Show me some Krumlov

Dobry Den from Cesky Krumlov!

We have driven south of Prague through the rolling, verdant Czech landscape. Row crops are just being set out as the danger of frost has only recently passed. Dots of villages with the ubiquitous voluptuous, baroque church steeples pepper the countryside.

Occasionally we have passed ugly little industrial towns, some stark reminders of the Soviet era, and larger towns such as Ceske Budjevoce (where the original Budweiser brewery is located) and Benesov. The highway system is not as developed as in Western Europe, so we are forced to drive right through these towns and deal with traffic and mostly reckless Czech drivers.
South of Ceske Budjevoce, the terrain becomes more undulating. We are in spitting distance of the Austrian border when the turn-off for Cesky Krumlov comes into view.

Almost surrealistically cute, this Southern Bohemian enclave could be easily construed as a contrived Disney-ish fantasy replete with a looming castle, creaking water mills and tight narrow streets where the houses seem to overhang, their pointy rooftop tips just ever-so-slightly touching. But it is not contrived- it is a functioning millennium-old town that has avoided scarring wars and has benefited from benevolent rule from high in the castle.

The town consists of two parts: the Latran district which includes the rambling, lofty castle and a bit of town sandwiched between the castle and the river, and the main town which fits snugly in a 300 degree arc in the river. The town is mostly a car-free zone with parking provided in comfortably distant remote lots. Most visitors to C.Krumlov are day trippers from Prague, when the tourists leave around 5:00 the town is wonderfully quiet and slow.

Sebastian, Sabrina and I are staying overnight to enjoy an evening and a morning of this more ambling pace of town life. We walked around most of the village in a couple of hours, even at an unhurried pace; take in the views and have a beer (Pilsner Urquell, of course) at an outdoor café along the main drag in Latran.

We find a Pension in a fifteenth century building with original wood floors, antique furnishings and scary hand-colored photos of long dead (presumably) Slavic people. It is all quite amusing as it fits with the character of the town.

Right below our room is a small restaurant, expectedly rustic with heavy timber tables and chairs with equally rustic Czech food, heavy and plentiful to help combat the local Egger stein beers and shots of Bereshekova we consume.