Tuesday 21st May
We cross into Czech Republic on a quiet mountain pass. Stop to get some Kronen and a vignette to drive on their roads. No English but we muddle through.
It’s different, wide open land. No people, no houses, just the occasional car. The signage is foreign, no common element to the words that I can guess at a meaning.
We eventually get to the planned campsite in a place called Kajov, on the outskirts of a place called Cesky Krumlov which has a castle. It’s a farm, a solar farm, We park up in front massive banks of panels, plug in, connect to the wifi and cook dinner. The app told us the office is only manned from 9-10am so we’ll pay then. We’re the only ones here. Seems strange. After dinner we go for a walk into the local settlement. Nothing is open, no one is around. There is a petrol station recognisable from the drawing of pumps but the gate is shut. There is another building with signage on the roof. No idea what it is or says but it’s shut up too. Back to the van and hit the computers.
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22nd May
New day and it’s not raining, just cloudy. 9am and we bowl up to the office and pay. Young guy speaks German and has a spattering of English. Complete our morning check out routine, phone my Mum, then hit the road.
6 minutes up the road it the UNESCO recognised town of Cesky Krumlov. We park up, thinking we’ll spend an hour or two – old town, castle…. Haha. We get out of the van, walk 10 metres and both go ‘wow’. In front of us is a huge ancient 3 tiered archway with a covered walkway on top, clearly newer but still really old, it’s linking a huge unadorned castle with a small castle with a tower that’s painted unbelievably.
We walk through the archway and in front of us is a wooden bridge crossing a river to an intriguing looking town. To the right of the bridge there is a weir with a water race to one side. There is some people in inflatable kayaks who have obviously just gone down it. Wow!
It looks like it’s an island but there is actually a land connection almost directly opposite from where we’re standing. There are actually three weirs and an island in the loop around the town.
Everywhere we look it is just a feast to the eyes. We wander the old lanes. The buildings are plastered/painted with 3D like effects. They look like old stone blocks or alcoves with statues or pillars. It’s all totally amazing. Renaissance and baroque architecture.
Lonely planet says it’s like Prague but on a smaller scale. Guess we’re better prepared for Prague now.
Instead of spending a couple of hours, we’re there for over six! Luckily we have no deadlines but our own. There are tourist groups passing through, mostly Chinese interestingly.
We pay and go though the ‘Small Castle and Tower’ The castle is as expected but the tower is worth it. It’s been added to a couple of times so you climb wooden stairs the stone then wooden then stone. Different angles, directions and inclines. You pass old bells that don’t look like they are used anymore and end up on an outside walkway below more bells. There is a great view over the old town and the newer suburbs.
We lunch at a lovely Vegetarian Restaurant with a terrace on the rivers edge. Everything on the menu is tempting. Including the blueberry dumplings for desert. Watch the kayakers and rafters pass by. Drink local red wine. A small Intrepid group come in, Aussies and Kiwis. Our ears always prick up when we hear those accents.
After lunch we meander some more, check out all the bridges and go up to the large castle through the archway we’d first entered under. We don’t pay to go in but admire the courtyards (4) and the covered archways between them. Greg flattens a battery taking photos. I buy a dress.
Eventually we drag ourselves away. The app Park4night finds us a free spot 1/2 an hour north so program the GPS and finally move on. Our spot for the night is a large gravel car park between football and baseball fields. Parents arrive to collect their kids as we’re eating dinner. Car park conversations all seem familiar. Same routines going on all over the world. They slowly all depart as night falls and it’s just us. Don’t even get teens turning up in cars or scooters like we have elsewhere. A very quiet night.
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23rd May
A morning call with our daughter before we even got out of bed. So nice to hear voices from back home, yesterday mum and today, Chelsea. Internet is really great for this.
We eventually move off and head north. We are driving through picturesque countryside, down narrow roads lined with oak trees. Fields of iridescent yellow (rapeseed) and fields of olive green (some type of grain). Small villages with attached houses mostly single story, the steep roofs double the height of the walls making them appear low and grounded. Everything is very clean. No rubbish in the gutters or anywhere like we’d seen in Italy.
Stop for coffee and it’s like stepping back 40 years. Dim lights, wood veneer walls, gaudy tablecloths, men eating large plates of white and brown food with handles of beer watching us. The coffee wasn’t great but was cheap. Greg’s cappuccino looks like a multi layered sundae. My espresso had good crema but was weak and bitter.
We carry on to Kutna Hora and more specifically the Sedlec Ossuary.
Quick history lesson. In 1278 the Abbot of this monastery went for a visit to the holy land and returned with a handful of dirt which he sprinkled over the cemetery. It then became a desirable burial site throughout Central Europe. About 1400, a gothic church was built in the middle of the cemetery with a lower chapel to be used a an ossuary for the mass graves unearthed during the construction. A half blind monk was given the job of stacking the bones. He was a bit creative in his work. Apparently then his blindness was cured. In 1870, a woodcarver was employed to put bones back in order, from years of neglect and he got extra creative. Even using the bones to put his signature at the front entrance and a massive coat arms of the House of Schwartzenberg. There are bones from between 40,000 to 70,000 people arranged into pyramids and candelabras and garlands. In the middle is an enormous chandelier, it contains at least of every bone in the human body.
Needless to say, it’s a gobsmacking sight. Greg’s tasteful photos will do a much better job of conveying the atmosphere than my words. And much more respectful than some of the people taking selfies.
Greg’s still hanging out for some decent coffee so we go to a cafe next door. The menu says Flat White! Really! Of course he ordered one. It wasn’t bad, better than some of the coffee he’s been getting. But not quite right.
We then swung by the gothic Cathedral of St Barbara just because. Haha. It’s huge and just what you expect from gothic place. We were planning on staying the night in the area but Prague is only an hours drive away. So we hit the road again. Greg can get some cool evening photos in Prague.
Hit rush hour traffic made worse because of a car accident but eventually get to the campground. Check in, set up, have a quick dinner then catch the tram into the centre. We get off just by the Charles Bridge. It’s pretty impressive and there are a lot of people walking over it. We go up the tower and admire the views. Watch the dinner cruise boats slowly float past. The sun is sinking behind the Prague Castle, there is music on the air. After a while we descended the stone staircase and kept going to the basement where there is a display of things collected from the river bed in February 2016. It ranges from ancient stones and mosaic pieces to credit cards, Nokia cellphones and condom packets. One of the more unusual displays I’ve seen. We watch a video telling the fable of the bridges construction involving a magic sword, river imps and a deal with the devil. His image is on the bridge in two places as agreed in the deal. We cross the bridge very slowly, Greg taking photos, me soaking up the atmosphere and the views. Then we cross back and head towards the town square. Pausing to buy a blueberry Trdelnik. Yummy. It’s a donut mixture wound around a cylinder then cooked. You can get them filled with all sorts of toppings from ice cream to fruits. It’s warm and tastes divine. We eat and follow the crowds along the lanes until,we get to the huge square. Every side amazing buildings, just starting to be lit up as darkness falls. We meander, taking it all in. Then we sit down for a drink by the Astronomical Clock. At 10pm it goes off with bells and ringing.
After that performance we decide to head back to camp. Catch the number 17 tram and initially it’s going in the correct direction, then it turns off. Hang on, this is the number we came in on, this is the number we were told to catch back… We get off and with help from google maps walk 10 minutes back to camp. Nice bit of exercise to finish off the day.
Now for a good nights sleep ready to spend tomorrow exploring Prague in depth.
BAGGAB 