Prague and Central Europe 2017: Cesky Krumlov

Left early Saturday for the overnight trip to Cesky Krumlov. This is an old town about 2.5 hours drive south of Prague, Cesky Krumlov is up near the Vltava River which also flows through Prague. One of the highlights of the weekend was the rafting trip down the river. Frank and I took on the leadership and engine room roles at the rear of the raft. I was also the delegated official photographer which created some division in the ranks. Belinda and Pam had the easy job of steering the raft through the easy bits and the rapids. We all shared the responsibility of paddling. We were driven about 10 kilometres upstream from the town and had a 3.5 hour paddle in front of us, lucky the current took us downstream lots of the time. There were 6 sets of rapids to spark things up a bit. Frank nearly fell out of the raft once and Pam had an unfortunate fall into the raft, landing on her back in the bottom of the raft. The first rapids went well, the second set were a little more testing and we ended up ship wrecked on the rocks at the bottom of the rapids. It was obviously a navigational issue and blame was apportioned appropriately. Lots of pushing and finally got going again. Lessons were learned and the rest of the rapids went without incident. We arrived back in town and handed over the raft, wanting to get hold of a beer. A successful search located a nearby pub and 2 beers disappeared instantly.

Wandered around town, quite beautiful in the old section which is circled by the Vltava River, with narrow cobblestone streets, beautifully, well maintained houses and hotels painted in traditional colours. The town is surrounded by hills rising from the river, topped with the Cesky Krumlov castle and churches. It is a very small town centre with little cafes all over the place fronting the river. Every time we had a meal or a coffee we were able to watch the activity on the water. Our hotel was also in an excellent position overlooking the river.

Sleep in, then indulge in a sweet pancake breakfast, went for a walk through the castle, back to the hotel and home to Prague. I think all the exercise has worn us out, we’ll be having an early night.