Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic – 08/02 – 08/03

(Michelle) It was an extremely hot bus ride from Prague to Cesky Krumlov, which is sometimes referred to as “Mini-Prague”. It has a castle and the similar “old” architecture. It is small enough to walk through the whole town in 15 minutes and it is a really cute town.
We also heard it was good for river trips. The downtown is almost surrounded by a loop in the Vltava river and canoe trips on this river are common. There is even a bridge that knows when a canoe is passing under and the bridge sprays you with water. We of course could not pass up a canoe trip. While we were on the canoes, we passed many sets of stones piled up like little rock gardens.
For some unknown reason, the Cesky Krumlov castle has a bear pit with two actual bears in it…

(TJ) This place truly has a city center that has not changed significantly in the last 500 years. Because of that it’s a thriving tourist town, not nearly as much as Prague however. The canoe trip was great and would have been better if it had been a bit warmer and Michelle would actually paddle. Another positive from the canoe trip is that we found out from some other Americans about the Sziget festival that was going to start in Budapest in the upcoming week.

(Michelle) We arrived at the end of the river an hour early, so I think we paddled too hard as it was. TJ is trying to ensure that we never take another canoe ride again. He started this argument when we were in France and I proved to him then the significance of my paddling. Of course he should be able to provide a little more strength, wouldn’t he be some sort of sissy man if I could paddle with exactly the same force as him?? I already think he is a bit of a Sally for complaining at all. ;)