Cesky Krumlov, and the start of the Prague saga

The rest of my evening in Budeojovice was good.  Karel came home from work, and wanted to cook dinner for us.  He was determined to host though, so I wasn't allowed to help, and he offered me a beer, so I just sat down on my make-shift bed in the kitchen and chatted and played with his cats.  He wanted to make a traditional Czech dish - it was potatoes and onions, covered in different pepper spices, with some kind of pork (maybe they were porkchops - he didn't know the word in English, and I didn't know the meat), and then covered in bacon, heavy cream, and cheese, and baked in the oven.  I knew it was going to kill me, but I also wanted to be polite, so I ate some of it, as well as two digestive enzymes and six lact-aid. 

It smelled good while cooking - and the potatoes were delicious.  I did eat some of the meat, but I wasn't crazy over the texture, and I couldn't finish the dish. I also felt like I was dying the next morning. 

The town square in Cesky Krumlov.  So many tourists.  So much rain.

This street was way steeper than it looks.  Castle tower in the background.

Mostly, I've been living off bread, fruit, cheese, and the odd meal out.  My stomach has been getting worse, but other than home-cooking every meal, it's actually pretty hard to eat here.  Czech's like meat with their meat.  I can't believe I'm saying this traveling in Europe, but I can't wait to get home and cook properly again. 

I woke up the next morning to the pouring rain that had continued through the night.  I left Karel's place mid-morning to catch my bus to Cesky Krumlov, and got totally soaked.  I had to walk 30 minutes to the bus station, in the rain, except it was raining so hard that I missed my street and ended up way out of the way before I realized it, and had to turn around and figure out how to get back so I wouldn't miss my bus.  I had left early enough that it was fine, but once I got to where the bus station was supposed to be, I couldn't find it.  I entered the shopping mall, and tried to find someone who looked like they might speak enough English to help me out.  I didn't, but I did find an info centre for the local bus. So I pulled up my bus ticket on my phone, and just hand-waved and shrugged, and pointed around, and pointed at my phone until someone understood.  Turns out the bus station was on the roof of the shopping centre. 

I never would have figured that out.

More castle tower shots.

Up on the castle grounds, overlooking part of the town.

Overlooking the hills...what you can see of them, anyhow.

Another town shot

My pants were still wet from doing laundry the night before, so I was in shorts, all my of long-sleeve shirts, rain jacket, and I was wet and miserable.  I wasn't freezing, because it was still 14C, but I wasn't comfortable or warm. 

The bus was without incident, and 30 minutes later I came to Cesky Krumlov (pronounced Chesky Crumb-lov).  It was raining hard here too, but my walk to the hostel was only ten minutes and I found it no problems. 

I immediately changed into my only other dry outfit, my short summer dress (the one with fishes on it!).  And then I threw on all my upper layers again, changed my socks (but my shoes were still soaked), and immediately bought an umbrella from a souvenir shop next door.  It wasn't ideal, but it was the best I could do.  I suspect the umbrella will break in the first wind.  It's awful.  I only paid 100kc (koruna) for it, so about 4 euros, or 7 dollars.  I'm leaving it in Europe for sure. 

Literally the worst photo of me, ever...and there's a raindrop on the lens over my face.

Hey mama, what is this flower?  They were growing all over one of the walls. 

Cesky Krumlov was really beautiful.  I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to, and the horizon views weren't as majestic as they're supposed to be on a clear day, but the town itself was still really pretty.  In 1993, the entire town became an UNESCO site. It's a massive castle upon on a craggy hill, overlooking the town, formed in between the lazy curves of a slow river.  The entire town was like walking into medieval Europe.  In the 1600s, a very rich King was in power, and remodeled the entire town and castle into the Baroque style, a lot of which is still around.  The town was also SUPER touristy.  It really reminded me of Mont St. Michel in France, the benedictine monastery that I went to in 2011.  Huge structure up on the hill, and the supporting town surrounding it...crawling with tourists.

Sorry, I didn't tire of taking photos of the town.

I've been reading up on Czech history, and man, have they had a bad time of things in recent history.  In 1938, Germany occupied Czechoslovakia.  In 1945, they were liberated by the Russians (in Prague anyhow, in Krumlov they were liberated by American troops).  In 1947, they became communist, and from 1968-1989 they were ruled by the USSR.  They've only been an independent state for 30 years, which is kinda crazy in terms of European history.  Most older people in Czechia (the name of the country since 2016), speak Czech and Russian, but younger people (post 1989) adamantly refuse to learn Russian, travel to Russia, associate themselves with Russia in any way.  And I heard someone tell me the other day that even the Czech's who speak Russian refuse to speak in Russian.  Apparently they'll pretend they don't understand you.  They love capitalism here. 

