Cesky Krumlov

The best part of this weekend trip was being all together and the bears.

Even though it started Saturday morning, a few of the boys created a Bar Golf Prague version for Friday night. I was impressed by their dedication to the creation of it, but more so the turnout. It was so fun being all together exploring Prague together. For some reason, I had 6 friends all visiting Prague this weekend too, so they got to tag along for some of it!

Saturday morning, we rushed to the bus stop to meet the group! On the bus ride there, Yurie asked Andrea if Cesky Krumlov was in Prague…. seriously. Andrea was not amused in the slightest by this question, but Yurie was serious. We assured Yurie that it was not in Prague.

On the way, we made a pitstop at Mcdonald’s because we were early for the Cesky Krumlov bus stop. Everyone pilled into the McDonald’s, which caused the bus to reek of McDonald’s afterwards.

We continued onwards to Cesky Krumlov. Upon arrival, we went to the hotel to drop off our bags. It was too early for check-in, so we dropped them off and started off for a walking tour by Andrea. It was literally freezing though, so we were all pretty miserable. We explored the little town by seeing the main square and the large church with everything in between. After, we went to the castle to go up the tower. About half of the group went up, the other half decided to do some exploring themselves. I was in that group. We did stop and watch the bears outside the castle for a good 10 minutes. A fan favorite of the weekend. We wandered in a gingerbread and jam store. Next, Natalie and I went to an Italian place. I ordered some delicious carbanara. We were so hungry and cold that we literally inhaled the pasta. Content from our food (and in a food coma), we scurried back to the hotel for a nice nap. I didn’t get much sleep the night prior, and had been pretty sick so I slept for a while. Natalie woke me up when it was time for dinner. We thought we should try Czech food while in Cesky Krumlov.

Natalie googled and found one with good reviews. It was off the beaten path, which kinda sused us out. It was a huge restaurant, but not very packed. I can only imagine what it looks like during the peak season. I ordered a beef broth soup to start for my throat, and wow was it good! We both ordered beef goulash for our main meal. It did not sit well for either of us. It was so cold outside, and we did not feel good so we decided to hunker down for a little bit. We finished our movie we had started earlier in the week. Finally, we trekked back to the hotel to change.

Everyone who was there (not everyone in the program went) was going to a local club. The club was lucky we found them, because it was pretty much only us. They served the buckets of alcohol and pretty much everyone got them to share. It was fun being all together. Natalie and I were devastated to find there was no UberEats in Cesky Krumlov.

The next morning we had to *Czech* out by 10. We packed up, and ate breakfast in the lobby until it was time to go. The group that had been in the castle tower the day prior went to go hike to a white church. Natalie and I set off to see the castle.

Once we got there, we watched the bears wrestle and play again for another 15 minutes before buying our tickets. The stairs up the tower were surprisingly not difficult. The view from the top was confusing. It feels like Cesky Krumlov is a little town in the middle of no where, but at the top you can see there is civilization right next door. The view was pretty of the little houses and shops, but we liked watching the bears from the top the best.

We climbed down and explored the gardens afterwards. The gardens had intricate designs throughout them and a revolving theater (shut down for the winter). We left the gardens and did a little shopping. I loved this all-natural apothecary store. We ran into the group outside the store, and went to lunch together. I got pizza and tea. The bartender Meredith communicated with on Google translate the night before was there, which was funny to watch unfold. We all hung out in the lunch place until it was time to leave.

I think it would have been cooler to go to Cesky Krumlov during a warmer weekend. I know it is busier then, but one of the main attractions is the river. The river activities seemed to be what would have been my favorite part of the weekend for sure.