Tom`s travels: České Budějovice & Český Krumlov (19/09/2018)

I decided to leave for home in Italy by doing a two-day trip and stopping over in a few towns on the way south. The first day I decided to visit two Czech cities and sleep there before heading on the following day. So after saying goodbye to my brother I headed to the bus station and took a ride which brought me to the town of České Budějovice. Once there I headed towards the old town and reached the first main attraction of the city: the Cathedral of St Nicholas. Originally built in the 13th century it now appears in the Baroque form from its refurbishment during the 17th century. It also holds a 16th-century bell tower known as the Black Tower due to its dark stone. I entered the building and admired the nice and lavish Baroque interiors. Right outside, I then walked through the large central Ottokar II Square, surrounded by beautiful buildings. At its center stands a well-sculpted Baroque fountain representing Samson. Of particular interest around the square's perimeter is the nice Baroque town hall, colored in blue and crowned with three towers the central of which is the clock tower. I then decided to walk around the old town, passing through the pretty streets lined with typical baroque and neoclassical colored buildings. I then reached a particularly picturesque street which holds the last surviving towers which were once part of the city walls, the Rabenštejnská věž. Further on I then reached a small square, Piaristicke Namesti, which is sided to the south by the Dominican Monastery. I thus entered the complex after paying a small fee and visited the church's interior. Consisting of a mostly gothic structure dating to the 13th and 14th centuries, the church received some additional refurbishments particularly in its bell tower and interior decorations. As I entered, I admired the large nave with a few traces of medieval frescoes particularly on the walls of the southern transept. Right below them, a small door led to the monastery's cloister, probably the most beautiful and emblematic part of the complex. In fact, this part largely suffered no modifications and retains an incredible Gothic character. Particularly worthy to see are its Gothic windows and portals with interesting decorations and motifs. After the visit to the church, I then headed out and across the river Malse, from where I had a nice view of the western end of the complex. I then returned inside the old town and headed back through the main square. Further on I then reached the Museum of South Bohemia which I decided to visit. After buying the ticket I explore the building, starting from a really peculiar temporary exhibition dedicated to, guess what, mushrooms. Czechs, in fact, love mushrooms, so much so to have a whole exhibition dedicated to them in the city's main museum. A whole room was filled with tables covered in all kinds of mushrooms, colorful, edible, and poisonous ones. People were coming in, observing, touching, smelling them and then discussing them over with their friends and partners. I was quite ignorant in the matter but enjoyed the exhibition nonetheless. After that, I head up to the permanent exhibition which featured objects from the region's history, ranging from old coins and books to medieval weaponry and paintings and finishing with objects from more recent time. Once I toured the museum I decided to head out and direct myself to the bus station to get the ride to the next city. Despite Ceske Budejovice is famous for its beer, I had decided to skip the visit to the brewery as it would have taken a whole half day and was located outside of the city center. So after reaching the station and waiting for my bus, I decided to have a quick late lunch at one of the food places inside the station's food court. Then, after just 30 minutes ride, I had reached the next destination: Český Krumlov. A world-famous small town, it is inscribed in the Unesco list due to its historical old town which survived history and the world wars unscathed. After arrival, I decided to head to my hostel first and drop off my bag before heading into town. I reached my accommodation, hostel Havana, and self-checked in as no-one was there. I took my assigned room and left my stuff in a locker as I thought someone else might come later being it a triple room. I was lucky enough, in the end, to find out nobody else would come and I would be having the whole room for myself. So after walking back towards the city center, I crossed the Vltava river, which snakes its way through the old town. Here I walked along the riverside and reached a nice open spot with a view towards the old town sitting right in front of me on top of a hill. I could see the southern side of the church of St Vitus right above a cliff overlooking the river. I continued on, crossed once more the river, and walked uphill to reach the aforementioned church. I, unfortunately, found it closed which meant turning around and heading on further. I reached the Svornosti Namesti, the town's main square with beautiful buildings all around its perimeter. At its center was also the typical baroque Plague column. I walked further, passing through some pretty streets and reached another bridge over another bend of the river. This spot was particularly picturesque as I was standing right below the impressive castle complex built on top of a cliff overlooking the river. As I crossed over, I then walked under an outstanding work of ancient engineering: the Plastovy most, or Cloak Bridge. Consisting of several levels of arches, this impressive construction dating to the 18th century presents a beautiful Baroque style and connects the castle on one side to the gardens on the other. The latter ones were my next destination. I climbed uphill and reached what used to be the private park of the castle residence and which now have been turned in an amazing and peaceful oasis of nature. As I strolled around I enjoyed the wide alleyways sided by large trees and after reaching the western end turned around and walked back once more towards the town. As I continued I stopped to look at a few people gathering around a hot air balloon which was later released over the city and watched it hover by imagining the incredible view those lucky ones up there had. Then, after crossing the Plastovy most, this time on top of it, I reached and entered the castle complex. Built during the 13th century, it was modified several times throughout its history and appears now thanks to the immense Baroque remodeling which involved it during the 17th and 18th centuries. As it was already over opening hours the visit to the castle was not possible anymore however I still managed to walk through it by passing the several interesting courtyards. An opening halfway through also enabled me to have an incredible view over the old town from an incredible vantage point and during a beautiful sunset. I was then a bit surprised to see a board suggesting visitors not to feed the bears which were apparently kept in the castle's eastern moat. I could not see them from here so assumed they were already asleep however found out that the castle did indeed possess a few bears and was keeping them there in the small confines of the moat. As I continued on I then reached a small garden which surrounded the Minorite Monastery of the Poor Clares. In a beautiful setting, a series of vineyards and fruit trees were grown overlooking the old town. As I walked around I saw that some, particularly the pear and apple trees, had some juicy fruit growing on them which prompted me to take one of each to try. They were very tasty and provided a nice snack to quench the hunger temporarily. After that, I went back down through the old town, crossed the river and then walked back up along Horni street to reach a large terrace right in front of a former Jesuit 16th century monastery. The view from here was great and gave me another perspective of the castle. The sun had nearly disappeared in the distance so that prompted me to head back down through the old town and in the direction of my accommodation to look for a place to eat. I found a bar located on the top floor of a supermarket which at first sight did not look so welcoming but after ordering a local beer and breaded cutlet with mashed potatoes I felt really full and satisfied particularly after finding how cheap the dinner was. I then headed to the hostel and went to sleep ready to leave the following morning. The next day I woke up early, checked out and then walked back through the old town admiring the city center by day and checking out the main monuments quickly once again. I then reached the bus station where I took the next ride taking me towards Austria.