Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

View of Cesky Krumlov from Krumlov Castle.

Continuation from Vienna, Austria

Day 23 (Saturday, September 27th 2008)

My last day in Vienna began with a 10:30 train departure to Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. After departing from Vienna, I arrived two hours and 15 minutes later in Gmund, Austria. According to the train schedule I had researched, I should have only waited about one hour until the next train arrived, which would take me to Ceske Budejovice. However, after waiting 70 minutes and realizing that the train wasn’t going to arrive, I walked up to the attendant to see what the issue was. The schedule I had looked at was a Monday through Friday timetable, and today was Saturday so the train schedule was completely different. I then had to wait another hour for a train to come. I was quite irritated and angry with myself, but eventually realized that there was nothing I could do to change the situation and much worse things could have happened.

The tiny and ancient train headed for Ceske Budejovice arrived an hour later. I rode on the train for about 45 minutes until I came to a stop where most of the passengers were disembarking, which I thought was unusual but didn’t give much thought to. However, a few seconds later a local attendant walked onto the train and told me to get off and “bus." His hand was pointed across the way, where I saw two buses loading passengers.

Apparently, some of the rail lines were undergoing maintenance, but no one nor did the schedule notify anyone of this.Thankfully, the bus ride into Ceske Budejovice only took about 15 minutes. Once in that town, I was supposed to take a train into Cesky Krumlov, but low and behold, a bus was waiting for me instead and my one hour bus journey to Cesky Krumlov began. However, about 10 minutes into the ride, the bus stopped at a train station. A few people got off, and then a man motioned and told everyone to “come” and “train” so I got back on a train. The entire experience was very strange, the back and forth nature of it all. In total, my journey lasted about eight long hours.

From the train station in Cesky Krumlov, I decided to walk into town versus taking a taxi cab as Rick Steves had indicated it was only a 20 minute downhill walk. Seemed simple enough at the time, but hindsight made me realize I should have taken a taxi. The first part of the walk wasn’t bad as it was slightly downhill. Eventually I came to a cobblestone lined street that was at a very steep incline. My suitcase couldn't handle the uneven surface, so I had to carry it all the way down the hill. I continued to encounter cobblestone, but decided to pull the suitcase behind me as my arms were killing me.

I made it to the gates at the beginning of the old town and followed the main street as it curved around the river. The cobblestone streets were full of people and I was blown away with the town. It was completely gorgeous and visually stunning with medieval and baroque architecture of every imaginable color. The Vltava River curved beautifully along the walls of the city, and overlooking everything was the castle on the top of the hill. It was beyond all expectations I had of the town and I instantly fell in love with it.

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

I finally made it to the hotel about 30 minutes later. The name of my hotel was Castle View Apartments and I stayed in the ground view apartment for 1800 Czech Crown ($106 USD). The room was quite nice, recently remolded with loads of character and even had an extremely comfortable bed, which I had sorely missed throughout my trip.

Castle View Apartments

Castle View Apartments

Castle View Apartments

Castle View Apartments

After dropping my bags off, I walked through Cesky Krumlov's main square to a nearby restaurant called Na Louzi. It appeared to be full when looking through the windows, but I was able to snag a small table in front. Due to the expense of dining in Vienna, I hadn’t really had a "real" meal since Ljubljana, Slovenia (excluding the meal on the boat the night before) so I was very excited to be eating again in the cheap land of the Czech Republic where huge glasses of beer only cost $1.50 USD! For the main course, I had the Czech version of chicken cordon blue with delicious potatoes. For dessert, I ordered ice cream which was very good. For all of this food, I spent about $12 USD; such a deal compared to the cost of dining in a country on the Euro!

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

Chicken dish with potatoes at Na Louzi.

Ice cream dessert at Na Louzi.

Prague, Czech Republic

Prague's Old Town Square.

From Friday, September 5th to Tuesday, September 30th, 2008, I traveled to Eastern and Central Europe, visiting the countries of Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, with a one day stay in Paris on my way home. This trip report will be broken down into several sections: Prague, Krakow, Eger, Budapest, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Southern Austria, Vienna, Cesky Krumlov, and last but not least, Paris.

Day 1-Day 2 (Friday, September 5th and Saturday, September 6th, 2008)

After flying for over 20 hours on three different flights, I finally arrived at Prague's airport. From here, I had arranged for a driver to take me to the apartment in Prague I had rented. The drive from the airport to the historical center of town took about 20 minutes.

As I approached the center of town, the paved roads turned to cobblestone and that’s when I really began to feel excited. The city was absolutely stunning with many brightly colored different types of architectural styles including Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Art Nouveau; they were a complete mismatch of buildings that when combined together, turned into something beautiful. Another thing that I noticed almost immediately was the mass hordes of tourists. It was actually quite surprising as I had not expected the sheer number of people that I saw.

When I arrived at Konza Apartments I was greeted by the friendly owner, Pasquale Gusmano. He walked me up the two flights of stairs to my apartment, which was huge and spacious! There were four rooms total: the bathroom, hallway, kitchen/dining room, and the large bedroom with a few seating areas. The best part of the apartment, though, was its amazing location, literally a two minute walk to the Old Town Square. I could not have found a more central or atmospheric location! I discovered that he had even included a few items in the fridge for me including a large bottle of water, a container of orange juice, and some milk. I was quite impressed with his level of thoughtfulness as I had never encountered anything quite like that before at any of my hotel or bed and breakfast stays. It’s the little things that can truly make a huge difference.

Konza Apartments in Prague.

Konza Apartments in Prague.

Konza Apartments in Prague.

Afterward, Pasquale took me on a quick introductory walk of the Old Town Square, pointing out important places like the nearby bank and Italian restaurant.

After Pasquale left, I walked back to the apartment, freshened up, and headed back onto the hot streets of Prague to fight my quickly looming jet lag. I was surprised at how warm it was; it was close to 90 degrees that day!

I first walked around the gorgeous Old Town Square, which was filled to the brim with tourists and way too many tour groups. I stopped in at two churches (Tyn Church and Church of St. Nicolas). From Tyn Church, I walked around the corner to Ungelt Courtyard, which seemed a peaceful world away from nearby madness of Old Town Square.

Church of St. Nicholas in Prague's Old Town Square.

Church of St. Nicholas in Prague's Old Town Square.

Interior of the Church of St. Nicholas in Prague's Old Town Square.

Interior of the Church of St. Nicholas in Prague's Old Town Square.

Door nob on the Church of St. Nicholas in Prague's Old Town Square.

Church of St. Nicholas in Prague's Old Town Square.

Tyn Church in Prague's Old Town Square.

The clock tower on Old Town Square in Prague.

Old Town Square in Prague.

The clock tower on Old Town Square in Prague.

The clock tower on Old Town Square in Prague.

Tyn Church in Prague's Old Town Square.

Prague's Old Town Square.

Prague's Old Town Square.

Prague's Old Town Square.

Prague's Old Town Square.

Prague's Old Town Square.

Prague's Old Town Square.

Ungelt Courtyard in Prague.

Beautiful building in Prague.

Beautiful building in Prague.

I continued walking until I reached the Church of St. James, which I had planned to tour the interior of, but was unable to as it was closed for the day.

Church of St. James in Prague.