In the morning, Paul hit the fitness center for a quick workout, and then we enjoyed another round at the breakfast buffet at the Andels Hotel. We packed and checked out; leaving our stuff in the trunk of the car parked in the hotel garage, and took the metro from the Andels station. We had carved out the morning for a bit more Prague sightseeing, and headed to the New Town area to wander around Wenceslas Square and see the Powder Tower, State Opera and other sites.
Annette’s calves were very tight from the previous day’s stair climbing and miles of tourist trekking, so this morning’s pace was a bit slower and less ambitious, and included the requisite stop at the art nouveau Hotel Europa Café along Wenceslas Square (which is really more of a wide, three-block boulevard than a traditional “square.”
We got back to the hotel around 12:15 and started what seemingly must have been the most indirect route possible to Cesky Krumlov. At one point we actually stopped to check if the Nüvi GPS was set on “scenic” or “longest possible” mode since it insisted on keeping us off the freeway and primarily on narrow, two-lane roads filled with trucks and country traffic. Fortunately, we passed through some lovely countryside and the bit of rain that we encountered along the way stopped and the sun re-emerged through billowy clouds.
Eventually, around 4:00PM, we arrived in lovely Cesky Krumlov, although we did have to deal with another detour (road construction) right outside of town -- so close, but not quite there! We rolled onto the cobblestone streets of Cesky Krumlov and followed the signs to our hotel, U Mesta Vidne (Hotel Vienna), which, like all of our hotels, had been pre-booked online. Since the central, old part of town is a UNESCO protected architectural area, they have established a series of large parking lots that ring the area, and after checking in we headed off to Parking Lot #2 (which again involved us getting slightly lost and caught in the detour loop again!). Our room was small, but very clean and cute, with a single window that cut through the sloping roofline and provided a cozy feel.
We dropped the bags and headed immediately out to look for food, since we hadn’t ended up stopping for lunch. [Paul had been hoping to keep the bizarre and nonsensical tradition of eating at a McDonalds in every international country visited – focusing on the “national specialties” that are not available in the States. The aim had been a McCountry, which we suspect may be a pork double burger based on the Czech fondness for pork and the light color of the patties pictured in front of the many Mickey Ds outlets in Prague that we’d walk past]. We wandered a bit around the town and found a riverside café where we enjoyed an extended snack of a cheese plate (B…pretty good, especially the rye bread), almonds (C+), and fried calamari (C-…what were we thinking???? Fried calamari in the middle of the Czech Republic?) and some of the local beer, Eggenberg. Annette had one of her new favorite beverages – a Radler – made with the local Eggenberg.
After relaxing and enjoying the riverfront locale for a bit, we explored the rest of Cesky K, which is small enough to cover in a few hours. We had picked up a small guidebook at the hotel which was nice for some background information, but as is often the case, was filled with a level of details (dates, names of various unpronounceable Czech architects or muralists) that are destined to be quickly forgotten. When reading aloud to each other, sometimes we made an attempt to pronounce the name (particularly when it is an important or recurring figure) and sometimes the particulars were replaced by “some guy you’ve never heard of” or similar phrase.
Cesky Krumlov is in a valley surrounded by woods and farmland. Looming over the town at the top of a steep cliff is a huge chateau decorated with Renaissance era trompe l’oeil exterior paintings with courtyards, gardens and a bear grotto. The town features a serpentine river that almost scribes a moat around the central part of the town. We managed to cover most of the winding, cobblestone streets of the town, and part of the Chateau before settling in at the Krumlovsky Mlyn a restaurant housed in a riverside mill that dates back to the 12th century. It is a two-part restaurant, and one half (the part with the water wheel) was booked for a private party. Fortunately, the other half (which also features a hanging collection of mechanical objects ranging from farm tools to giant bellows, to vintage “CZ” motorcycles. We feasted on Pecene 
uzene koleno s krupavou kuzickou podavane s krenem, horcici a feferonkou [baked smoked pork knee with crunchy skin, served with horseradish, mustard and feferonis] , a cucumber salad with garlic dill dressing, french fries, and Eggenberg dark beer (Cesky Krumlov speciality). Everything earned a solid A! The amount of smoked pork on the pork knee was astonishing. It would have been enough to feed a family of four, with left-overs for midnight snacks.
