Holiday Tales : Part II : Cesky Krumlov, Jousting and Porky Treats !!...

HOLIDAY TALES : Part II - CESKY KRUMLOV



After many laughable attempts to make ourselves understood at Prague Train Station, we at last, found our way to the Information Bureau, where a delightfully helpful lady finally told us why we couldn't find Cesky Krumlov at the end of any of the train route timetables, even though our newly acquired ticket clearly stated Cesky Krumlov on it !!...the fact is we had to change trains at Cesky Budjevice, about half an hour away from our destination...D'oh !!...

The train we travelled in was not air-conditioned, but actually didn't have to be - because it was the old-fashioned type of corridor train that we used to have in the UK, we could open all the windows in the carriage, and in the corridor opposite, and get the most wonderful draught of fresh air around the carriage, which was a welcome relief from the ninety degree heat outside..

Whilst we were waiting for the train to depart, we were entertained by the spectacle of two workmen upon the roof of the station, whose aim in life that day, was to remove most of the panes of glass from the roof, presumably because they were either dirty from years of Communist neglect, or actually unsafe...they performed this task with undeniable relish, by kicking the glass in from above, sending huge shards of glass and plaster crashing down upon the three or four, thankfully empty, platforms below !! Blimey, I thought, that would never happen in Britain....they'd be sued for unsafe practice...

When we got to the Cesky Budjevice, where we had to change, there was approximately two minutes to get off the train, go down the stairs with our monster suitcase, go all the way down the corridor to the main station area to find out which platform we had to get to for our connecting train to Cesky Krumlov, ( only to discover that it was going from the platform just next door to the one we just got off at....Grrrr !)

Needless to say, we missed the connection...

We were approached by a young man with an enormous rucksack, who, in the usual way of us Westerners, assumed that we would, of course, be able to speak English, said "Hey there...do you know when the next train to Cesky Krumlov is ?" in an unmistakable Aussie twang...

We had ascertained that there was a two hour wait until the next train, and so we decided to go and have some much needed drinks at the inevitable cafe outside the station, and invited the Aussie to join us, since we were going in the same direction...turns out that he had no idea about the Festival going on there that weekend, so he was chuffed to bits that he'd, by chance, come on just the right weekend, and very interested to read all the guff we had brought with us, courtesy of Chris, who had arranged the whole Krumlov thing to start with ! Two hours were spent in very pleasant company, and the subsequent train journey took about another hour, so it was early evening when we got to our destination...

CESKY KRUMLOV,

Our hotel was situated just outside the main town area of Cesky Krumlov, about ten minutes walk away, and was owned by an English guy, Peter, and his Czech wife, Danielle, who were both absolutely charming, and very helpful when it came to arranging things like taxis to the airport, a canoeing trip down the river for half the group, and a horse-riding excursion for a few others, and even costumes could easily be arranged for next year, should we want to come back !!!  

The town itself is absolutely stunning !!

Cesky Krumlov Streets

More Cesky Krumlov pics here

Almost totally Medieval, it looks just like the centre of Prague, without the modern street signage, or modern road markings for traffic...in fact, there were hardly any cars to speak of anyway...

All the streets were cobbled, and all the buildings were decorated in that rich Renaissance style of stucco decoration, with all the windows outlined with patterned borders, and the flat plastered walls were painted to look like they were built out of large blocks of stone, faceted in a regular pattern...it is only when you get up close that you realise it is all an illusion...

All the roofs were red slate tiles, and all the shops had pictorial signs for the benefit of the medieval peasants who couldn't read...just fabulous !!

Wandering all around this truly fantastic ( in the original sense of the word ) place, all the townspeople were dressed in Sixteenth Century costume, with the most tremendous amount of detail, even down to the shoes... 

There was a Medieval Peasant family, with their little baby in a pull around cart, filed with straw...a rough ride for baby over all the cobbles, I'm sure !!

Peasant Family...

...and aristocratic couples with starched white ruffs and velvet gowns, and pearls in their hair...In the main Town Square, they had set up a stage, where they proceeded to re-enact the story of the Five-petalled Rose...and as far as we could make out, it was a long and complicated tale of Family Feuding, due to some nobleman or other, letting down the daughter of the House of Krumlov, by refusing her hand in Marriage, thus relegating her to reject status...and her being rescued from certain Spinsterhood and a cold and lonely Death by a young and studly Knight in shining armour at the Annual Jousting Tournament...you get the drift !!! Very Shakespearian indeed...
Onstage, there were lots of Aristocrats in velvet gowns and breeches, lots of Pages in costume looking like the Knaves from a pack of cards, all with their long silver trumpets, festooned with the flag of the Five-petalled Rose, and sitting on the outside wall of the stage, was the Court Jester, in his red costume with bells on it !! Very amusing he was too...

The Court Jester

So all weekend, we drank loads of the local Eggenberg beer, ate loads of spit-roasted pig and sausages, rye bread, and pickles, and watched jousting tournaments, and processions through the streets, and culminating, on Saturday night, in some very loud fireworks over the very beautiful castle...

Cesky Krumlov is VERY picturesque, and extremely photogenic...its safe to say that its almost impossible to take bad pictures in a place like this ...