Weekend in Bohemia

We decided to postpone the road trip to Bosnia due to not wanting to drive through the night and the fact GPS does not map roads in Bosnia. It was probably a smart decision.

Instead, Jackie, my new friends Leslie and Bobby, and I decided to visit Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic with an overnight stop in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Many Hungarians refer to Bratislava by its former name, Pozsony, because they are still bitter that the city is no longer part of Hungary following the Treaty of Trianon which stripped Hungary of most of its land after WWI. History lesson over.

We arrived at the Backpackers' Hostel in Bratislava around 10 PM on Friday and explored the city for the next few hours, including scaling a wooden statue, which Jackie claimed was made of "hard hay." The capital is small, and we finished touring the historic center and castle the next morning. Overall Bratislava is charming but does not have the pulse of a more exciting city like Budapest or Prague. (For those of you unfamiliar with my George Washington Crossing The Delaware Pose, please see the picture below.)




During the drive though Austria to Cesky Krumlov, I swear my cheeks became rosier and I had an urge to yodel. Below is a small key that shows the color variation in the landscape between Hungary and Austria.


Cesky Krumlov is built around the winding Vlata River and home to the second largest castle in Czech. The small city looks like a town out of a fairytale, but I could not tell how much of the city had been restored to its original state following the Velvet Revolution versus how much had been built to please the tourists. The local food was not too exciting (although fried food with potatoes and bread dumplings always tastes good) but the beer was great. It better have been; Czech has the highest beer consumption per capita in the world.



Although we wanted to go rafting on Sunday, the weather was chilly and we walked around the town and castle area instead. I am wearing the same outfit in all of the pictures because I was forced to buy a pair of boys' XXL sweatpants in a tourist shop on Saturday night when I literally lost feeling in my legs (people were wearing ski jackets and hats). I need to learn to stop packing for the prior week's weather.




Breakfast at our hostel, Krumlov House, was one of the best parts of the trip. The visitors were thoughtful travelers in their 20s and 30s, and our conversations gave me new ideas for articles and places to visit. I also perfected the art of making French press coffee, so my sister Kara will be proud!