkraut. I eat back home.
As nightfall approached, I enjoyed viewing the lights of the castle and City Hall Square.
The bed was very comfortable so I had a good night sleep until awakened by the 7 AM Church bells that seemed to ring forever. I guess that’s one way for the town to wake up in the morning.
After breakfast, we walked up the cobblestone streets to the bus station
We got on a most luxurious bus that was a double-decker one that included free newspapers, a coffee machine. a toilet, charging station, and good air conditioning.
The local newspaper had an article that featured President Trump hiding away in a food cart on his way back from Turkey.
It was a comfortable three hour ride to Prague, our next two night stay.
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