Back onto the bus again and another short day as we travel the short distance to the small small city of Cesky Krumlov. Just outside CK is another small place that has been brewing Budweiser for the last 500 years or so (as it is a local name). Of course most of you will know that there is an American company also produces a beer like substitute that also goes by the name of Budweiser. This obviously causes some controversy because the American company put an international trademark on the name a few years ago and Americans like to sue people. So when the original Czech company found that they weren't able to legalise the name they'd been using for the last half a millennium -a court suit ensued. Apparently there has been a compromise and neither company has to stop using the name - however the Czech beer now has "Budvar" added to the end of the name. You could say that the Americans won the battle - but if you taste both beers, you'll see that the Czechs are well and truly winning the war. We roll into town around midday and have to contend with an issue that we didn't consider much on our holiday - a wet, grey rainy day. It is positively awful with consistent drizzle. Mike
changes out of the world's most slippery jandals as soon as we get into our private room. It's appropriately named - The Love Shack! (It's a little old place where we can get together...) Bizarrely, we have to walk through the Gang of Four room to get to our room, but that's what you get when you modernise a 500 year old building. The rain is not going to get us down, the 40 minute wait for our lunch might, but after the sandwiches we head down the cobbled streets with our raincoats and appropriate footwear to check out the town. We find the cathedral, which was worth a look but definitely not a must do if you've seen any other cathedral on your travels (and by the time you get to central Europe you'll have seen many!) Exploring Europe is thirsty work even on a dreary day, so we stop and have a real Bud (0.5l) and a Sprite (0.3l). Mike loves the fact that the smaller fizzy drink costs more than the beer and also that the beer is so good over here! Apparently the castle IS a must do when you go
to CK, but when you get up close, you find that the ornate statues and detailing are actually very budget paintings! The view is ok, but the highlight is well and truly the moat, where there are 3 bears (Shona sings "a mama and a papa and a wee bear" for the rest of our time in CK). We stop and Czech them out for a while and like that they don't seem too bored and definitely don't seem starved! The town square is the next stop, seems like it would be a good spot for a drink on a hot day. We make our way back to the hostel past the touristy shops, they are all worth a look but none really grab the imagination. Dinner at the hostel is good value - pasta and quesadilla, two beers & two wines, because we may as well make use of the affordable country while it lasts! The movie at the hostel is Beerfest. Mike convinces Shona that it will be good research for Munich and she falls for it, so we watch it together before falling asleep in the Love Shack.
changes out of the world's most slippery jandals as soon as we get into our private room. It's appropriately named - The Love Shack! (It's a little old place where we can get together...) Bizarrely, we have to walk through the Gang of Four room to get to our room, but that's what you get when you modernise a 500 year old building. The rain is not going to get us down, the 40 minute wait for our lunch might, but after the sandwiches we head down the cobbled streets with our raincoats and appropriate footwear to check out the town. We find the cathedral, which was worth a look but definitely not a must do if you've seen any other cathedral on your travels (and by the time you get to central Europe you'll have seen many!) Exploring Europe is thirsty work even on a dreary day, so we stop and have a real Bud (0.5l) and a Sprite (0.3l). Mike loves the fact that the smaller fizzy drink costs more than the beer and also that the beer is so good over here! Apparently the castle IS a must do when you go 
to CK, but when you get up close, you find that the ornate statues and detailing are actually very budget paintings! The view is ok, but the highlight is well and truly the moat, where there are 3 bears (Shona sings "a mama and a papa and a wee bear" for the rest of our time in CK). We stop and Czech them out for a while and like that they don't seem too bored and definitely don't seem starved! The town square is the next stop, seems like it would be a good spot for a drink on a hot day. We make our way back to the hostel past the touristy shops, they are all worth a look but none really grab the imagination. Dinner at the hostel is good value - pasta and quesadilla, two beers & two wines, because we may as well make use of the affordable country while it lasts! The movie at the hostel is Beerfest. Mike convinces Shona that it will be good research for Munich and she falls for it, so we watch it together before falling asleep in the Love Shack.
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lol - what gets realy silly is when beer is cheaper than fizzy drink AND both are cheaper than water!
ReplyDeleteFair point :o) Bottled water IS an annoying expense...
ReplyDelete