Day 11 Cesky Krumlov & Prague: August 9, 2007

Hello,whoever is reading this!
Come with me to Cesky Krumlov! This is an amazing little town in the Czech Republic, south of Prague, about half way to the Austrian border. It's small and cute and built around a tight "S" bend in the Vltava (Moldau) river. The old section is completely Medieval and Baroque buildings.

But first a couple of more cool things yesterday in Prague:

I found a graffiti wall they call the Lennon Imagine Wall. When John Lennon died in 1980, people started writing the lyrics to Imagine on this long wall. Every night the Communist government would come paint over it, and every day the lyrics would reappear. It came to kind of represent the people's desire for freedom and a better government.

In the evening it started raining. I decided to climb the tower on the Charles Bridge. That was the one thing remaining I wanted to do in Prague, and I did it! This photo I took out a tower window. By the time I walked home to my hotel over the bridge in the rain, most of the people were gone and it was misty and really cool.

I got here to Cesky Krumlov at 2:00, after a 3 hour bus ride from Prague. So far I have just wandered around town, down the hill to the river and up to the castle on the other side. It's crazy, I have appointments! (necessary because of so many tourists):

16:55: English speaking tour of the castle on the hill. Can't get in sooner, and can't go without a tour.

8:00 p.m. raft trip! Only 30 minutes long, around the bend in the river from one side of the town to the other. Starting and ending points are only a few hundred yards apart. Krumlov is in the middle of a valley that's very big on rafting, so I decided a little raft trip was lots better than seeing more Baroque churches! Cost me about $16.

11:00 tomorrow morning: tour of the Baroque theater in the castle, which is supposed to be rare and fabulous. One of only 2 remaining, because most of them burned down. They used to light with candles, and used fireworks to make smoke while they changed the scenery, so that's why most of them burned!

1:00 p.m. tomorrow: I have a minibus picking me up at my hotel to drive me (with others) across the mountains to Linz, Austria. There I will catch a train for Vienna. There are no direct trains or busses from Krumlov to Vienna, so the minibus is the shortest and cheapest option.