Located 3 hours by bus (RegioJet – air conditioned, tv screens, free hot beverages) sits the tiny medieval town of Cesky Krumlov. It reminds me a lot of Bruges in that all the day tourists leave by 5pm and the town is quiet and peaceful. I arrived around noon and went straight to my hostel to check-in. It’s my first mixed dorm this trip and it’s probably my last. My bed is less than 2 feet from probably a really nice guy but that’s too close for comfort. 😦
One of my roommates was a really nice Korean guy who introduced himself by saying “I sorry” – except he was pronouncing his name with a really thick accent. I think he meant “I’m Soon Yee?” I’m totally making that up but I was too embarrassed to ask him to repeat himself. I shouldn’t be because he remembered my name. He asked me if I was going to do one of the free walking tours at 2p and I told him I first like to wander around and see where I’m at. I told him I make my own tours. Cesky Krumlov is quite the picturesque town.
I walked around and came back to the hostel feeling exhausted from the heat. So I laid down for a rest and decided that I would do the 9p walking tour when it cooled down. Soon Yee (?) came back too and asked me what I did. I told him I walked around and that I was going to do the night tour. He said he attempted to do the day tour but could not understand the thick accent of the Czech born tour guide. To be honest, I had a hard time understanding the guide and I’m a native English speaker. He asked if he could go with me to the tour and I said “OK.” I even helped answer his questions because he only understood 20% of what the tour guide said. The tour was informative but again, difficult to understand the guide. We didn’t get “home” until after 11pm.
The Castle is closed on Mondays (well, the interior parts of it) so today I could only go to the Tower and the Baroque Gardens. You know you’ve been traveling for far too long when you plan your visits before the arrival of the Asian Tourists. No disrespect, I have tons of Asian friends, but everywhere you go in Europe, there are groups upon groups of them. And everyone in the group wants the same exact picture taken 10,000 times. I arrived at the Castle grounds around 8:30a and walked to the Baroque Gardens which were open. It’s very nicely maintained but no way was I going to sit and admire shrubbery. That’s just not how I roll.
Look! I’m wearing something different in a picture I had taken of me! 
At 9am (precisely on the dot), I went to the tower and museum. I paid for both when I only wanted to do the tower (before the Tourists) but I have to get rid of my Czech Korunas so it was money well spent. The tower was NOT CROWDED at all – good thing because you only have narrow stair passageways to get up and down on and when facing a group of 50+ tourists, I never win that battle. The views are really nice from the tower and afterwards, I left to find breakfast. I never eat breakfast but after climbing stairs and lots of walking, I was hungry.
Some views from the tower
So now I’m back at the hostel and plan to do only 1 more thing today: hike another 20 minutes up a hill for one last view of Cesky Krumlov from a different angle. Depending on the weather, we’ll see if I’m up to it. My legs are wobbling a lot today from fatigue. I think my mind is starting to do the same. Back to Prague tomorrow for 1 night in a hotel and then off to Berlin (I’m giving you advanced warning since Germany will not count against my “countries visited” checklist).
There She Goes... 