Cesky Krumlov, Day2

Good morning in the aristocratic house should start with a good breakfast. No Champaign was offered, unfortunately, but these days I do not drink alcohol, so it is not a big deal for me.

Morning strolling around the city with minimum people on the streets. A bit colder than yesterday. A bit gloomy weather. But peace and quiet.

Of course, I go to the castle to enjoy the views over the town from the Cloak Bridge.

And suddenly I discovered a new place for me. The park behind the catsle. I have been to Cesky Krumlov several times already, but I have never known about this park. Indeed, sometimes it is very useful to read more about the place before you visit it. 

Literally, I was shocked. How could I miss this gem, right under my nose! Unfortunately, it is just an early spring time, and no flowers, no bright juicy grass, no leaves. But I could feel all the grand potential of this place.

They say, it is one of the largest and finest historic castle gardens in the whole Czech Republic, covering around 10-11 hectares. Nowadays, the Cesky Krumlov Castle Garden is a blend of Baroque (symmetrical layout, straight tree-lined avenues, decorative fountains and sculptures) and English (a park-like style, designed to imitate nature, with curving paths and informal groups of trees) landscape styles, but its overall historic character is predominantly Baroque.

The garden is much quieter than the castle courtyards and offers beautiful views over the surrounding countryside.

Coming back to the city center through the narrow cobbled streets.

The next picture is from the main square, Namesti Svornosti. With the Marian (Plague) Column, erected in the early 18th century, and with beautifully preserved Gothic and Renaissance burgher houses with colorful facades.

By the way, Plague columns like this one on the square, became an important tradition in the former Habsburg monarchy, especially in what are now the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. They served not only as religious monuments but also as public memorials marking the end of devastating epidemics.

And this is my last picture from Cesky Krumlov, from the bridge leading to the city center. And I am heading to the bus stop, which is actually 5 minutes away from the gates.

Now I have the plan to come back to Cesky Krumlov once again and to visit not only the streets of the city, but also the parks, especially during the time, when everything is blooming or at least with the leaves on the trees.

Cesky Krumlov, Day1

It is always a good idea to travel to Cesky Krumlov from Prague for a weekend. And there even a direct train without any stops (still, there are more trains with a change at Ceske Budjeovice, which is also a nice city to have a stop-over). For some reasons the train is not working these days. So, I need to take a bus.

Maybe the bus is even better, because it can stop very close to the city center (the bus stop is called Spicak). And the duration is approximately 2h45min.

When I was enetering the old city through the main gates I saw no people around. I was a bit scared, because I do not feel comfortable in a city with no people, basically, the creepy feeling of some scary movie.

Luckily, after a while I met some people on my way. But now I wish them to clear the view to make better photos 😅

Let's talk about the town. The dominant feature of Cesky Krumlov is definitely the castle, which originally was founded before 1250. It occupies the highest, most strategic rocky ground above the river. Visually, the castle seems to grow straight out of the cliff. For me, it looks like something marvelous. 

I have made some must-be photos. And it is already time for check-in to my hotel. It looks like I have stayed there before, but honestly I do not remember for sure.

Honestly, I expected a bigger room, but despite the size, I loved it, because I felt as if living in the old times in a rich family of some nobles, but obviously not the most beloved child, because of the small room right under the roof.

I am staying in so-called "Inner Town", which is located on the peninsula formed by the Vltava's loop. The streets here are quite narrow and curved, because the town had to fit into a difficult natural shape, rather than being laid out on open flat land. Land inside the protected town was valuable, so houses were built close together, often with deep, narrow plots behind small street facades.

It is not necessary to buy a ticket to visit the castle, because you can wander around and make excellent photos absolutely for free. From above, you can see the compact houses, narrow streets, bridges, riverside buildings and beyond the roofs the slopes and wooded hills.

Another distinctive feature of the castle is the Cloak Bridge, which is the tall multi-level bridge, standing on the arches, inside the castle. The open bridge deck is only one level, and above it there are two enclosed passageways.

The bears in the lower moat are the constant inhabitants of the castle since the late 1500s. They began as a dynastic symbol of the Rosenberg family, not as guards. I hope, they are doing fine there.

The exploration of the city continued until the early evening and I was not bored at all. I was just exhausted and hungry.

I stopped at the atmospheric Svejk restaurant. It was some fried fish on the special menu. With the side salad, which was unexpectedly the best potato salad I have ever tried!

Very atmospheric night vibe of the city, which I love so much. The dark quiet and only the sound of the river.

And tomorrow morning will be also quiet, but in a different way, which I also like. Night and early morning are my favourite parts of the day when I am traveling somewhere, because at this time I can feel the real vibe of the place, not distracted much by the tourists' noises.