I know that after every weekend trip I rave about where I went, but this weekend was especially beautiful. Friday morning nine of us boarded a bus to the town of Cesky Krumlov in the southern region of the Czech Republic. We had heard from several people that it was a great place to go, but I didn't really know what to expect. I did some research in the days leading up to the trip and was a bit worried that we would be very bored as the population of the town is slightly more than North Smithfield - a whopping 14,000!
We arrived at the bus station and walked to our hostel. On all of my other trips so far I have stayed at a hotel or at least a bed and breakfast, so I didn't really know what to expect, but the hostel was great! It worked out perfectly because we were able to get a three person room and a six person room so we didn't have to sleep with strangers. For 12 USD/night per person, we definitely got our money's worth! The place was clean and pretty, and we even used the kitchen to cook ourselves eggs and toast on Saturday morning. For a first hostel experience, it was definitely a good one.
Cesky Krumlov itself was adorable. Surrounded by water on three sides, it was a tiny little town with beautiful buildings. I had been nervous that as the same size as North Smithfield it would have the same level of commerce, but that wasn't the case at all. As a touristy place there were cute shops, cafes, and restaurants everywhere, and as we weren't really there during the tourist season we didn't have to deal with the crowds, (although in such a small city we did run into the same group of Asian tourists, complete with face masks, the entire time we were there).
We wandered around the town most of the time we were there. Friday we visited the castle which is second only to Prague Castle in terms of being the largest castle in the CR. It has over 300 rooms (none of which we saw), and the oldest part of the castle was constructed in the 14th century. (It is pathetic that I remember all of these facts, but we didn't feel like taking a tour so I just read it all out of the guidebook for everyone haha). It was a beautiful castle, complete with a moat with live bears in it! We spent a couple of hours exploring the castle grounds and gardens. The leaves were changing, and it was a crisp fall day, so it was nice to feel like I wasn't missing out on a New England autumn.
After the castle we went to the Egon Shiele Museum. In the tiny little town of Cesky Krumlov, I just may have been the best art museum I have ever visited. (Although, as I was typing that I remembered d'Orsay, but they were so different that it's like comparing apples and oranges). Anyway, this museum was very interesting, not so much because of the work of Egon Schiele, but because of the various other exhibits that they housed. (Though his work was very interesting, if not unsettling). They had a Socialist Realism exhibit, an exhibit of contemporary Russian art featuring Konstantin Batynov, Anna Dubina, Komar & Melamid, Francisco Infante, and Eduard Gorochovskij, as well as an exhibit with political posters of the USSR. I really liked how a lot of the art was political. I felt like I learned more about communism and more about art (from separate exhibits) in this museum than I learned at the Communism Museum or in any art class. (Drea probably appreciated that paragraph more than the rest of you combined.)
After the museum we checked out happy hour on our way back to the hostel. Then we went for a traditional Czech meal (where my only options on the menu were garlic soup and Greek salad), and then we explored the nightlife in the small town.
Saturday morning we had an interesting encounter with the receptionist at the hostel. One of the boys had lost his key the night before, so he paid the lost key fee. We all felt really bad because the woman looked so upset. We offered to give her more money, but she said she just wanted to know what pub we had gone to the night before so she could call them. It was a bit embarassing to inform her that she had to call just about every establishment in the small town. We spent the morning retracing our steps from the night before trying to track down the key.
After our hunt we shopped and visited a cathedral. We completed the New England Autumn weekend by having some hot cider. There was also a kayak/boating/canoeing marathon going on that day, and it ended in Cesky Krumlov, so we went down to the river and watched the boats cross the finish line. It was kind of strange because unlike in the States, no one cheered for them. People only cheered for the people they knew, so the only boat we really got to cheer for was that of a guy we had met in our travels the previous night.
We spent the rest of the day in a cafe as we were all exhausted from the trip. Even today I was still tired. All we really did was go to mass at a different church than last week (which was at least in English this time), and then go to brunch at the Globe afterward. We stayed at the Globe all day hanging out and doing homework. I just got in from watching the Pats. I was weak and didn't stay for the whole game, but I have to be up in 4 hours to catch a bus to Bratislava!
Overall, Cesky Krumlov is probably my favorite place in the Czech Republic (besides Prague). It has the nightlife of the city with the charm of a small town. If I don't come home from Prague, you'll know where to find me!
P.S. I have been adding videos from the trip periodically that I haven't been putting on the blog. If you want to see them, they're at http://www.youtube.com/user/turc224. (Just so you know though, I put the better ones on the blog so you aren't missing much. My camera skills are lacking.)
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