Czech Republic: Oct. 29 - Nov. 4

Ceski Krumlov: Thursday Nov. 3, 2005

It was another early start for the McKinney family. However after all those sleep-in days in Prague, certain members of the family were out of practice and rather slow to get moving. Our apartment agency offered us a free ride to the train station which was the beginning of a good day of travel. We had to take two trains, making a change to a small local one at Ceske Budejovice. However everything was on time and we were able to get seats together, even in second class. The train gods were on our side today.

When we arrived in the station at Cesky Krumlov, we were surprised by the lack of taxis. There wasn’t even a sign to show a taxi stand or a phone to make a call for one. Brian was looking at the distance sign posts at the bus stop. He tried desperately to convince us that 2.5 km wasn’t that far. Ordinarily I would agree with him but not this time. We didn’t have a map or any directions as to where our hotel was within the city. We were carrying heavy bags and it was starting to rain. To top all of this, it was very hilly. So I took some initiative and asked the train ticket lady to call us a cab. As we climbed steadily to get to our hotel, the kids and I were thankful that we hadn’t walked.

After dropping off our stuff, we headed out to explore the town. Officially it dates back to 1253 but there was evidence of inhabitation by many peoples such as the Celts and the Slavs before this time. The name comes from Old Germanic: Krumben Ouwe, which means crooked meadow. This was totally appropriate as the town was built on the land sandwiched between some oxbows in the Vltava River. Today we saw a settlement of stone-built town houses which radiated a feeling of medieval or Renaissance lifestyle and dominated by the second largest castle in Bohemia. I couldn‘t stop taking pictures and about 40 minutes after we started our trek, the sun came out. Yeah! (The sad part was that I later discovered that for some reason, I lost half my photos.)

After a wander through the village, we headed up the hill to check out the castle. What an incredible view from the castle walls. I saw why the area was a World UNESCO Heritage site. There weren’t many tourists around and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. In fact most of the people we encountered were students heading home from school. On top of the hill, there were cultured gardens that were mostly dormant at this time of the year. We enjoyed the fall colours instead.

After a long walk back to the hotel, we were all prepared for a truly hearty meal. We have discovered that it is impossible not to get a stick to your ribs kind of meal in any of the former Eastern bloc countries. Brian and Brennan found a tavern built into an old cellar. We sat in a candlelit cave-like room and had a marvelous meal. Brian ordered the house specialty: Pig knees. They turned out to be quite delicious but the quantity and richness of the food also did him in. The rest of us had pork in some variation; all of those meals were fabulous too. I don’t know if a Jewish or Muslim person could make it through a tour of these countries. I know that a vegetarian would probably not!!!! We wobbled back on the slick cobblestones to our hotel and called it a night. The kids watched the European MTV music awards and Brian and I curled up with a good book. It seemed like the right thing to do on a wet, cold evening after a gigantic meal.

Friday, Nov. 4, 2005: Cesky Krumlov

As we had seen most of the town yesterday and nobody really felt like exploring the interiors of the castle, it was decided that we should go on a hike. We thought that we would live a little dangerously and try the local trails without a map. In theory this should have been a good idea however in practice, it was an experience.

It started off as a gray and cloudy morning which soon deteriorated into a foggy, wet and cold day. We thought we would walk to one of the neighbouring villages through the woods, a distance of 3 km. As we entered the forest of dripping wet trees and swirling mists, Sierra was really freaked out by the atmosphere. She sensed werewolves and other scary creatures lurking in the shadows. I was just trying to keep my footing on all the slippery leaves and mud. Several times we had to stop and figure out which way to go because there were often multiple paths and complicated signage. (I think over time, the signs have turned with the wind and been weathered so the paint has faded.) We finally got to the top of the hill to an open clearing, thinking that the village must be just at the bottom. Instead we found more signs saying that the nearest village was still another 4 km farther! The sign in Cesky Krumlov said that the first village was only 3km away. At this point, we decided to turn around. However Brian wanted to check out one other trail first. He wanted to get ahead of us a little bit to do some video footage. The kids had been a little goofy up to this point, so I figured he wanted to catch them in action. So we waited and then took off after him. When we couldn’t see him at the top of the first knoll, we were a little concerned. Eventually we caught up to him but we still aren’t sure if he tried to ditch us? At this point, we were in another clearing without any obvious direction markers. Brian suggested we try another new trail and off we went but not before leaving a sign at the clearing. (We were being good boy scouts.) This trail took us through high wet grass and even more mud but it turned out to be a good short cut back to the original trail. Yeah we were halfway back to town. By the time we returned, we were wet and hungry but happy to be out of the fog.

After a quick lunch and a valiant but failed attempt by me to buy some local jewellery, Brian and I left the kids doing homework in the hotel. We wandered along the river’s edge and through some new passageways in the town for the remainder of the afternoon. I even walked by the same jewellery store with the moldavite, a semi-precious green stone found only in Bohemia. Again I had no luck and even threw out the big Christmas hint. Dinner was another delicious and filling Czech meal. We knew that tomorrow was going to be another early day.

Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005: Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic to Munich, Germany

I have never traveled so long to go such a short distance. We had to take four trains to get to Munich, a car distance of about 140kms. Thankfully once again the train gods were on our side and everything went smoothly. We were on time, (part of journey was through the ever efficient Austria), and the trains were not crowded. As a bonus there were non-smoking cars, yeah! The kids were fantastic travelers once again, helping with bags, finding platforms etc. However we are all tired of train travel and are greatly looking forward to renting a car after our stay in Munich. I personally think the happiest one of the four of us is Brian. He is just itching to get behind the wheel again.

When we arrived in Munich it was about 7 on a Sunday evening and the tourist information center was closed. We didn’t have a map or any clue as to where our hotel was located so we decided to take a cab. Did we ever feel foolish when the taxi driver took us around two blocks and then pulled up to our hotel?!!!! Brian gave him a huge tip out of guilt. We could have walked the direct route in less than 5 minutes. The poor driver lost his prime spot at the front of the taxi line for our measly fare. Hotel Condor turned out to be another great find. It was small like many of European hotels but it was well situated, clean, quiet and reasonably priced. Tomorrow we are off to Dachau.( NEXT PAGE )