Roof tops of Cesky Krumlov

8/23 - Cesky Krumlov (say Cheskay Crumb-love)

Our day began with a before-breakfast walk, which Rob took advantage of. We all met up for breakfast, and then were granted approximately 40 minutes of free time, in which several of us descended upon the Telc town square, krowns burning holes in our pockets. I bought a bunch of postcards (for all you Czech postcard signers-up) and a small enamel pin in the shape of an elephant. Too late, I remembered that the elephant is the symbol of the Republican party, so I won't be able to wear it until (knock wood) after the election. Shopping was pretty slim pickings, and you could tell that there were some serious shoppers among us who were feeling thwarted.

Then we convened to tour the Telc castle, and this is when my unfortunate incident occurred. Besides us, there was another group in town: about 30 people from Turkey, led by an imperious, pointy-nosed Czech woman. The night before, we'd sprinted to our hotel to beat them to the check-in, and I think that angered the pointy-nosed woman. We met up with the Turks at the gate of the castle, which pushed the PNW completely over the edge. She and sweet Katka got in an argument in Czech, and then Katka marched in waving at us to follow. I was in front, so I followed, at which point the PNW grabbed my arm and screamed "No! MY group first! We have already paid!"

Now, the mind under duress is a strange thing. I am disgusted by the fact that the "Oh no. Lady yell. Me bad, me bad!" part of my brain kicked in before the "Where the hell do you get off?" part did. I actually shrank back, and only after a few minutes did I pull myself together, say, "Uh, fuck HER," and walk in. It was extremely unsatisfying. 

The castle was wonderful, though, and eventually I stopped fuming enough to enjoy it. There was a Czech film being shot in the castle while we were there, so we got a bird's eye view of the action. See Rob's pictures.

The rest of our trip takes place in Bohemeia, which is the other major political and cultural section of the Czech Republic. We walked among the fish ponds in the afternoon. The scenery was gorgeous, with majestic tall trees, but the overriding impression that many of us have is of the vicious mosquitoes. Those of us who have to disrobe to pee in the woods remember these mosquitoes particularly well.

We then went to the Bohemian city of Cesky Krumlov, whose tourist industry is not quite so "developing." We're staying in a 16th century castle for the next few days. There have been no restraints made on the historic preservation of the building, and we're all  enjoying the glamor.

--Lisa

Tower at Cesky Krumlov

River Vltava

Our guide, Katka, offers an afternoon snack on the trail

Back to the top