Cesky Krumlov (Czech Republic)

Overlooking Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov is a town of 14,000 in the Czech Republic. We spent a full day there after visiting the Czech capital, Prague. We arrived to the weather we are becoming accustomed to: overcast skies with occasional drizzle and sometimes rain. Our driver unloaded us and our luggage. Then, we followed him up the jagged cobblestone, inside the castle walls, then down some steps, through a marionette shop and up a steep staircase to our rooms. Talk about an auspicious beginning! We wandered through this tiny town, taking in the church (St. Vitus), the frescoes, liquid chocolate, the castle, the royal gardens. Then, we were free to start planning for our full day the next day.

Inside the castle

The next day, we woke up bright and early enough to purchase our tickets for the Cesky Krumlov Castle Tour I. The castle has been owned by various families over the years. Since WWII, it has been nationalized and the Czech Republic up keeps it. Although you can walk through the castle grounds and the garden for free, in order to see inside the castle, you will need to pay for a tour. We signed up for Tour I. Our guide unlocked each door; we all entered each room; and, she locked the door behind us. No photos were allowed. It was interesting to see the different rooms staged with furnishings from the different royal families. We noticed a painting of a young girl with an adult face. At the time it was painted, it was considered bad luck to paint the children with their actual faces. In order to prevent their untimely deaths, adult faces were painted on children instead. We also learned why beds were so much shorter -- there was also a belief that if one laid down while sleeping, he/she would die. All these royalty slept sitting up to prevent death! The most beautiful room was the last, the Masquerade Hall. It is painted in Rococo style. The entire room is painted party-goers in their masks and costumes. There is even a boy peeking into one of the mirrors; and, his image is painted on the mirror looking back at us.

Masquerade Hall

The most popular attraction in Cesky Krumlov is the Baroque Theater. The stage actually rotates so that the back stage can set up scenes behind the curtains while another scene is playing out in front of the crowd. Since it is one of few Baroque Theaters in Europe (and, since there isn't much to do in Cesky Krumlov), the shows sell out far in advance. I checked for tickets; and, the entire week was sold out. However, there was a music festival going on in Cesky Krumlov while we were there. I was able to purchase a ticket to see a trio (piano, cello, violin) play in the Masquerade Hall. They played music by Czech composers (including Antonin Dvorak). What excellent musicianship! And, what a great venue! It was the perfect way to end my stay in Cesky Krumlov.

My faves to eat:
Laibon -- vegetarian. Delicious red lentil soup, rice pudding, sabje, hummus, and spiced wine. Not spicy enough to be truly Indian; but, the perfect amount of spice for this Midwesterner. :)
Bon Bon -- liquid dark and milk chocolate in a cup or cone. Need I say more?
Cesky Pernik (Old Bohemian Gingerbread) -- watch them make gingerbread in front of the shop or purchase some of the pressed gingerbread inside. It's all yummy!
Zapa Cocktail Bar -- we went for the "penicillin" and stayed for all the good drinks. Try out the fig infused vodka.

Prague

Charles Bridge over Vltava River

Prague, city of never ending rain. It was either about to rain, sprinkling or raining the entire time that we visited. The evening that we arrived was late and way past dinner time. All the fun touring started the next day.

Astronomical clock

Prague has many interesting sights to see. However, I was most looking forward to the astronomical clock. It was my first stop on our first full day in Prague. It was originally built in 1410. While it may just look like two dials, it is actually quite complex. Bohemia (a state in Czech Republic) has it's own time keeping system with the hours starting to count at sun down each night. The clock's outer dial shows Bohemian time, which rotates around the next dial with 24 Roman numerals that correspond to that hours we follow today. The clock's innermost cycle shows the cycle of the moon. In between these three rings, the clock displays sunrise and sunset, changing throughout the year to match shorter and longer days. Quite an amazing feat for a clock in 1410! Between the hours of 9 am and 9 pm, the figures around and above the clock do a little dance on each hour. It's fun but not as amazing as the ingenious time keeping of the clock.

Cathedral inside castle complex

The Prague castle complex has it's origins in the 9th century. Did you know that Good King Wenceslas of Christmas carol fame was actually one of the first Czech royalty? Even though he was killed in the 10th century, there is a chapel honoring him in the large St. Vitus Cathedral in the center of the Prague Castle complex. The Cathedral is the dominating feature of the castle. The palace portions are now used by various governmental offices. None are as impressive as the Cathedral. There is still a street with original old houses in the castle complex. There are lots of souvenir shops squeezed in there as well as an upstairs armor display. While you can walk through the general castle grounds for free, there are charges to see the gardens, the cathedral, the little side street. We went through Sandmann's castle tour and were able to enter all except the gardens. One more interesting note about the castle -- the guards' uniforms were designed by the Czech costume designer who did the costumes for the movie Amadeus.

Schwarzenberg Palace decorated in scraffito

For a good overview of Prague, I highly recommend the free walking tour. (Tour guides work for tips and/or for you to sign up for one of their paid tours.) We really enjoyed our tour with the guide. He told us about the history of different buildings of monuments. For example, did you know that Mozart's "Don Giovanni" premiered in Prague? Or that there is still a golem in the attic of a Jewish synagogue? Or that Jan Hus translated the Bible from Latin into the local language and preached in the local language long before Martin Luther and his Reformation? Or, have you ever seen buildings covered in the decorative art of sgraffito?