We made our way south, past Prague, to Cesky Krumlov…for the second time. Our first visit was only for two hours, and I felt this city needed more of a comprehensive stay. We also wanted some downtime without a lot of early mornings and day-long tours, so we stayed here for 3 nights. We saw enough new stuff to make a new post, so here we go!
The view of the castle tower never gets old!
I took a more detailed photo of the castle portion below the tower. These wall paintings were restored fairly recently, which is why they look so fresh.
We walked back through the castle entrance, and watched the bears in the moat for awhile. They are quite good at posing!
The Mama Bear looked pretty casual here…like she was just sitting at the pub!
We took a tour of the Castle Museum and Castle Tower, and since it was mid-week it wasn’t nearly as crowded as I thought it might be. This is the entrance to the museum/tower.
In the museum they had this interesting antique typewriter from the early 20th century. It looks like it would take forever to actually type something since you have to constantly move the needle to point at a letter.
They also had this replica of the “Holy Lance”, the tip of the spear that was used to stab Jesus as he was on the cross. They really do like these morbid relics! The original is supposedly in Vienna at Hofburg Palace.
For the ultimate in lazy, check out this chair/toilet! I can’t imagine just flipping the seat down and sitting atop this after taking care of business.
They even had a little theater in the castle showing an old black and white silent film of the last royals who lived here. I noted this poster on the wall for the movie “The Golem”…the Jewish-based monster that is supposed to live in the attic of a Synagogue in Prague.
We then climbed up the stairs of the beautiful Castle Tower, and the views from the top are well worth the effort!
This little city is so photogenic!
After departing the castle we ventured to the outskirts of the town we hadn’t yet explored. There really are stunning views around every corner here!
The Castle Tower is beautiful from every part of the city.
We found a pub along the river with excellent views!
As well as excellent beer! This Budejovicky (Budweiser in German) Budvar beer is made in the nearby city of Ceske Budejovice, which has been brewing beer since 1245. They have been in a trademark dispute with Anheuser-Busch over the use of the Budweiser name since the start of the 20th century. The main difference between the two companies is the Budejovicky Budvar is actually drinkable, as opposed to the swill made in the US.
We took a short hike after our beers, and this little storm came out of nowhere. At least we had our raincoats with us!
We were in Cesky Krumlov on May 8th, known as Liberty Day in most European countries, when the end of WWII is celebrated. This business had the American flag flying since this city was liberated by the Americans.
We also visited a pretty cool little museum, Fotoatelier (Photo Workshop) Seidel. This was a studio for an acclaimed early photographer, Josef Seidel, whose photos date back to 1888. His son, Frantisek Seidel, took over after Josef’s death in 1935. The studio was forced to close by the Communists in 1949, but Frantisek continued to live there with his family.
After Frantisek’s death in 1997, the house was being cleared out, and in the attic area they discovered all the old photography equipment, as well as tens of thousands of old photographic glass plate negatives in perfect condition, which provided an incredible snapshot back in time. There were also thousands of post cards the studio created, which have been very helpful with Czech historians. This photo shows all of the old boxes of developed film in their original spot in the attic, although all of the glass plates are now in safe storage.
Here is some of the film development equipment in the lab that was run in the studio.
This is the actual studio where thousands of photos of families were taken. The room faces north, and the glass wall/ceiling allowed indirect daylight into the room for taking the photos. The white curtains in the photo could be moved as necessary to shield the subjects on particularly bright days
All in all this was a very cool little museum, and well worth the visit. We took one final shot from the castle gardens on our way back to our hotel. Definitely make this little town a visit if you plan to go to Prague!
Up next, we visit the town of Brno, Czech Republic, our last stop of the trip.