Well stuffed, like little piggies ourselves, we rolled back across the bridge and back to U Mesta Vidne, where we were soon asleep.
Annette’s calves were very tight from the previous day’s stair climbing and miles of tourist trekking, so this morning’s pace was a bit slower and less ambitious, and included the requisite stop at the art nouveau Hotel Europa Café along Wenceslas Square (which is really more of a wide, three-block boulevard than a traditional “square.”
We got back to the hotel around 12:15 and started what seemingly must have been the most indirect route possible to Cesky Krumlov. At one point we actually stopped to check if the Nüvi GPS was set on “scenic” or “longest possible” mode since it insisted on keeping us off the freeway and primarily on narrow, two-lane roads filled with trucks and country traffic. Fortunately, we passed through some lovely countryside and the bit of rain that we encountered along the way stopped and the sun re-emerged through billowy clouds.
Eventually, around 4:00PM, we arrived in lovely Cesky Krumlov, although we did have to deal with another detour (road construction) right outside of town -- so close, but not quite there! We rolled onto the cobblestone streets of Cesky Krumlov and followed the signs to our hotel, U Mesta Vidne (Hotel Vienna), which, like all of our hotels, had been pre-booked online. Since the central, old part of town is a UNESCO protected architectural area, they have established a series of large parking lots that ring the area, and after checking in we headed off to Parking Lot #2 (which again involved us getting slightly lost and caught in the detour loop again!). Our room was small, but very clean and cute, with a single window that cut through the sloping roofline and provided a cozy feel.We dropped the bags and headed immediately out to look for food, since we hadn’t ended up stopping for lunch. [Paul had been hoping to keep the bizarre and nonsensical tradition of eating at a McDonalds in every international country visited – focusing on the “national specialties” that are not available in the States. The aim had been a McCountry, which we suspect may be a pork double burger based on the Czech fondness for pork and the light color of the patties pictured in front of the many Mickey Ds outlets in Prague that we’d walk past]. We wandered a bit around the town and found a riverside café where we enjoyed an extended snack of a cheese plate (B…pretty good, especially the rye bread), almonds (C+), and fried calamari (C-…what were we thinking???? Fried calamari in the middle of the Czech Republic?) and some of the local beer, Eggenberg. Annette had one of her new favorite beverages – a Radler – made with the local Eggenberg.
After relaxing and enjoying the riverfront locale for a bit, we explored the rest of Cesky K, which is small enough to cover in a few hours. We had picked up a small guidebook at the hotel which was nice for some background information, but as is often the case, was filled with a level of details (dates, names of various unpronounceable Czech architects or muralists) that are destined to be quickly forgotten. When reading aloud to each other, sometimes we made an attempt to pronounce the name (particularly when it is an important or recurring figure) and sometimes the particulars were replaced by “some guy you’ve never heard of” or similar phrase.
Cesky Krumlov is in a valley surrounded by woods and farmland. Looming over the town at the top of a steep cliff is a huge chateau decorated with Renaissance era trompe l’oeil exterior paintings with courtyards, gardens and a bear grotto. The town features a serpentine river that almost scribes a moat around the central part of the town. We managed to cover most of the winding, cobblestone streets of the town, and part of the Chateau before settling in at the Krumlovsky Mlyn a restaurant housed in a riverside mill that dates back to the 12th century. It is a two-part restaurant, and one half (the part with the water wheel) was booked for a private party. Fortunately, the other half (which also features a hanging collection of mechanical objects ranging from farm tools to giant bellows, to vintage “CZ” motorcycles. We feasted on Pecene 
uzene koleno s krupavou kuzickou podavane s krenem, horcici a feferonkou [baked smoked pork knee with crunchy skin, served with horseradish, mustard and feferonis] , a cucumber salad with garlic dill dressing, french fries, and Eggenberg dark beer (Cesky Krumlov speciality). Everything earned a solid A! The amount of smoked pork on the pork knee was astonishing. It would have been enough to feed a family of four, with left-overs for midnight snacks.Well stuffed, like little piggies ourselves, we rolled back across the bridge and back to U Mesta Vidne, where we were soon asleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment