Day Two: Cesky Krumlov 05-23-14

Cesky Krumlov 

05/23/14

After dinner last night, D’Arcy, Jenna, Bri, Gabbi, Zach and I went to a bar called “The Travelers”, and I tried my first cider in the Czech. It was rather delicious, and it still beats the taste of beer! It was an early night and I fell asleep last night almost as soon as my head hit the pillow in our hotel.

We woke up this morning at 8:00 a.m., and after a breakfast of bread and plain cereal we headed to the castle. Cesky Krumlov, the town that we stayed in, is a World Heritage Site. All of the frescos on the outside of the castle are original works and are surprisingly beautiful. The castle is surrounded by a moat that still has live bears “protecting” it. The bears symbolize/d strength for the Schwarzenberg family. The castle tour was rather interesting, and our tour guide was a cute German fellow. Dr. Murphy read mostly from a paper that stated facts about each room, but our guide would add random and interesting tid bits here and there to make it seem customized.  Any sense of personal space in Europe is lost, and I got an up-close and personal lecture about a stove that mimicked a microwave because the kitchen was far away.

We also climbed a clock tower in the castle grounds and were able to see a beautiful view of Cesky Krumlov.

After our castle tour, Dr. Murphy let us go for lunch and we ventured to a pizza restaurant. I am still getting used to the exchange rate in the Czech. There are roughly 20 Czech crowns for every 1 U.S. dollar. I feel rather rich, even if 500 CZ is roughly $25.00. An eclectic art museum followed lunch, and I learned that I really need to pick up an appreciation for art before the end of our trip!

Our time in Cesky Krumlov was short lived and by 3:30 p.m. we were back on the bus and headed for the Schwarzenberg family’s summer chateau in Trebon.

The bus ride to Olomouc took about 5 hours all together and everyone on the trip seemed to catch up on sleep. I forgot how much sleep is treasured when you go all day looking at sites and scenes. Our hotel is rather nice. D'Arcy, Jenna and I are sharing a room that is broken into two separate rooms (one with a double bed and one with twin beds) and we have our own bathroom. 

We ventured into the town of Olomouc late last night and down to a bar named "Crack". It was nice to sit around a further meet everyone on the trip before we all turned in for bed.