Anyhow, I find it really neat to be standing where Hitler stood, or walking down a street that once had tanks rolling down it.  It seems almost not-real, because I'm so accustomed to our short history in Canada.  There's so many places in Canada that you can stand, and possibly have been the first person to ever stand in that spot.  In Europe, you follow in the footsteps of thousands and millions before you.  It's a little disorientating. 

some night shots of the castle.

I love how heavy the air looks in this photo.

Despite the tourists, Krumlov was really pleasant.  The castle had a huge garden grounds that you could walk around for free, and I just marveled that once upon a time, one single governing body had enough money to create the garden grounds (obviously meticulously maintained by a team of gardeners now).  I was soaked, and my camera wasn't happy, so I don't have any photos of it, but it was huge rows of roses, and giant trees, and shrubbery mazes.  It was really pretty.

Early morning.

Cat buddy

I mostly spent the day there just puttering around.  I got lost a bunch of times in the winding streets, but always ended back up in the town square.  I took a few photos.  I found a vegetarian restaurant and had a really pleasant dinner sitting under a covered patio watching a family of ducks playing in the rain.  I ordered thai curry and some wine, and ended up later ordering more wine and dessert and just sat there for a few hours, watching the ducks, and reading a book.  Someone from the restaurant named David kept asking me questions, and I chatted with him for a bit.  He was an odd duck, but he was friendly enough.  I tried to do a free walking tour at night, but there weren't enough people to run it, so I asked the guide a couple history questions and then walked around on my own to take some night photos.  I got cat-called by a guy bent over in an alcove, and then followed for half a block in the dark, and decided that was a good time to call it a night. 

The streets look so much better without people in them.

I read in my room and chatted to the German girl next to me.  I never caught her name, but she was nice.  I hope she successfully hitch-hiked to Linz yesterday.

I couldn't sleep the next morning because everyone in my hostel room got up at 5am (what the hell?), so I got up as well and walked around the town.  The rain had mostly stopped, and there was hardly anybody out.  It was nice.  After that I came back and made breakfast, and checked out.  I didn't have to catch my bus to Prague until noon yesterday, so I just left my bags at the hostel and got an espresso and walked around some more without the rain.  I went to the little local museum for a while.  I really didn't do much in Krumlov.  I meant to rent a bike, but the rain washed that idea away.  It was nice to do not a whole lot.  I did find an art store there and bought myself some artist quality pencil crayons and some new pencils, but now I have to carry them around with me for the rest of the trip.  I was thinking of taking my journal up to one of the hills in Prague and drawing sometime in the next few days. 

Letna park, across the river

the trees are so big!

I've been in Prague since yesterday mid-afternoon.  My hostel is really cool looking.  There's murals on all the walls, and everyone is really friendly.  I checked in at the same time as a person named Diana from Mexico City, so we hung out together yesterday afternoon.  We walked across the bridge and over to some of the parks overlooking the city.  It was fun to hang out with someone.  She's really nice - she's been traveling Europe for a week now, and her sister is flying to meet her today, so they're going to spend some time together.  She's just at this hostel for one day, and then her and her sister are moving to an AirB&B.  I hope to grab her contact number so we can still hang out in the next few days if she's free. 

I twisted my ankle in a pothole while we were walking yesterday.  It is a little tender today, but hopefully not too bad.  It hurt while I was sleeping last night.

the view across the city, Charles Bridge in the background

hanging out with a buddy who can actually take a photo.  Also, we found a swing. I swung in it.

This tree had a hole in it.

The hostel cooks dinner for everyone every night for 100kc.  I didn't feel like cooking, so I joined in.  We had thai green curry, and it was really nice.  Too much rice.  I met three Americans from Utah, and they taught me to play the card games Speed and Bullshit.  We met another American, but I never caught her name.  She parties too hard for me.  She's been traveling for 9 months and was telling us she lost her shoes the other night and woke up with only half her stuff in Prague.  She wasn't even in Czechia before.  I can't imagine waking up barefoot in another country than the one I started out in.  She's crazy.

The tree was a seat.  I sat in it.

I love the juxtaposition of these two separate graffitis. Nein is German for 'no'.

I've been struggling with feeling really old while I've traveled so far.  I'm still really enjoying the hostel life, but did I outgrow it?  I haven't spent time with anyone older than 24, and they're all on these journeys of self-discovery, or they've partied for six nights straight, or they quit their jobs and have been on the road for over a year, or they're on a gap year and are moving back in with their parents when they run out of money. 

I feel so old. 

I consider myself well-traveled, but I don't think I ever considered myself like the people I'm meeting now.  It makes me contemplative on the nature of travel.  Has travel changed in the last ten years?  Or did I change?  I'm enjoying myself, and I'm enjoying everyone's company - all these random strangers I've made friends with for 24 hours, but I feel like we speak a different language.  Or like I'm physically larger, or my skin has seen more of life. 

It's not a comfortable feeling.