Today was our full day in Cesky Krumlov so we went up to the castle that sits above the city. When I was here with Gail, Peter, and David Howell last year I took the tour and thought that Deb would enjoy it as well.
We walked across the square and over the bridge on the road leading up to the castle. This will be a surprise by now but it was an overcast day and pretty cool as well. But the road up to the castle is pretty steep and we kept warm with the exertion. When we got to what was originally the drawbridge we looked over into the moat and saw one of the bears that they keep down there, he was as big as the bears we have in Guffey probably 400 pounds. There have been bears in the old moat since the 1600's when they were first put down there. As we were touring the castle rooms there were many rooms with bear skin rugs, the predecessors of the current residents.
All the tours are guided so we were part of a group of around 20, and again there are no photos allowed, what's up with that? Be that as it may we had a very interesting visit and I was able to pull together a bit of Czech history when I recognized that the wife of one of the very early counts became the wife of one of the Lobkowicz counts after her first husband died. It seems that one of the early counts "manufactured" a family tie with the ancient Roman family, the Orsinis. I guess puffing your resume is certainly not new, as this took place in the 1500's. It was fun to see this again since I made the tour with my sister, Gail, last year. In a senior moment I could have sworn that I took pictures during the tour last year but I can't find them on my machine so I must have imagined it.
After the tour we walked up the hill to the palace gardens and had an hour's walk through it. The gardeners are sweeping leaves and cleaning up for the coming winter, but there were blooming waterlilies in the pond, I don't know why but I thought they were more tropical plants. I first saw them in a lake on the continental divide west of Jasper, Alberta 3 years ago and I was astonished, yet here they are again.
Eventually we walked back through the castle and I took time to climb to the top of the tower that pretty much dominates the town. I didn't do that last year so this year it was a must. The vistas are incredible and it was fun to see over the whole town and the castle at the same time.
There is also an ancient brewery here in Cesky Krumlov, Eggenberg, founded in 1560 and still making beer, When we found it last year it was after closing time and we missed visiting, so this year I made it a priority. We went in and had a late lunch, with a sampling pint of each of their 3 offerings, I love locally made beer so it was a treat. The food was good as well. After lunch we walked back to the hotel and spent a quiet evening.
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