Český Krumlov

So many choices. Sometimes it is hard to decide which one to go for. Our options were a walking tour of Passau, a full day Salzburg 'Sound of Music' tour or a full day tour to Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic. We chose the last one.
We hadn't had a chance to look at Passau, the port where we were docked, but as our bus was driving out of the town and the morning sun was in just the right position, Brian spotted some stunningly beautiful views of the old buildings. Sadly there was no time to grab the camera in the small time slot before they disappeared from view. These Kodak moments went unrecorded, which was rather a shame. Fortunately, and by way of compensation, we were to get other equally good shots elsewhere as the day progressed.
Český Krumlov is nearly two hours away by bus, and we thoroughly enjoyed the views as we travelled from Germany to Austria to the Czech Republic.
The Bavarian landscape was the prettiest and tidiest by far. It all looked so green and fertile and we went through large forested areas. In true German fashion everything was tidy and orderly. The Czech Republic isn't nearly as rich, and by contrast it was far less tidy, it was less heavily wooded and the buildings in the towns and villages that we passed through generally looked a bit rundown. Our guide pointed out that much of this was a legacy still from the communist era, when there were no environmental considerations.
A few kilometres before our destination we reached a large artificial lake, Sebevrah, which is a major holiday resort area for people from the Czech Republic and neighbouring areas. The lake itself is most attractive, though we were less attracted by the large number of hotels, pensions, guest houses and eating places throughout Evidently it is ridiculously jam-packed at the height of the holiday season. One definitely wouldn't want to be there. Furthermore, all the narrow country roads which lead to the place get totally jammed up.
Reaching Český Krumlow the first thing we saw as we walked from the bus was the spectacular Castle Bridge. It really does stand out. Walking under it and into the town itself it was obvious that we were going to have a great time and would get the chance for some good photos in the fine sunny (but 12 degree) weather.
Our excellent guide took us through the town, pointing out various things of interest, then up the hill to the castle. Český Krumlow has been awarded a UNESCO world heritage listing, and as a result a great deal of international money has been poured into its restoration. The result is a beautifully restored town offering many spectacular views.
Our guide then took us up the hill to the castle, after which we had a few hours of free time. Even though the place wasn't packed, by our standards it was quite busy, with many (mainly Asian) tour groups. It made it that bit harder. But then, something surprising happened. We decided to walk a further 200 metres or so up a steepish path above the castle and we came upon these large and immaculately maintained gardens, with hundreds of metres of perfectly trimmed hedges, beautiful flower gardens and several fountains. The best part of all was that the place was almost deserted. Clearly, very few tourists take the trouble to walk those extra few metres, which was clearly to our benefit.
After taking numerous photos we wandered down to the town, where we decided to have some lunch. After all the food we had been eating over the previous ten days or so neither of us was really hungry but Brian nevertheless was determined to try some genuine local food. We went in to one of the many restaurants. Mary wasn't at all hungry so decided on a plate of chips, done Austrian style - sliced very, very thinly and really crisp. Whenever there is duck on the menu then that’s what Brian orders. The dish he got served was huge. As well as the potato dumplings and red cabbage there was the most beautiful duck breast and leg on the bone. This giant bird had not died in vain. It was the most tender and flavoursome meat which was totally fat-free and so tender that it fell off the bone. By then Brian was absolutely full, but he simply couldn't leave it there. The cherry strudel was to die for.
By then the tourist crowds had thinned, so Brian grabbed the opportunity after our lunch to take a lot more photos.
We were due to rendezvous with our guide outside the Museum of Torture at 4.15pm. As we still had a bit of spare time we decided to visit the aforementioned museum. The displays were done realistically, so much so that we started wondering why anyone, us included, would voluntarily subject ourselves to the torture of thinking about such things while enjoying a dream holiday. We didn't stay there very long.Read more