Autumn Awakens

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Quite often a hurried day trip for visitors, Cesky Krumlov (the pronunciation is a bit difficult) was a world away from the other cities I had visited to date.
My goal was to visit as many places as possible, no matter how big or small!

The old town, with Renaissance and baroque buildings, is crowned by a stunning castle and surrounded by the Vltava River.
In my lap around the small town that only took me an hour, the sun was shining, autumn leaves were falling and there were no crowds. I was surrounded by green mountains, the calm (mirror image) river and church bells ringing. I felt like I was in a bit of a fantasy land and at this point I fell in love.. with Cesky Krumlov that is! (I hope the last line in Prague blog got you excited to read this! haha)
Back at the hostel, I got to cook my own roast dinner (accompanied by some jealous onlookers) and the sleeping arrangements as you will see in the photo, made me feel like I was a kid, sleeping in a cubby house or attic. The hostel was 300 years old, cosy and comfortable though!
A short stay needn’t always be rushed and with only one full day to spend here, I was looking forward to enjoying the tranquil small town at a slow pace; a nice change from pounding the pavement in Prague.
I got together with some fellow travellers (mostly Aussies!) and we hired 2 rafts to take on the river rapids, circling the town and exploring the surrounds. We paddled off and arranged to be picked up 4 hours later downstream. There was something significantly different to this raft ride than you may expect.. there were river side pubs along the way where we could stop in for a drink and then raft on. In other words, it was a pub crawl with a difference! Although there was only one open due to quiet time of year, we stopped in for a snag and beverage and continued to tackle the rapids, all 3 of them!
The ride (actually it was more like a float down the river) was very relaxing, and the shallow water meant the rocks brought us to a stop every so often to ensure we were enjoying the views and allow us to feel the cool temperature of the water. The beauty of autumn and its array of colour amazed me as we floated past the river banks, just a stone’s throw away from the mighty green mountains, under a beautiful sunny blue sky. I hope I have painted the picture (and added some rhyme) of why I fell in love this place!

An evening beverage (Baileys was my choice) in the 500 year old ‘Horror Bar’ (decorated with skulls and bones) was a spooky way to finish the day!
On the morning of departure I strolled around the castle gardens and took in the beautiful views of the town from up high. I haven’t come face-to-face with any wild animals until now.. the castles pet is a cuddly brown bear (in a cage thankfully!).

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