Cesky Krumlov

Today we were on otur own. Gloria had purchased our tickets, took us on the tram route, and took us to the meeting place so she trusted us. We rose early and had breakfast. This hotel has a breakfast room and every morning a breakfast is set out: coffee and tea, apple and orange juice, hard cooked eggs, two cereals, two kinds of sliced cheese, sliced ham and sausage, two kinds of yogurt, plain rolls, rye bread, pastries, butter, jam. If we are hungry it is our own fault.

Today's trip was to Cesky Krumlov--a Renaissance city from 1100 to 1700 located two hours south of here close to the Austrian border. We took the tram to the city center and met the tour van (8 passenger). There was only one more tourist. We had our own driver and guide. It was great to leave the city and see what the countryside looked like. There was snow cover. We could see some small animals. The guide said that they were reeboks--little bitty deer about the size of prong horn antelope. Saw probably six herds which varied in size from 4 to 24. If there had not been snow cover, we would never have spotted them. The guide said there were wild boar in the woods along the roads. The terrain was rolling with wide fields. We spotted bales of hay, winter wheat, and plowed fields. Arrived around 11:30am and started walking with the guide pointing out the upper and lower castle (closed this time of year), courtyards, St. Vitus church, a zillion souvenir shops, etc. Of course, there were more cobblestones, lots of steps, and steep inclines. A river runs through the town. Had lunch--more dumplings--both potato and bread ones--and sauerkraut. After shopping for a while, we headed back around 4:00 pm. Our driver had a death wish and could easily drive in Mexico. If he wanted to pass someone,at 140 kph, the oncoming car had better move over. Instead of delivering us to the spot where he picked us up, he took us to St. Wenselas square. We didn't have a clue where we were. Phylis frantically looked at the map to try to figure out our location. Chuck went into negotiating mode. They eventually took us back to our pickup point and we easily caught the tram from there. Back to the hotel and watching the Olympics---of course, we can't understand what the announcer is saying. Just happy that Phylis was able to figure out how to turn the televison on!