And on to Cesky Krumlov

Sept 28-29 And on to Cesky Krumlov

We had an early morning departure from our Budapest hotel to the train station for our trip to Linz, Austria where we were met by a driver for the trip to Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic.  We traveled through flat agricultural areas until we reached Vienna where the landscape changed to rolling hills. The drive to Cesky Krumlov was in a beautiful, more mountainous area on small local roads with views of the autumn foliage, a rushing river along the road, and forests interspersed with small farms.

Cesky Krumlov is a medieval town that has been continuously inhabited since the 13^th century. ^th century.

The Germans invaded the village as part of their invasion of the Sudentanland and used it as a headquarters for the area. Despite occupation, the town was unharmed. The buildings have been well maintained and the restorations that have been required have been careful and in keeping with the original design. Even during the communist era, there was ongoing maintenance of the original structures. The village is centered on the Vltava River and there is a huge castle dating to the early 13th century.

 It is FILLED with tourists and tourist shops and the original impression is that it is a hokey made up place but, in fact, it's totally real. We had a walking tour scheduled and our guide turned out to be a San Franciscan (actually from Castro Valley) who met a girl from Cesky Krumlov in San Francisco, married her and eventually they moved back to her home. He gave us a great perspective on the history of the town, the architecture and some interesting legends.


One convoluted legend involved the Orsini family in Italy. An early ruler in Cesky Krumlov claimed to be related to the family whose name contains the word for bear in Italian so bears became a symbol of Cesky Krumlov and bears were kept in the moat of the castle. They still are kept there. An early fresco on one of the buildings also shows a bear.

This weekend was a celebration of St.Wenceslas and there were all kinds of foods and products for sale in the square in addition to local entertainment. A vendor making potato chips caught our eye and Dick couldn't resist.

In the morning we walked the town again, went through the castle, and walked through the very elaborate gardens of the castle.

On to Prague by bus today.