Czech Republic Diary

From Austria, we drove 140ks west, across the border into the Czech Republic, to a town called Cesky Krumlov and Camping Chvalsiny (in a village with the same name, about 10ks out) for 1 night. We then drove 140ks west, across the border into the Czech Republic, to a town called Ceský Kremlov and Camping Chvalsiny (in a village with the same name, about 10ks out) for 1 night.

14-5-2012 Monday
It was very cold overnight, 4 degrees at 11pm last night and we had the heater on overnight. There was a light frost on the grass this morning. It reminded us of the cold winter nights we had in the earlier months of this year. The lady in the camping park told us it gets down to -30 degrees here in winter with heaps of snow. We drove about 10ks back to the town, to the big 14-19th century Ceský Krumlov castle, built on rock and across the winding Vltava River from the old town with its narrow and cobbled streets. Firstly we walked around the old town and then on to the castle museum with many artefacts (dining room, bedroom, swords, guns, furniture, ornaments, and a cinema with a silent movie running of the town scenes in the early 20th century). Next we climbed the castle tower which had a great view of the old city and some of the new.

Looking over the both sides of one bridge leading into the castle grounds, we saw 3 (we think brown) bears down inside what would've been the moat area. It appeared to be 2 adults and 1 adolescent. In many places, the Český Krumlov Castle is decorated with ostentatious coats-of-arms of the lords of Rosenberg bearing the sign of the five-petalled rose in a silver field and bears as the shield-bearers. The first notes of bearkeeping at the Český Krumlov Castle date from the time of Wilhelm von Rosenberg, in the latter half of the 16th century. The first records about bears being kept in the moat date from 1707, when four bears were held there. From the 1730´s to the 1790´s bears were kept in the moat continuously.

The future of keeping the bears in their present environment isn't known at the moment. It is under review because their present accommodation doesn't meet the accepted zoological standards.
After that we drove 180ks north to the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague and to Sunny Camping in Stodulky for 5 nights.

In 1993 Czechoslavakia split into 2 separate countries, the Czech Repulbic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic population is over 10 million with Prague having over 1.3 million.

15-5-2012 Tuesday
Walked to the underground train (about 600m) and rode into Prague city. It is just full of interesting old buildings with such wonderful decorative facades - we spent a lot of time just standing and looking at them. We saw some hop-on-hop-off tour buses but they were the size of 18 seater small buses, the streets being too small for the normal size open top buses we've seen in other capitals. Prague's oldest square Staromestske nam (Old Town Square) is dominated by the twin Gothic steeples of Tyn Church (1365), the baroque St Nicholas Church (1730s) and the clock tower of the Old Town Hall, with a gothic tower and an astronomical clock (1410) which entertains the crowds on the hour with its parade of apostles and a bell-ringing skeleton. An astronomical clock is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the sun, moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets. There certainly were crowds around in the square today, and they did gather on the hour to look at the entertaining clock. We caught the elevator up to a narrow viewing platform where there were good views all over the city. At the square's centre is the Jan Hus Monument, erected in 1915 on the 500th anniversary of the religious reformer's execution.

We'd planned to have a traditional Czech meal but were drawn to a pub called George and the Dragon, displaying the union jack and traditional English meals, so we decided to have lunch there. Next door was an Irish pub and it was a toss up which one we were going to try. There were many horse and carriage rides with the drivers in the traditional livery.

16-5-2012 Wednesday
Went into Prague again and walked over the (no vehicle traffic) Karluv Most (Charles Bridge), graced by 30 statues dating from the 18th century, lined with jewellery stalls, portrait artists and street performers, although at this early time in the season, there was only 1 street performer and that was an organ grinder with a stuffed monkey as a partner. We had a caricature sketch done of the both of us together, for the first time, by one of these portrait artists, and it created a lot of interest and amusement for passersby, during the sketching. I was happy because the artist made me slim and Dave wasn't happy because he was given a paunch! This bridge is the oldest preserved bridge in Prague, and was founded by King Charles IV in 1357. One end of the bridge has 2 towers, built separately in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the other end has 1 tower, with arched walkways at both ends. By the way, we're not on the Danube anymore, which we always seemed to be in previous countries and sightseeing places - we're now on the Vltava River.

We walked to a funicular and rode up to the top where we went to the Petrin Tower, a small scale of the Eiffel Tower. It had an elevator thankfully, or we wouldn't have climbed up all the steps to the top for a great view of the city. From there we made our way, albeit a bit up and down and maybe a bit round and round and much walking, to Prague Castle. However as it was late in the day by this time, we had an early dinner at a nearby restaurant - we a traditional Czech meal of roast pork, dumplings and pickled cabbage. Although we weren't fussed on the pickled cabbage, the meal was nice and we'd have it again. We then walked around and marvelled at the outside of the castle and the church but will leave the inside to do tomorrow, as we know it will take a few hours. Everywhere we look, there are interesting, decorated buildings.

17-5-2012 Thursday
Into Prague again and we spent all day at Prazsky hrad (Prague Castle), which doesn't really look like a traditional castle, probably because it wasn't really a serious defensive castle as others we've seen. The castle is actually a large complex of a number of buildings and structures, with a surrounding defensive wall. Since the 9th century it has been the residence of Czech monarchs and Presidents, and has gradually been rebuilt and extended over time. Although it is the official residence of the President of the Czech Republic, the living quarters are small and not particularly comfortable, so recent Presidents have chosen to, in reality, live elsewhere.

