Dreaming of a White Christmas - Day 9
Road Trip
I was gradually woken by the
awareness that my phone was ringing this morning. Even though it was on silent,
the incessant vibration from across the room eventually penetrated my sleep. It
was of course, an unknown number, but I figured as I was up, I may as well get
dressed ready for the day as we had an earlier start to prepare for.
Following the hotel breakfast at 7, we returned
to our rooms to collect our hats, coats, scarves and gloves, all of which are
very much an essential part of our uniform each day, and set off for the
designated meeting point for Gray Line transport which would convey us to a
distant village called Cesky Krumlov. It
was a 25-minute walk on deserted streets to the pick-up point. Gone were the
crowds from last night and gone was the snow which had been falling throughout
the evening.
We eventually discovered the location and waited
patiently for the ‘bus’ to appear. A few other people also arrived, some of
whom were going to Cesky Krumlov, and a
couple who were expecting a tour to Vienna. Apparently however the Vienna tour
wasn’t going ahead due to overnight storms, much to the disgust of the
Californians, who apparently hadn’t received the cancellation email. They
refused the offer of the Cesky Krumlov trip instead and stormed off.
There was another Aussie who
joined our group, and we were quickly allocated to Vladimir’s 8-seater van and set
off on the two-hour drive. Stephen, who is not well was ensconced in the back
corner, mask firmly in place. The others, Spaniards, were all in a second van
with the chief guide, ours was a younger man, obviously in training. The drive,
broken only by a service station toilet and refuel stop, was through the white
landscape we have become accustomed to, visibility decreasing the further we
travelled from Prague.
We finally arrived in the quaint town of Cesky
Krumlov, known for its remarkable 13th Century castle set in an 11-hectare
garden, and its panoramic views of the old town, soon after 11. The more
experienced tour leader proceeded to walk us
through the cobbled streets, giving us a potted history of the area as we went,
and occasionally coaching young Vladimir to add some information. Finally, we
reached the medieval castle, so different from our concept of what a castle
looks like, but a strong fortification nevertheless, with a strange mix of
architectural styles, encompassing Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods, and
decorations.
Stopping at each of the photo points that were
indicated by our guide, we obediently took our photos (we weren’t game enough
to not do as he suggested!). We
continued walking over treacherously icy streets - if you managed to walk
without your feet slipping out from beneath you, it seemed you were still in
mortal danger from ice and snow sliding off the rooftops above, and then there
were the cars that intermittently sped down the narrow streets forcing you to
press your body against the wall of whichever house or business you were
passing at the time.
We were led to our lunch venue where we followed
obediently downstairs and through low-roofed rooms into what had once been the
animal byre. Here there were tables set for us and we were served food and
wine, or another drink of choice (as long as you chose, beer, coke, or water).
Despite a conversation with our guide where I assured him that the garlic sauce
which was supposed to accompany the lunch of baked chicken, potato and lettuce
would be fine, but I couldn’t eat paprika, cayenne pepper or chilli, something
got lost in the translation - no-one was served the garlic sauce and the first
mouthful of chicken told me it was coated with paprika - at least I could eat
the potato and lettuce!
After being taken to yet another photo point, we
were given about 3/4 of an hour of free time to wander the Christmas Market in
the town square, and other shops. Our supply of Czech Crowns was depleted after
having to pay for meals in restaurants that either wouldn’t split the bill or
wouldn’t accept card yesterday, so Wallsy and I opted for a quiet coffee in a
bistro that accepted payment in Euros, until it was again time to meet up with
our guides and continue the journey.
On the way back to Prague, we were taken to
another small town called Ceske Budejovice and dropped in the town square where
the Christmas Market was in full swing. We enjoyed watching the ice skating in
the centre of the square and a couple of owls which you could have sit on your
hand if you paid and put on the glove provided. This seemed like a unique thing
to do at a Christmas Market. It was also evident that this was a market, not
designed for tourists, but for the townsfolk to enjoy themselves.
Again we clamboured into the vehicles and
resumed our trip back to Prague as darkness enveloped us at the early hour of
4:30pm! It was about 6pm when we reached our hotel and we opted to dine in the
restaurant downstairs. It was amazing to order and eat a complete meal of
gnocchi, chicken and broccoli without any issues, before tackling our packing in readiness to
move on again tomorrow.
Prague has been an absolute
delight and the small towns of Southern Bohemia we visited today were equally exceptional.
Prague is on my ‘definitely must return to’ list and I would love to stay in
the quirky U Zlateho Stromu again.
Comments
Post a Comment