Getting back to the topic at hand: after my group was finished with the Zlata Koruna monastery, we were bussed out to the town of Krumlov, which is several hours away from Prague by car.
^ The town is built near the famous Krumlov Castle, but today the town is mostly a tourist trap, filled with souvenir shops and taverns. The day we visited was blazing hot, but it was a great chance to down some authentic mead. When I tried it, I had the sudden urge to stand up, give a heroic boast, and call my thanes together to battle Grendel.
^ To enter the town from the bus parking area, we traveled underneath this bridge that links different parts of the castle. It reminded me of a Roman aqueduct.
^ At first, I thought the castle wall was crumbling away. This is not the case; instead, the wall is built into the cliff face.
^ This tower on one side of the castle immediately drew my attention.
^ You can climb the tower (height: 54.5 meters), but it will cost you. Luckily they give discounts to students. Hooray for price discrimination!
^ Here's the entrance to Krumlov, taken from the tower. I crossed the bridge on the right when entering the town. The pub with the best mead in town is on the waterfront on the left side; it's the 5th or 6th house from the left.
^ Straight down from the tower is the bridge leading into the castle. The area immediately below the bridge contained a bear. Yes, you read that right: a bear. I felt terribly sorry for it, as it didn't seem happy at all, confined to such a small area.
^ Also taken from the tower, but in the other direction. As you can see, Krumlov stretches out quite a ways beyond the castle.
^ While I was on top of the tower, I met a Japanese family that was taking pictures. Exercising my rusty command of the Japanese language, I held out my camera and asked, "Shashin wo kudasi" (please take a picture). They were shocked to hear someone speaking their language and asked me all sorts of questions (in English). They did also take a picture for me.
^ Here's a panoramic image I took from the tower (click the picture for a bigger view). As with Prague, the farther out from the center you go, the more modern the buildings become.
^ Walking through the steets of Krumlov, I couldn't resist taking a picture of this Gothic-themed "Horor Bar" sign. I'm guessing this bar isn't popular among pirates, because it's missing an RRRRRRRRRR.
^ The town itself is about as scenic as they come in the Czech Republic. Here we have the Hotel Mlyn, which is supposed to be a nice place to stay if you're in the area.
^ Finally, here's another panoramic of Krumlov. On the left you can see the castle tower and the Hotel Mlyn. Click for a bigger view!~More on the way, as always.
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