South Bohemia

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I was in South Bohemia for nearly all of today. We left at 7:30 this morning for the brewery at České Budějovice about 200 miles to the south. Last night some of the group went to The Pub, so they were a bit late getting to the bus. They were also pretty soundly harassed by the Czech students, who were just as chipper as ever. A few miles outside of Prague (by my estimate, but keep in mind I’m not exactly sure where Prague ends…) there’s a bridge to nowhere spanning the river. Professor Voráček told us yesterday that it was built by professors, priests, and other academics who disagreed with the communists during their reign. He explained that they were forced to construct the bridge, but since they weren’t actually construction workers it’s fairly useless. It was pretty, but didn’t really lead anywhere, so it was easy to see his point. There was also a tunnel we went through when leaving the city that is quite possibly the longest tunnel I’ve been in apart from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I don’t remember if it was before or after the Intelligencia Bridge, but I know that if you tried to hold your breath all the way through it you’d probably die.

On our way to České Budějovice we stopped at the site of the last battle of WWII in Europe. Apparently it was fought after the war “officially” ended. There were German forces in the eastern part of Bohemia (which is the more northern region of the Czech Republic) when the war was ending. They wanted to get to the western part of Bohemia to the American forces and away from the Russians because the Russian army did not take prisoners of war, they shot the enemy whenever they could. So the Germans were marching through Bohemia when they met with some resistance from a group of Czechs, and so the last battle of the war was fought. I’m a little unclear on whether the Americans and Russians were also involved… Near the little monument to the battle was a church that had an artillery shell embedded in it, labeled as the last bullet fired in the war. It was interesting to see. And surrounding the church was a little graveyard that I found fascinating, but everyone knows about my general interest in graveyards anyway. After this stop we went back onto the bus to continue our trip.

At some point on the road (excuse my poor memory…things run together sometimes) Vlasta pointed out some mines on the hills. He told us that these are uranium mines. Yesterday Professor Voráček told us that the Czech Republic sits on huge chunks of uranium ore, so it makes sense that there would be mines. Vlasta went on to tell us that when the communists were in power they would force dissidents and political prisoners to work in the mines without any form of protection against radiation. I found that slightly horrifying. How could someone work with raw uranium ore with no protection? I’d known that the communists weren’t friendly people, but that was unexpected. As another note about the ride to the brewery, I only saw one deer on the way there. The entire trip was through fields and farms, but there was only one deer! I was somewhat surprised, being used to whitetail all over the place at home.

The brewery itself was okay. It was interesting to see all of the plant (can I call a brewery a plant?), but I really don’t have much interest in beer, so… This company is called Budweiser, like the Anhauser-Busch Budweiser, but it was actually founded first. We were told that there have been some lawsuits as to who gets to sell their beer as “Budweiser” in various countries. The Czech company has won about 75%!o(MISSING)f the cases, but clearly it isn’t marketed as Budweiser in America. I forget what it’s called in the US at the moment. At one point in the tour, when we were in the rooms with the fermenting tanks, we were offered samples of the beer before it was pasteurized. I passed (as did a few of the people who went to The Pub), but those who tried it said it was beer…and not much else. So I’m pretty satisfied I didn’t miss much.

After the tour we ate lunch at the brewery’s restaurant. My goodness the Czechs seem to be fond of food. I’ve eaten so much since I’ve been here it’s slightly ridiculous. At the restaurant they served us some beef with two types of dumplings and gravy/sauce. One of the dumplings was almost exactly like Grandma’s stuffing, and one of the Czech students said that it was a more Bavarian style of dumpling. I thought it was interesting, because everyone was wondering what it was while I was just thinking “Food I recognize!” Not that anything here has been unrecognizable. They brought us pancakes with cinnamon and sugar for dessert. The food was very good, but all of our meals are heavy, so I won’t be a bit surprised if I come back weighing a fair amount more than when I left.

Following lunch we went to Česky Krumlov, which is a very old town and castle. It was absolutely beautiful. A lot of the group was complaining that it was cold and raining, but personally I think visiting an old castle on an overcast, grey, misty day is probably one of the best things ever. Walking into the town (or village, I suppose might be more accurate), we had to walk under a part of the castle that acted as a walkway between two of the sections. Below the castle was a stream that was a bit flooded because of all the rain lately. The stream sort of curls around the village and makes it look like something out of a fairytale or movie. I could have very easily spent several days there (or just move into one of the houses…). The village itself was made up of a lot of little shops. Most of them sold hand-made things like wooden toys and utensils, and there were quite a few marionette shops which I found interesting. I thought about buying a small one, but decided against it. Later in the afternoon we took a tour of the castle itself. It was absolutely beautiful. The interior was amazing, with original frescoes on the walls, and still with original inlaid wood floors and painted and gilt ceilings. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but one of the Czech students snuck a few. He said they might put out a DVD at the end of the program, so I’ll have to see if I can get the photos.

We had dinner at a restaurant in Česky Krumlov after the tour. Yet another huge meal. They gave us ribs and potato pancakes. Most of us made it through about three ribs and a pancake before just wanting to curl up in a ball. I don’t know how the Czechs can eat this much! We left Česky Krumlov at about seven, and got back to the University at around ten. Good news! We now have a functional bathroom. Now to work on getting internet…

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Photos

Prague 005
"Last Bullet" of WWII

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Czech graveyard

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Budvar brewery

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Walkway connecting parts of castle - Cesky Krumlov

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Castle at Cesky Krumlov

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View of the village from the castle

Comments

[Mom]

from home
Hi Tepper! South Bohemia sounds like it was wonderful! Would love to see some of the pictures from inside the castles - frescoes and gilt ceilings! I think a few of your blogs are out of order. It is okay, but a little confusing to follow. Glad you are enjoying (most) of the classes. Keep the blogs coming! Love!!