Today we left Prague. Although this was sad, we were excited to be on to our next adventure.

Petula did a great job of leading us out of Prague and through the countryside. The landscape became hillier and more forested as we went south. Other than a stop for coffee and muffins at McDonalds, we drove straight to Cesky Krumlov and the Pension Delanta.
Cesky Krumlov is an enchanting town, caught in a time warp, in the southern Czech Republic. A large castle looks over a delightful village, with narrow cobble-stone lanes and red roofed buildings. The town is a UNESCO world heritage site.
We were greeted warmly at the pension and after depositing our luggage in our wonderful rooms, we set off on foot to explore the town. We first stopped for a delightful lunch in a 14th century building. The soups & salads were fresh, full of flavor and again beautifully presented.
We wandered through the narrow streets, peeked into shops and enjoyed the wonderful ambience. Heading into the castle grounds, we passed the bear pits, which house a family of European brown bears. They seemed to be avoiding the tourists today, but we did get to see one big fellow briefly. We admired the castle architecture and the amazing views of the village below.

Behind the castle are the castle gardens. This 2300 foot long area is meticulously groomed and was wonderfully peaceful to wander through. Apparently, most of the tourists can’t be bothered as we had much of the area all to ourselves.


In the late afternoon, we took a break at the pension and then returned to the town for dinner at Papa’s Living Restaurant, as recommend by Yulia, the pension proprietress. The food was very good – although perhaps not at the level we have experienced a couple of times lately.
Cesky Krumlov was definitely a great place for a stopover on our way to Vienna and we would highly recommend it and the Pension Delanta!

Cheers,

B,H,D&L