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  The Czech Republic 2008 - Cesky Krumlov and Lipno

 

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THE CZECH REPUBLIC - Cesky Krumlov and Lake Lipno

Cesky Krumlov, another UNESCO Heritage site, has an amazing castle and an interesting old city centre that needs more than one day to see all the sights. Having had a brief look around the previous evening we drove the short distance along the main road from the campsite early the next morning and ignoring the several signs to expensive coach and motorhome parking found a free place on the side of the wide main road along with several other cars and campervans (before the parking restrictions signs!) and a short distance from the path to the city centre. 

The first place we visited was the castle. It is an immense maze of buildings and courtyards started in the thirteenth century and most of the major alterations and decorations completed by the 18th century. We investigated the admission prices to the castle interior, rather more expensive than the guide book stated and now about £9 each for a guided tour in English (which weren't very frequent at the time of our visit), but it is probably worth a tour if you enjoy ornate Renaissance period rooms. The main attraction is the Rococo style decorated Masquerade Hall. However the outside is freely accessible so we decided to walk around the courtyards and gardens, and visit the tower later. Crossing the first entrance bridge where everyone was leaning over the parapet we discovered there were a family of brown bears in the (dry!) moat. Whether these days keeping animals on show in such places is acceptable is debatable (we wouldn't choose to visit zoos anyway).

     The castle at Cesky Krumlov        The castle and river at Cesky Krumlov
                                                              The castle at Cesky Krumlov
The intricate decorations all over the walls of the inner courtyards were simply stunning and well preserved. Beyond the castle are the formal gardens with ornamental fountains and an interesting outdoor theatre where the auditorium rotated much to the pleasure of the parties of school children watching a performance of the current play - "Robin Hood" !

        Theatre with revolving auditorium    
           Theatre with revolving auditorium 

        One of the bears living in the castle moat
         One of the bears living in the castle moat

We visited the tower for a small fee and walked up the initially wide then very narrow spiral staircase of 162 steps to the viewing gallery commanding a fine view across the red roofs of the old town and into the surrounding countryside

   
View from the tower over the old town
              View from the tower over the old town

Decorated castle courtyard
Decorated castle courtyard

The castle tower
The castle tower

one of the many ornately decorated walls
one of the many ornately decorated walls

From the castle precincts it was a short walk down steep lanes to the city centre almost surrounded by the curving River Vltava, busy with canoeists and groups of rafts negotiating the weirs, and explored the attractive streets with mostly gift shops and restaurants. The old town centre had a laidback, cheerful atmosphere with the usual mix of restored and semi derelict buildings and is popular with backpackers. There are several museums and art galleries, churches and monasteries that can also be visited. The best times to visit the town are in the evening and early morning before the coaches arrive as it is deservedly a popular tourist destination.



The old town square
The old town square
After a trip to the new Tesco supermarket well signposted on the edge of the town where we treated ourselves to some local food delicacies, the household and electrical goods were similar prices to the UK, we drove on the main road to Lake Lipno in the heavily forested Sumava National Park and found the ACSI listed Camping Frymburk run by another friendly Dutch family, where we chose a level terraced pitch overlooking the very large (artificial) lake. It was a short walk along the lakeside foot and cycle-path to the village with a distinctive church and many signs of an era of a few decades ago. There was a small vehicle ferry across the lake to the remote forest and the Austrian border, but after a stroll around the small town we decided to walk up the hill almost opposite the campsite entrance to a calvary path leading to a shrine with fine views across the wooded hills. Frymburk on Lake Lipno
Frymburk on Lake Lipno

Calvary hill near Frymburk
 Calvary hill near Frymburk

Car ferry to Austria
Car ferry to Austria


What's on in Horni Plana!

After a lazy day as we had booked in the campsite for two nights we drove the short distance to Horni Plana passing alongside a steam railway that didn't appear to be operating at this time of the year. According to the guide book this is the main resort on the lake but despite it being a rather damp Saturday afternoon the place was virtually deserted and everywhere was closed. Maybe the signs advertising local events were telling us that this wasn't living up to its image at least out of season!

We decided to leave The Czech Republic the next morning and after passing a large modern holiday complex beside the lake reached the border town of Vyssi Brod with the usual Vietnamese market stalls all selling the same (unpriced) range of toys, clothes and garden ornaments. 

        


After a quick look around and being politely encouraged to spend some money (honestly we just didn't have room to store a delightful gnome) we crossed the unmanned border crossing into Austria and were suddenly travelling through tidy meadows and neat flowery villages before arriving at Linz on the Danube.

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