After a quick breakfast of yogurt and cereal bars in the room (purchased at the grocery store in the mall across the street last night) we were up early for our 9:00 am bus to Český Krumlov. The ride was begun with standing room only when we pulled out of the Florenc bus station. It’s a 3 hour ride, so I am glad we bought tickets yesterday — it’s a long ride to be standing the whole way. We saw a part of Prague that was new to us. I thrilled at an ancient railway viaduct near the station with a wheezy diesel engine every bit of 50 years old shunting cars back and forth. We also drove past the “Fred and Ginger” building — names for its unique design that looks like the famous dancing couple.
We were soon out of the city and in country that resembled rural Wisconsin. We went through a couple of larger towns: Plzen and České Budějovice. Some of the people got off and others got on in each town. We were sitting next to a young couple of tourists from Russia — it was a cosmopolitan ensemble. When we arrived in Český Krumlov the bus let us off at the bus station maybe 1/3 mile from town. A quick walk put us into the center of this amazingly preserved medieval town. It is so picturesque! The winding, narrow streets are lined with unique shops. We walked up to the castle and booked a 13:50 English tour.
We then went to find something to eat. It was a bit odd to walk down these ancient streets and hear Britney Spears singing to you on the radio — I also heard the Plain White T’s “Hey there, Delilah” quite a few places. We ended up settling on the oddly-named Papa’s Living Restaurant. We enjoyed pizza and beer while sitting in the warm ambiance of this establishment. We noticed dogs are well accepted in eating establishments here. A family near us had a small terrier or schnauzer with them.
We walked back up to the castle and began our tour with the castle chapel. The castle has passed down from the Krumlovs to the Rosenburgs to the Eggenburgs to the Schwartzenburgs (who have the palace in Prague) and finally to the state. I am not sure, but reading between the lines I think the castle was taken from the last owners who were of German heritage during the forcible removing of Germans after the war throughout the Sudetenland.
The next stop on the tour was a gentleman’s bedroom. Men of the nobility slept separately from the women. The bed was therefore quite small. Next was a room for entertaining – large goblets were on the table – it was customary for the lord to present wine to guests, and it was polite to drink all you were given. The wine also had the benefit (from the host’s point of view) of befuddling those who would come to negotiate business. Beautiful Flemish tapestries also adorned the walls.
In the next room we saw a portrait of the ghost of the castle – the White Lady. Her husband, lord of the castle, was exceptionally cruel and made her life miserable. As he lay dying, he asked for forgiveness, but she refused to grant it. So, he cursed her, and she wanders the castle to this day, part ghost and part seeress. If she appears to you wearing white gloves she brings luck, in red gloves fire, and in black gloves death or misfortune.
Our guide also pointed out the bearskin rugs around the castle (we had also noticed a couple of large, live , brown bears in the moat when we entered). The Rosenburgs years ago had begun keeping bears to foster a supposed relationship between them and the powerful Italian family of the Orsinis (who took their name from the Italian word for bear).
Next was a grand dining hall with mirrors, crystal chandeliers, blue pattern ceramic bowls, and tin plates. Only spoons and knives were on the table, as the table was set to reflect a time that predated forks. Off the dining hall was a room containing what appeared to be a carriage made of gold – in reality it was wood completely covered in gold leaf. It was made when on of the castle lords served in Rome and was taking the carriage filled with presents to the newly elected Emperor. It was used only the one time.
Next was the lady’s chamber which was well furnished – complete with private chapel and adjoining maids room. The bed was short as ladies often slept sitting up to preserve their hairstyle. Ladies’ dresses could weigh more than 20 pounds – young girls’ more than 10. The last stop was the hall of masks, a dance hall with marvelous characters in masquerade dress adorning the walls. Balls and fêtes would be held here.
Leaving the castle we took in the marvelous view and did some souvenir shopping. We had to kill a bit of time, so we also spent an hour at the internet cafe checking train schedules for Dresden and sending emails back home. We also encountered pay WC’s – they were clean and worth the 5KC (about $0.25) you handed to the attendant. We saw even more dogs around — people take them everywhere and they are all perfectly behaved, no barking at all. On the way back out of town, we stopped in a tiny bar and had a couple of “coke lites” — we were definitely off the beaten track, but they were very friendly despite no other tourists being in sight.
We walked back to the bus station and bought some more “coke lite” and some cookies from a mini-mart next to it. The bus station itself was deserted and falling apart — odd for such a tourist area. We sat outside and munched cookies and drank our cokes for a while, then went back inside the station to use the facilities before the bus came. There was no power in the station, no people at the ticket counters, no bathroom attendant at the window. We thought it either looked like a crime scene or a haunted house (I thought back to the stories earlier in the day about the White Lady). We hurriedly went about our business and walked back outside to catch the bus. The return journey was uneventful, and bed time beckons after our short metro ride back to the hotel.