Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic 15th July

Saturday morning we packed up, getting quite good at the routine, off to the Jewel. Have learnt from experience to first plot our route and check where we can park, not all parking areas good for campervans.

Up a really steep zig zaggy walkway ( thought my lungs and legs were going to give up) and we are at the entrance to the castle.

rose: we did a lovely tour of the dungeons which was actually an art exhibition by a prominent Czech artist called Miraslav Parel. His work was interesting to say the least and full of angst. But we enjoyed it. Did we mention it was raining and we had no umbrella!

We followed this experience with a walk up the tower ( of course) and took many pics.

the clock tower

bells in the clock tower

the view from the top of the tower

looking down into the castle courtyard

another panorama

and another pic of Cesky Krumlov

the Castle

artistic shot

Cesky Krumlov

the old town is surrounded by a river or moat

Cesky Krumlov

the steep hill we climbed

Almost looks fake, doesn’t it?

This town was like a postcard and at first we oohed and aahed but after bumping into the 10th tour group, mostly Asian, snapping away and buying the same trinkets from the same same but different shops , we got a little jaded. Jaded led to a need for a coffee which lead to the need for the Parsley pursuit of the perfect place to have coffee. Chris generally wants to have coffee and a cake at lunch time which does not go well when the restaurants are setting up for lunch. This coupled with the fact that the money man had not brought much money with him. I think it’s got to do with keeping the boodget under control so when we came to have a coffee and a pancake as the place of perfection we did not have enough cash and most places in this tourist town don’t take Visa , really!

So no coffee just back to our van and onward to the Kaufland to buy groceries. Ooh now chris is happy. Ok we then found a coffee shop and worked out we had just enough to have 2 cups and keep Rose happy, and you know what they say ” Happy Wife, Happy Life”

Chris: I love supermarkets in other countries; call me kinky if you like . First though a couple of cheap hoodies at the Misterka Priceska or equivalent thereof. Found it can get quite chilly in the mountains late in the evening.

Kaufland was great, stocked up as we knew that Austria was likely to be a bit of a boodget breaker.

Next step was cross the border into Austria. So Parsleys pursuit of the perfect plan was not known to me at this stage but apparently he wanted to put in petrol just BEFORE the border and buy a vignette (a disc to drive on the Austrian highways) AFTER the border.  But he does not tell me this,  he keeps asking me to tell him when I think we are close to the border. I see all the petrol stations coming up but of course Parsleys Pursuit of the prefect petrol station meant we passed each one all the while I’m saying loudly “these are all the petrols stations , Chris! ”

Chris: Not for me to comment on women’s ability to read maps or tell the difference between one kilometer and 100 meters. My marriage vows are still fresh in my mind.

Anyway,  at the first petrol station in Austria we bought the necessary vignette ( €8.90 for 10 days) and we are on our way to Austria’s lakes area, and favourite holidaying spot. Think Knysna, Plett  with large  lakes and Sound of Music scenery. Achingly, almost kitsch, in its beauty.