Cesky Krumlov 2008

Overnight in Cesky Krumlov

The drive to Cesky Krumlov from Prague was an easy two and a half hour drive. When we arrived in Cesky Krumlov they were in the last day of their annual Five Petal Rose Festival (a medieval festival). They were having a procession or parade and so the main street of the town was closed off to traffic (the street our hotel was on). There were barriers and a policeman turning traffic away. When we got to the policeman we tried to ask him about getting down to the hotel, but he explained that he only spoke Czech or German. Lauren said she can speak a little German. He was very kind and talked clearly and slowly to her. She was able to converse with him and he allowed us to park on the side of the road while we walked our baggage down to the hotel and checked-in and then we could come back to move the car to one of the public parking lots. We stayed at Hotel Konvice (review here).

We went out into the street right outside the hotel and the parade was starting. It was not that long but consisted of people in Medieval garb. Fun to watch and they hung around town after the parade as well.

There were many different activities that had been going on all weekend, although most of them were through by the time we arrived. We still had not eaten lunch so we went to Nonna Gina’s (Klasterni 49) as they were supposed to have good pizza. It was not air conditioned, but they did have a no smoking part upstairs and the pizza and gnocchi we had were excellent. We walked around this charming town for a bit.

We bought this yummy treat they were making (I do not remember what it was called)– they cooked it around a cylinder shaped mallet, then dipped it in cinnamon and sugar.

The receptionist at the hotel had recommended that we eat at U Dobraka (Siroka 74). It was a very charming open air, small restaurant where the chef cooked the meat over an open fire pit. Do not be put off by the basic menu. Basically, the menu just listed things like “Beefsteak” or “Fish” with no descriptions. Well, the beefsteak was one of the best steaks we had ever had!! The sauce it came with was wonderful and we also enjoyed some delicious mushroom soup. Michael ordered fish, which was great as well. Our waitress was also extremely nice, something that was not always the case in the Czech Republic.

I had reserved a Night Tour for us through Otto Sramek on the official Cesky Krumlov website for 8:30pm (http://www.ckrumlov.info/docs/en/atr138.xml). We were met at the tourist office by our Canadian guide named Mark. He had lived in Cesky for over five years with his wife and baby daughter. He was an excellent guide and took us through the town, the church and two castle courtyards. He explained a lot of history and other interesting things. The tour was supposed to last 1.5 hours, but we ended up going for two hours. It was 10:30pm by the time we headed back to the hotel.

Many people do Cesky Krumlov as a daytrip from Prague.  We were so glad we took others advice and decided to spend a night.  Cesky was actually our favorite stop on the trip. There is a lovely river that runs through the town, and if we had another day there I think it would have been nice to rent an inflatable raft and head down the river for a lazy afternoon.

We got up the next morning but relaxed a bit on the balcony until it was time to check out.

Next stop – Salzburg!! Click here to read about it.

Germany & Czech Republic & Austria, Our Travels

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