Friday, May 11, 2012

Cesky Krumlov Day 3

Whew! That was a rush! I just did to really long posts! My fingers are cramping but it all for you, you loyal readers. Now, should I have another granola bar? That is my most pressing issue right now.

I am a few days ahead of you all but I am trying to get you, and me for that matter back on track. So let's finish out the Czech Republic!

We woke up headed out! So weird... not. One of the people working at the hostel told us about a small farmers market that was started by the lady who owns the hostel, the same lady we talked to yesterday. We went over to check it out. The lady totally owns this town.


The weather was supposed to be good in the morning so we seized the oppurtunity and decided to go canoeing. Oh boy.

I don't know if you noticed, but my outfit is ridiculous. It looks like my Halloween costume from last year, but I can confidently say that I was prepared for any type of weather, rain, shine, whatever.

So that yellow one was not ours. That was the six person raft. We had the two person Kanoe. I was a bit minervous. The man at the counter spoke next to no English and I had no clue what I was getting myself into. Add Brandon into the mix and anything can happen.

Waiting for them to load our canoe into the truck, this was a cute cafe next door.

 Yes! All ready to go. Another group was heading out with us. They were really international. All of them but one were studying in Prague. We had two Brazilian guys, two French girls, and a Peruvian dude. They were nice, we chatted with them for a while.

Loaded and ready to go!


And we're off. Now, I'll just say that Brandon was less than thrilled with my paddling ability. But seriously, is it really a surprise that I have no upper body strength?





So there were about 5 of these dams. For the most part you had a path to follow and it was more like a small white water rafting rapid. They were fun but the first one freaked me out a bit.

And through to the other side!

So down another dam and then we came to the third. This one had no path. The way we were about to go turned into a drop off, we stopped, checked it out, and Brandon decided that we could make it down one of the less steep entrances.

I was not so sure.

I was very minervous!

Turns out, there was barely enough water and we almost got stuck! Never anticipated that! But we made it! Whew! I was so so so relieved. Who knows where Brandon could lead us!

Uh Oh.... do you see what I see?

Big cloud. In fact, it was electrical!

Paddle Britt! Paddle!

Another dam. This one looked small. It wasn't. I got wet!

The cloud is getting bigger!

Almost back to the base.

Paddle!




Whew! We made it just as it started to rain. Perfect timing too. Went back to our hostel where we changed rooms. Don't ask me why, it seemed like a good idea when we booked it but now it just really seemed inconvenient. But oh well. Turns out the room was huge and it was nice not to be sharing it with other people.



We even had a couch! Very cool. Very woody! In fact, this entire place looks like it was built out of a tree.

View from the window.

Better view.

But of course no rest for the weary.. it was only 2pm! Time to get the day started! Are you tired? I am tired just thinking about this. We headed back into town, stopped to get.... yes! A trdnkl or however you spell it.They look a bit different here compared to Prague but they still taste amazing! And since they are warm too... oh yeah!

We made our way to the castle... remember for the earlier pictures. We did the museum tour first. Let me tell you, it's really intersting. Take for example what you know about French history. You have Napolean, Marie Antoinette, a few King Louis, but all of these are in some small way firmiliar to you, right? And when you run to these names somewhere, whether it be a book or a sign, you can say, "Oh yeah, ok, I can connect with that."

Now take your knowledge of Czech history. I am assuming you have none. Now imagine reading tons of signs about people, places, and things that you have never heard of, never seen, or didn't even know existed.  Now try to remember all of these random facts. Yeah, that is how we feel. We read tons of signs which are interesting but are ones that we have no prior connection with. Let me tell you, it is hard to keep all this new info straight!

But I do remember that this castle is the second largest in the Czech Republic after Prague Castle, so at least   I can say that I have been to the two largest castles in the Czech Republic.

After the museum tour, we headed to the top.


The view from here was pretty cool. It was raining so you could really see the rain coming down. It's funny having climbed so many castles at this point. They are all on hills, so you look much higher than you actually are.




Those umbrellas on the left is where we ate dinner the first two nights, Bohemian Feast and the Vegetarian Place.

Climbing down.

It was cool. You had to scan your ticket to get in and out. Not good for me because half the time I have already lost my ticket like 5 seconds after I have paid for it. Thankfully I still had it this time.

Crossed the moat with the bears.


Passes some more finger art. So weird! I just don't get! We asked someone about it and they were just like, "Oh yeah, it's this local artist." Like it was no big deal. But really! This is bizarre.

Check! Finding twilight in every country.

After the castle, we headed off to eat. We had a certain amount of crowns that we were trying to spend but didn't want to go over and have to take out more money. Apparently, friend cheese in the Czech Republic is all the rage. Our hostel told us to come here because they have the best. We were just pumped that this came with some lettuce on the plate. They do not eat a lot of greens here!


The fried cheese was amazing! Like a giant mozarella stick! So satisfying. After that we decided to try the Blueberry Dumpling. This on the other hand was not so great. In fact, I barely ate it. It was just like dough soaked in margarine with some brown sugar. Blah!

But up close it looked pretty, just not a whole lot of flavor.

Back to the hostel. Brandon wanted to go hike up a hill but I couldn't do it.



So some final thoughts on the Czech Republic. Really pretty country, nice people, however we did see more than a few men just standing around in their underwear... so odd, cool sights, people need God.

Tomorrow we head to Austria! Get excited.

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