borders and byways: Cesky Krumlov October 27, 2017 Day 26 of the trip

October 27, 2017 Day 26 18 hours in Cesky Krumlov

The day began with a big rainstorm that pounded on the skylights in our hotel room. As a result, I woke up too early after staying up too late the prior evening. Staggered into the shower and then, after getting our train tickets printed and a cab called by the front desk, made it down to breakfast. The usual vast feast of cold meats, (including a mysterious dark brown one with lots of white spots in it, I was not adventurous enough to even try it.) cheeses, various breads, little sausages, some fruit, fried eggs and even a reemergence of Nutella spread.

We left the hotel as scheduled at 8:40, but to my surprise, by a private car. That explained why the hotel’s charge for this “transfer” was 150% higher than a cab. It had stopped raining, but there was significant traffic (not LA style) to the train station. Nice car, but the driver explained in that since he was not a cab driver he could not pull up right to the train station. However, he helped us pull the luggage to the station.

We were early for our train. I noticed a train that left 30 minutes early for our intermediate destination, Cesky Budejovice, a transportation hub with a nice little square that when we finally passed through there I quickly visited while waiting for our transfer, but I could not determine if it would get us there early, or at all, so we waited for our scheduled train. Meanwhile my spouse had to deal with the death of her mom. This was the second parental death she experienced during one of our trips so that has been hard.

The train station was clean, well-lit and nicely laid out, but crowded. The train departures are listed on a big overhead electronic board and the trains’ platforms were posted late. Upon posting it precipitated a mad rush down the corridor leading to the designated platform.

We got off on time and the 2.5-hour ride was a pleasant journey through the Czech countryside. Good rails and a nice coach. At an early stop I, recalling an article in the NY Times about passengers not giving up their seats to pregnant women, gave up mine to a woman carrying an eight-month-old. Upon subsequently getting the seat next to her I played with the baby. He looked like my grandson.

Cesky Budejovice was the end of the line. After wrestling the luggage off the train, I dashed downstairs to the ticketing area to find out where to go. With a little time before our transfer I ran out and looked at the town square. Nice, cute and old.

The ride to Cesky Krumlov was only 35 minutes, but it was bumpier and in a much older carriage than the prior ride. Seemed to be a local rather than national train. When we descended from the train through the station I thought that I saw some taxis by the station, but when we got there they were all gone. I tried to talk to Tourist Information about transportation, but the language barrier was too great. Then the sister of the mother I had given my seat to helped us call a taxi. It arrived almost within the promised 10 minutes.

Cesky Krumlov roughly means Czech bend in the river. Its Old Town is wedged in between a big S in the river and is surrounded and bisected by the Vltava River (which also flows through Prague) with a very small bridge connecting it to the mainland. Our taxi barreled down the hill from the train station through some switchbacks and over the small, wooden Barber’s bridge. We then encountered hordes of tourists, mostly in groups and many Chinese, on the narrow, cobblestone streets of the Old Town. The driver gently nudged the pedestrians out of the way without using his horn.

The town has an interesting demographic history. While the Paris Peace Conference that ended WWI tried to create nations around ethnicities based on self-determination, the ethnicities had mixed over the years and while Czechoslovakia was largely Slavic, there were many Germans in the western, Sudetenland area. Hitler’s rise to power encouraged German nationalism even outside Germany and in the late 30s 70% of the Germans in Czechoslovakia voted for the Nazi party. After the Munich Agreement, (called the Betrayal by the Czechs), the Czech minority was forced to leave. Following the end of WWII, under a policy endorsed by the victorious Allies, the 3 million Sudeten Germans were forced out, today termed “ethnic cleansing” and Cesky Krumlov lost 75% of its population. Czechs took over the vacated homes and property and after the 1989 Velvet Revolution that tossed out the communists, some of the Sudeten Germans petitioned the Czech government to restore their properties. No such luck.

