After waiting for a couple of weeks, we were glad to be back in Cesky Krumlov to be able to visit the famous castle and tour the medieval village. We tried to get tickets online for the castle tours but were unsuccessful so we decided to take our chances by purchasing them at the ticket office. So after a continental breakfast in the Penzion, we walked into town to the main ticket office where were told that we had to purchase them at the Castle ticket office. Off we went to hike up the hill into the castle to the ticket office where we learned that there was no problem getting an English Language ticket. We booked a 10AM - Tour 1 (Earliest owners), 11:30AM (Later Owners), and 1PM (Baroque Theatre). The first two tours were very small groups of less than 10 or so and that worked out really well. Unfortunately we could take no photos inside the castle on the tours, but I can highly recommend the tours. Also worth noting is that there is a mighty impressive collection of ornate porcelain heating stoves that we have ever seen in Europe. This reflects mightily on the conservation effort for this castle. We were also able to walk across the closed in bridge above the Roman style open bridge that we had walked over the night before. In the Baroque theater tour, it was impressive so see how elaborate the theatre was constructed in the mid 1800's to have all sorts of movable sets all powered by ropes and pulleys and operated below the stage floor. The theater was restored in the early 2000's and Baroque performances are performed here. On the tour we met a couple from Philadelphia who were doing a car tour in the Czech Republic.
After the formal tours were over, we hiked up the hill to the lavish and well manicured garden and then to the revolving theatre where the audience is rotated 360 degrees. We then walked back through the castle and did some shopping before walking through the village once again and back to our Penzion to drop off our purchases and take a little break. It was then time to walk back into town to find some dinner. The restaurant I wanted to eat at was closed so we went across the street to the Mill Restaurant located at the former mill and they had BBQ ribs on their menu which is what I wanted from the other restaurant. It was fun to eat there, feed the fish table scraps, and watch the rafters come floating down the river. I should mention that we tried to book a rafting trip, but they had none with a guide and I didn't want to do this without one on an unfamiliar river with no prior experience river rafting.
After dinner we wandered the streets some more and found some local dessert trdelink which is a cylindrical pastry baked over open heat and then stuffed with ice cream and whipped cream. It was so good, so sweet, so rich and so bad for us. We then walked back to our Penzion where we spent the rest of the evening and watched the sunset and the illuminated castle come into view.
Cesky Krumlov is a another "don't miss" castle. While we really adored Malbork and its great self guided tour, this one is special because it has not only been preserved and conserved on the outside, but much of the interior is as it was used. Even the Nazi's preserved it and it was never subjected to bombing or artillery shelling.
This would be our last day of formal touring this trip. Tomorrow, we head for Heidelberg where we store our bike and I'll prepare it for its long winter nap before we return and ride it on some new adventure. It's another 330 mile day ride.
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