Winter travels in Eastern Europe – Cesky Krumlov snow, castle and loads of tourists

---

---

We drove our car 3,300 km from Minsk, Belarus where we are teaching to see the cities, Christmas markets and quiet snow covered countryside of Belarus, Poland, Czech Republic and eastern Germany.

The majority of our 3 week tour was spent in friendly Czech Republic. Our final stop was in Cesky Krumlov nestled in a bend of the river. There were quite a few more tourists than we thought there would be this time of year. We still enjoyed chilly walks to the castle, through old town, and to a lovely overlook of the town. We frequented Na Louzi, an authentic Czech pub serving hearty and warm lunches at shared tables. We met a really nice Austrian man with his two friends. They were celebrating a recent real estate sale and were in a good mood. They had 500 euro from the sale to spend and with beer costing about 1 euro they were unlikely to spend it all. But they were trying. We shared a toast of Becherovka, a Czech herbal bitters.

---

Photos

Cesky Krumlov
Love the sunshine!

Cesky Krumlov castle
Our cozy Pension Olsakovsky is the white building in the right foreground. We were in the attic room overlooking the river and castle.

Cesky Krumlov windy day
Bright and sunny, but chilly and windy.

Cesky Krumlov castle
Sparkling in early morning sunlight as seen from our room.

Cesky Krumlov Old Town
A view of the old town from the castle.

Cesky Krumlov
A beautiful morning walk in the fresh snow outside the town.

Cesky Krumlov
A lovely walk with a lovely lady

Cesky Krumlov Christmas Market cooking Trdelnik
These yummy pastries were rotated over coals until puffed and browned, then rolled in sugar and served piping hot. Yum!

Cesky Krumlov Old Town Square
The Christmas market was still drawing crowds a few days after Christmas.