By Chris Millikan
While our riverboat cruises onward, we disembark at Linz, Austria and daytrip into the southwest Czech Republic. Within 11/2 scenic hours, we’re sauntering into fabled Cesky Krumlov.
Our guide Daniel leads us along a brick walkway into a small park and through a massive multi-arched city gate. Crossing a wooden bridge over the meandering Vltava River, we behold this small, storybook town. Other visitors float by on flat-bottomed rafts. Daniel grins, “That’s one way to visit…but strolling is the best way to see this World Heritage site!” Pointing upward, he notes, “In 1253, the Lords of Krumlov built their castle up there!” With its wondrous tower displaying delicate pinks and yellows, Cesky’s castle shares the high promontory above the river with gothic-spired St.Vitus Church. Daniel adds, “Though begun early in the1400’s, that magnificent church wasn’t completed until the 19th.”
Cesky’s exudes enchantment along her winding narrow cobblestone streets. Yellow, green and blue old-world townhouses, inns and shops rise around us…just some of 300 preserved buildings. Medieval crests, images of prominent burghers and mosaic figures decorate pastel walls. Crisp red and white trims some windows, others display intricate geometric patterns.
Surrounded by quaint hotels and bustling outdoor cafes, we survey the lively central square from a comfy bench. The Virgin Mary tops the fountain towering behind us, where lion heads spout water; sculpted saints and guardian angels decorate its six sides.
Off this square, the Regional Museum houses 34,000 objects, including a model showing a 19th-century Cesky, Bohemian antiques and archeological finds from this region. The Museum of Architecture and Craft exhibits building designs and construction techniques from the Middle Ages to today.
In a nearby centuries-old hotel, all eagerly gather for traditional Czech lunches. Surrounded by medieval wall tapestries, we join shipmates around a wood table. Bright sunshine streams into the dining room through high windows framed with burgundy velvet drapes.
While sipping robust Czech beer and savouring bowls of garlicky potato soup, waiters enthrall us with tales of their president staying here. Even Prince Charles and Camilla holiday in these gracious surroundings. After lingering over plates heaped with savoury paprika chicken and roasted potatoes, we’re back in the lobby. Poking our faces through cutout holes, we pose for zany photos from behind plywood mockups…seeming to be dressed in royal garb!
Our group disperses for afternoon explorations. My hubby and I head for the castle, the Republic’s second largest to Prague’s Hradcany. Trudging up the winding street, we pass through a carriage portal and into a shaded courtyard amid the castle complex of forty gothic, renaissance and baroque buildings. Rising above us, the 55-meter tower boasts four archaic bells dating from the early 1400’s to 1700’s. Some visitors pay small fees and climb to see its 16th-century mural gallery…and ultra-magnificent panoramas.
Continuing through a stone passageway, we arrive on a sunlit terrace. From vantage points along the crowded wall, we view the multi-coloured tower high above us and marvel at this perfect postcard of red-peaked roofs set amid green rolling hills.
Our walk continues upward into the royal park founded in the 17th-century. A high wall surrounds eleven hectares of lush terraced lawns. Inside, peaceful pathways lead us past colorful flowerbeds, huge ornate urns, statuary of playful gods and a massive white marble fountain.
Settled back inside the coach, Daniel piques further imaginings, “Cesky transforms into a 16th-century setting for a mid-June festival. For three days there are concerts and glittering dances; parading nobles, knights and jugglers roam through the streets.”
Reboarding our riverboat in Passau, we bring treasured memories of our ramble through medieval Cesky Krumlov.
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European river cruise itineraries: www.scenictours.com