Czeching out

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19-08-08 - Czeching out….

Sitting (or lying as the tent is too small for sitting up) at a campsite on the outskirts of Trencin, Slovakia. The guide book spoke warmly of this campsite and yes it is ok, but no more, a very noisy train comes past every now and then and the lake surrounding the campsite is full of dirt. However, the lady in the reception is really lovely, and gave us some introduction to the Slovak language.
Since we last wrote we have been to Cesky Krumlov, and as expected it was great. We stayed in a great hostel where we had our own apartment with garden and river view (thanks A and T). Only one night in Cesky Krumlov - we’ve got to keep going, I think we could stay there a week. Its located on a lovely winding river - Vltava, which has rafts full of barely clad women and men floating down the river. It would appear that this may be a backpacker thing, but its not. We drove south down to the Austrian border and found the river was packed the whole way along with couples and families cruising down the river - very nice on a 30 degree day. We ate at an excellent Czech restaurant in Cesky K - see the plate of food in the photo - two types of potato, four types of meat and some great Czech beer - all for the price of McD’s at home… As lovely as Cesky K is - it gets hit by hoards of tourists, and it was time to move on.

We stayed next in a town called Telc - this place is an absolute jem. Population of only 6000, it has a huge castle, massive main square and is Unesco listed. We stayed with a local - Jana and his family, very friendly and helpful, though neither of us could communicate too well in our second language - German. He gave us some helpful tips on how avoid the police catching us to pay motorway tax - “speed”. Thanks Jana. We had a really weird Pizza in Telc - all there pizzas seemed to smell like fried macaroni, the Monrovian wine - Francrica - however was lovely. I really like this town, it feels safe, and not over run by tourists. Everyone says Dobryden as you go by on the street, even the teenagers. It took the local teenagers 20 min to break into a 1970s Skoda which they had locked the keys in outside the pizza place, crime really isn’t a problem. People leave car doors and house doors open - I like it here… But again, time to move on and here we are in Slovakia - Trencin, and the trains are still going past every 20 min - LP forgot this in their write up!!

So we have decided to skip Krakow this trip and come back early next year. We are heading to Zakopane in Poland for a couple of days in the high Tatras before coming back to Slovakia then on to Romania.

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Photos

Cesky Krumlov Castle
Cesky Krumlov Castle View

Cesky Krumlov castle
Cesky Krumlov at night.

Cesky Krumlov view
Cesky Krumlov view from monestry on hill.

Cesky Krumlov rooftops
Cesky Krumlov Roof tops

Cesky Krumlov
Cesky Krumlov Manhole Drain Cover

Cesky Krumlov Tiles
Cesky Krumlov Tiles on Roof

Cesky Krumlov Food
Cesky Krumlov Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Cesky Krumlov Dinner
Cesky Krumlov Dining Experience

Comments

[Mark Davey]

Czech Republic
This article takes me back to 1992 when I spent nearly a month in Prague with trips out to rock climb in Slovakia. I never made it to the High Tatra. As Jenny knows I travelled on a BMW R100RS flat twin motorcycle, even some of the motorways were virtually cobbles 16 years ago! I look forward to reading of your further adventures..............

[Lucky Cats]

I think the roads have improved a lot, except maybe in the towns. It makes Edinburgh's roads look very good in comparison. Even with all the roadworks.