RTW Honeymoon #5: Czeching out the Countryside - Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Digg this page

Save This Page

Stumble It!

Gutenmorgan damen und herren!

The hills are alive with the sound of Salzburg...currently in Austria, we wax nostalgic on our time in the Czech Republic:

Watching the trees wheel above his head, Sean is called from his reverie by the screams of his wife, "Sean!! Sean, the rapids!!!"

"Hmm...yes, love? What about them?"

"I don't want to go first!! You go first!!"

"But love, you're ahead of me in the river."

"But I'm just a poor wee lass at the mercy of this huge frightening river and you're a great, big strong Irish man who can come to my rescue!" Sean had to admit she had a point...he was of Irish descent. "C'mon Sean!!! I can paddle really hard and stay in one place. Pleeeeeaaaaseeee!!"

The gigantic inner tubes our hostel in Cesky Krumlov lends free of charge to residents can be launched from a quiet cove upriver to float for about 45 minutes through two areas of rapids, past and impressive view of Krumlov castle on its cliffside perch, numerous Czech resident backyards and restaurants that offer to tie up your innertube while you step in for a drink. Local children may run alongside, waiting to see if you'll survive the rapids without being launched from your inner tube. We did survive the rapids and Sean did manage to overtake me to thoroughly soak himself before I followed suit a few seconds later. Laughing and splashing, we must have been an amusing sight, our tubes wheeling and turning as we leaned backward, reaching out to each other to send one another spinning in faster circles downriver.

Cesky Krumlov is a quiet little knotwork of cobblestone streets and bridges below beautiful mountain trails in the south of the Czech Republic, the third (and best) place we visited in our trip around the countryside. Leaving Prague to her hoards of tourists, we first fled to Kutna Hora, an unassuming little hamlet with one of the most impressive gothic cathedrals in Europe - not that you'd know it from the sleepy way of life in the village and the total lack of foreigners. From there we spent a chilling day in the northern fortress city of Terezin - a 17^th century fortress converted by the Nazis into a Jewish internment center. The town was a devious bit of propaganda, meant to appear as a "resort" for Jews during WWII. In reality, it was the gateway to the concentration camps; many people died there from disease, abuse and overcrowding. Survivors of the tragedy help run the museum and exhibits - spartan rooms with equipment and deteriorating wooden bunks, untouched, unchanged from how they were at the end of the war...terrifyingly quiet and solemn.

The last few days we have been enjoying the hospitality of our friend Heidi in Austria. She whizzed us around beautiful Salzburg the morning after we arrived. We attended mass Sunday morning in "the dome," an incredible cathedral with five separate pipe organs arranged to create a "surround-sound" experience for listeners before heading up into Salzburg's castle where we experienced fantastic views of verdant Salzburg and her river below the black, soaring, snow-capped alpine backdrop. Finally, our hostess made sure we sampled a variety of the local brews (banana bread beer... no, really). Tonight we are promised a trip to the famous monastery brewary in town...Sean can't wait. We spent the day yesterday wearing out our feet in Vienna and sharing music and good cheer with our fellow hostelers and another friend of Heidi's who lives there. The pace of our trip has accelerated with the activation of our Eurail passes and as to what our next destination is...we're not sure. Tomorrow we hop a train for...



Digg this page | Save This Page | Stumble It!