We visited Golden Lane - a 16th century tradesmen's quarter of tiny houses built into the castle walls; Basilica of St George; an exhibit detailing The Story of Prague Castle; St Vitus' Cathedral a very impressive structure which towers above the rest of the complex and has had a long construction history, dating from 1344 with its final completion in 1929; Prague Castle Picture Gallery displaying paintings from around the 1500's; Powder Tower, an exhibit, in one of the round towers of the castle, of the history of the Castle Guard - a military unit that guards Prague castle; Old Royal Palace; and Rosenberg Palace. Two members of the Presidential Guard stand at each of all the entrances of the castle complex (we saw 3 entrances but aren't sure of the total).

18-5-2012 Friday
Decided to do one last day in Prague. We spent a couple hours in the Museum of Communism, which ironically is tucked behind Prague's largest McDonald's. Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Nazis in 1938 and fell to a communist coup in 1948, an oppressive, brutal communism regime which lasted for over 40 years. 1968 saw the Soviet invasion. In 1969, male students Jan Palach and Jan Zajic burned themselves alive in separate incidents, in protest at the Soviet invasion. The Velvet Revolution was the name given to the bloodless overthrow of the communist regime in 1989. There are many accomplished Czech film directors, including Mílos Forman, best known for 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' (1975) and 'Amadeus' (1984).

We walked around the broad, sloping avenue of Wenceslas Square, lined with shops, banks and restaurants and dominated by a statue of St Wenceslas on horseback. The square has always been a focus for demonstrations and public gatherings. Beneath the statue there is a shrine to the victims of communism, including Jan Palach and Jan Zajic. The Good King Wenceslas of the Christmas carol fame was actually a prince, and the land he looked out over was the ancient territory of Bohemia. (Bohemia, of the Bohemia crystal fame, and Moravia make up the Czech Republic). Beatified as St Wenceslas (svatý Václav in Czech), he remains the country's patron saint.

Wandering around in the Jewish Quarter we saw several synagogues and a cemetery but it was getting late in the day so we didn't go inside. When we were in the cemetery part of the synagogue we visited in Budapest, we noticed niches with small rounded stones on them and piles of stones nearby. When we looked it up on the internet we found these interesting details:-

Even when visiting Jewish graves of someone that the visitor never knew, the custom is to place a small stone on the grave using the left hand. This shows that someone visited the gravesite, and is also a way of participating in the mitzvah of burial. Leaving flowers is not a traditional Jewish practice. Another reason for leaving stones is to tend the grave. In Biblical times, gravestones were not used; graves were marked with mounds of stones (a kind of cairn ), so by placing (or replacing) them, one perpetuated the existence of the site.

Back in the Old Town Square we noticed there were more people than the other day. There was a stage being erected and there were several makeshift bars and fast food stalls set up. We assumed it's part of the Prague Spring Festival that is held from 12 May to 3 June.

19-5-2012 Saturday
Drove 85ks south-west to a town called Plzen (Pilsen) (Czech Republic) and a camping park called Autocamping Ostende for 3 nights. Pilsener Urquell was the world's first lager beer, invented here in 1842. We're parked by the shore of Grand Boulevec Lake, surrounded by woods and forest, and we have a lovely view of the lake - it's very pleasant.

20-5-2012 Sunday
Rest day today. So of course, did some washing and then rode the bikes right around this big lake. The temperature is between 25-30 today with a nice cool breeze blowing and there were a lot of people taking advantage, swimming in the lake and sunbaking all around the edge of the lake. From inside our mhome yesterday, we saw some people walking out in the water and we thought they were bare bottomed, and now we know they were! There is a small area, not far from the end of the park, that seems to be designated for nude swimming and sunbaking. Luckily, they're about 200m away so it's not too shocking. When we rode around today, we noticed a couple women in the more public area, with their tops off, so some good viewing for the young fellas around. There were a couple, small man-made beaches with white sand, with a couple beach bars to buy some cool drinks. There are plenty of trees around the lake and it's been a lovely spot to enjoy our day off. This camping park is the only one that is situated on the edge of the lake.21-5-2012 Monday
Caught the tram into the city of Plzen (Czech Republic) - population of about 175,000. The Gothic St Bartholomew Cathedral dominates the nám Republiky (old town square). We climbed the 102m church tower, the highest in Bohemia, for a great view of the city. We then walked over to the Pilsener Urquall Brewery for their tour, where the world's first lager beer was invented in 1842. The fancy front gate looks like one of the many Arch de Triumph structures we've seen in several countries. We rode up in a huge lift that can hold 72 people to see the large copper containers where the 'wort' is made, which is the barley and hops mixture before the addition of water and yeast. We saw inside the packaging plant where the many bottles and cans move along like soldiers on a stainless steel conveyor belt. Then we had a beer tasting in the cold underground tunnels where beer was brewed, stored and served - a wreath was put out on the entrance to let people know when the brew was ready for drinking.

After our tour we walked to a pub and one thing we had was a typical czech food, garlic soup which was nice - they should serve that in Transylvania (Romania) to keep the vampires away! After lunch we walked to The Great Synagogue, built 1891-3, the biggest in the Czech Republic and the second biggest in Europe. Again, as in many places in Europe, it was pleasant just viewing the many, old beautiful buildings. Tomorrow we will leave the Czech Republic and head off back into Germany.