Blogs from South Bohemian Region, Czech Republic, Europe - page 2

I've had some bad luck in the past week or so; seven hours stuck at the Ukrainian-Polish border, shitty weather and having my hostel let me down on the one day I really needed somewhere to store my bags and hang out. Now, I had an overnight bus journey on a full bus with no spare seat next to me, meaning my bag had to tuck underneath my legs again for the journey. Oh, and I had wet feet, socks and shoes. Luckily that was only the situation for half the ride as my neighbour got off the bus in a wild, wet and windy Wroclaw - a city I had considered visiting had I more time. Finally the shoes and socks could come off, though my fellow passengers might not have appreciated it. I didn't ... read more

We depart our hotel in Pilsen, weaving our way through rather drab residential suburbs that remind us of Dunstable. Drab, down at heel and absolutely nothing to commend it. Suddenly our journey is near doubled in length as the satnav announces that Route 19 is closed, meaning we have to do two sides of a triangle to get to our destination. The rain drizzles down and the skies are grey. Past mile upon mile of wheatfields, rolling hills, not a farm animal to be seen and not too much traffic either. We are tempted to stop to see the Archduke Frank Ferdinand's country estate, with his extensive gardens, but by now the rain is monsoon strength so that is suddenly unappealing. Next attempted visit is to Tabor, a medieval old town in the middle of a ... read more

We were back at Ceske Budejovice bus station the following morning for another exploration of the Czech countryside. I wasn’t reprimanded for taking photographs this time and there was no sign of the keeper of the bus station. The bus to take us to Hluboka duly arrived at the stand on time and a mere 21 Czech Crowns was determined to be the price for our tickets. There was not the throng of tourist types on this service, so the signs were good that the destination wouldn’t be quite as busy as yesterday in Krumlov. A family of Czechs boarded bound for the zoo, which transpired to be just outside Hloboka. After a 25 minute journey through the industrial quarter of Ceske Budejovice and out into the countryside, we alighted at the “Under The Church” stop ... read more

Beer is big business in Ceske Budejovice. The large red letters of the name Budvar - Budweiser Pivar - appear prominently on the right of the train, as we approached the town. We would visit the brewery. When in Rome and all that! The train arrived bang on time from Brno. The heavy rains of the journey had largely ceased. A light drizzle fell, as we made our way out of the train station. A renovation was underway thanks to EU money. The Austrian's, who ran the show round here for many years, certainly knew how to build monuments to rail. The temperature was ideal for a stroll across town to the hotel. The route was largely pedestrian, which came in handy. The town was springing to life, after the rain storms of the morning. The ... read more

We decided to take a day tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Český Krumlov which is famous for its Old Town, with 300 protected medieval buildings, and its castle complex, the second largest in the Czech Republic, after Prague Castle. The town, created around the castle which is a mix of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque, was founded in 1253. Surrounded by rolling hills and the Vltava River which then wends its way to Prague, Český Krumlov's cobblestone streets wind past centuries old townhomes, inns, shops, and cafes. Located in the southwest part of the Czech Republic, it's about 170 kms from Prague. The tour we'd booked left Prague at 8.45am, arriving back around 7pm so, all that travelling, even though we weren't doing the driving, was quite tiring. But it was a perfect day for ... read more