Riding a bit of the high after writing my last Side A post, so I decided to post another travel journal entry. See, you would think it is as easy as typing what I wrote on a notebook. But it definitely is not. Not for me, at least; not with how this weird over-analyzing mind works. As I type, I remember bits and pieces of that trip so I look at the pictures from that trip. And then now, I have to pick the pictures I want to include in the post. And then, this all makes me want to travel again, so I look for where I might want to go, and end up going down this rabbit hole of looking at all the possible places I want to travel to. And on and on. You get the point, right?
Anyway, this specific place (Český Krumlov) felt and looked like a place from a fairy tale; in fact, I think this whole trip felt magical if my memory serves me right (they rarely do these days 😅 so take that with a massive grain of salt). Anyway (again), on to my journal entry.
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10 October 2023, 8:12 PM - Český Krumlov
Ah, Český Krumlov, you are gorgeous!
Today was not as busy or as tough on my feet as yesterday. Mainly because most of the morning was spent on a bus from Prague to Cesky Krumlov. This is how my day went:
- Left the hotel around 7 AM via an Uber to get to the bus station. Pretty uneventful but the car ride did show me how much of Prague I didn't really get to see. Oh well, maybe next time.🤞🙏
- The bus ride to Cesky Krumlov was also pretty uneventful. See, sometimes I like uneventful days like this. Sometimes. Scenery-wise though, there wasn't really anything eye-catching. It actually reminded me just of regular US highways. There was even heavy traffic in some parts. Ha!
- Arrived in Cesky Krumlov a little after 11 AM. It was about a 600-meter walk from the bus stop to the hotel. Not far at all, except it felt like 600 miles when you're dragging a wheeled luggage (albeit a small-sized carryon) on cobble stones making an embarrassingly really loud clop-clopping noise, as if to announce to townsfolk, "hey, look! a dumb tourist!" 😓. (Side note: look up if there are rubber sound-dampening covers for luggage wheels later.) It just made me question my life choices so far.
- The person at the reception of the small hotel I'm staying at was out, but left me a key to the lobby door in a lockbox so I at least got my luggage inside.
- I was hungry so I foraged for some (late) breakfast. Found a place by the river (Tavern of the Two Maries) with relatively good reviews. I ordered a roasted duck with potato dumplings and cabbage -- duck and dumplings were good, didn't really care for the (fermented?) cabbage.
- Then went for a walk around town. It's a pretty small town so it didn't really take long to get my bearings. By the time I came back to the hotel, I pretty much stopped using Google maps to get to places. Some notable spots:
- Seminární zahrada - nice little park with a beautiful viewpoint. You can see the castle in the not so distant... distance. 😏
- Church of St. Vitus - beautiful little church on a hill.
- Fountain and Plague Column in a pretty town square.
- Came back to the hotel a little after 1 PM to checkin. I have this room on the top floor (penthouse, baby! but third floor, really. 😁) with a sloped ceiling (this is one of the rare times I am thankful not to be tall) and a tiny window with a view of the castle tower. Nice and cozy for one person, a little too tiny for more than that. Although, I guess you probably will not get this room if you're not travelling solo.
- Castle and Garden - most of the outside area is free to visit, which was nice. I did pay for a tour of the Baroque theater because I read that it's supposed to be worth visiting/seeing, and indeed it was. If I remember correctly and if I was paying attention, I think the tour guide said it's one of only two Baroque Theaters in Europe (or maybe the world?) -- need research here (Note: I just checked and there are others, but this is one of the oldest, rarest, and best-preserved). They still play opera a few times a year (six maybe?). But it was really interesting how the special effects -- both visual and sound -- were all done manually. As in, there are gears and platforms and parts and other objects pushed and pulled and turned and dragged by actual human beings underneath the stage! It was amazing! 😍
The Castle Garden was just fine. It was huge but not a lot of flowers this time of the year.
- Went for another walk around town and to look for some snacks/desserts. I found a cafe/restaurant at that town square I went to earlier, and had some Bohemian pancakes (that's what they were called on the menu). They were okay.
- Came back to the hotel again to rest my feet for a bit, and then went back to that small park to take some sunset (or almost sunset) photos.
- And now finally back at hotel to log in a few work hours. 😇
view from my room
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