Our hostel, Airbnb, was across the river. It was Skippy’s, run by a vivacious woman who greeted us warmly in good English. She did not seem to be of Czech origin and as she showed us around the property she explained how she had purchased the property in 1989 when it was in shambles and she explained how she had rebuilt it. She said properties were “dirt cheap” then, but now prices in the town have skyrocketed. When I mentioned the crowds on the streets, she drily commented that they were bussed in as day trippers who came in on buses in tours, took some pictures, ate a burger and departed without staying overnight. (Similar to what I heard from a Park Ranger in Yosemite.) She gave us some restaurant recommendations, a map and invited us to her musical performance later that evening.

The hostel had a large balcony overlooking the river. Our room was large, with a good bed, adequate numbers of working electrical outlets and a view of the river. Alas it was overcast and cool.

Then we were off into town. lt began to rain almost immediately, first a drizzle and then steady. Unlike Krakow, this time we were prepared with our umbrellas That had the salutary effect of clearing the streets of the tour groups. Our route retraced the taxi back to the Old Town, but was shorted by descending a steep stairway. We made it to the Main Square, Namesti Svornosti, which was largely free of the tourists, most of whom had retreated to the covered walkways of the colorful Renaissance and Baroque homes (there was one large group with big red Viking River Tours umbrellas) of the wealthy burghers, the foundations of which dated back to the 12th century, that surrounded the square.

The town square has been preserved with great charm. (I was told that an application for a McDonalds outpost on the square has been rejected three times.) It has seen a lot of history. After the Czech revolutionaries and Protestants lost the battle of White Mountain in 1620 the town was occupied by the (very Catholic) Habsburgs and the area incorporated into the Habsburg empire where it remained for 300 years. It became a center of Jesuit learning, but they burned books in the square, and when there was a bad harvest, or the plague swept through, they burned witches. In 1938 Hitler paid a visit to the square after the annexation of the Sudetenland under a backdrop of long Nazi banners. In 1968 it was the Russians who came in their tanks as part of their crushing of the “Prague Spring”. Now there are lots of shops, hotels and apartments.

We then proceeded to Barber’s Bridge, Lazebnicky Most, which connects to Castle Town. On the bridge we again saw a statute of St. John of Nepomuk, his statute also graces Charles Bridge in Prague. Here he is the protector against floods. There were several kayakers in the river, even in the rain. We then walked up some winding streets to the Krumlov Castle. It is a large complex that overlooks the Old Town and the Vltava River. The structure was first established in the 13^th century and had lots of additions. The Castle was owned at various times by the Rozmberks, Eggenbergs and Schwarzenbergs families.

Guarding the complex is a former moat that is now inhabited by European brown bears. The Round Tower guards the entrance to the complex. It is colorfully impressive from the outside and it afforded me wonderful, 360 degree, albeit windy, views from the top after climbing 163 steep steps. After a snack at the café we toured the museum which offers a history of the town, castle and its ruling families. We then proceeded ever upwards through 5 courtyards. The first was devoted to the castle workers. The second supported the soldiers. The third was reached by crossing a bridge and then the fourth with a large bridge over a steep gorge with peepholes to view the old town. We were unable to enter the Baroque theater, which was closed or the rooms of the castle since I did not make reservations, but it was interesting to view the paintings on the walls of the courtyards and the sundial that was missing 4:00. These afforded great views of the town and surrounding areas. We only briefly walked through the Castle’s gardens.

After walking down, we went to the Monastery and then crossed back into Old Town where we walked along the river and under the massive Church of St Vitus. We had dinner at Laibon, a vegetarian haven from the Czech loaded diet. It is housed in a cave like structure, but has a large dining area on the river. Too cold and wet for that now. We had soup and a vegetarian platter.

Then walked through the other part of the old town to Egon Schiele Café. It is named after a Viennese artist who spent a few weeks in town for an affair and some of whose works are housed on the top floor. The bottom is a warm café. We sat back in some very comfortable chairs with drinks and listened to a musical group lead by our Airbnb host. There seemed to be lots of locals with children in attendance. Got back to our room at about 10:00.