Wednesday 14 October 2015

An Autumnal Week in Czech



My autumn Czech trip was, in some respects, similar to the one I made back in the spring. Prague was sunny and warm for the first couple of days, but this was then followed by a period of rain. I’m sure the receptionist in our hotel was pleased as she said that after an exceptionally dry and hot summer, the whole country was crying out for rain. That’s all well and good I replied, but if it was all the same to her I would prefer it if the rain held off for another week!

In the end we only really had one day of wandering around in the rain, as the second wet day was spent travelling, by coach, from Prague to Český Krumlov – the town where we spent the second half of our trip. The rest of our stay was characterised by sunny days, but increasingly cold nights. Autumn was definitely a week or two ahead of the UK, with some spectacular seasonal colours from the trees. Snow is forecast for the coming weekend, but I’m sure that’s not that unusual for a mountainous region of central Europe.

Basically, our trip was a tale of two contrasting halves; spending four nights in the big city atmosphere of Prague, followed by four nights in the delightful preserved medieval town of Český Krumlov. The latter wasn’t without its share of tourists; in fact the town is now the second most popular destination for foreign visitors to the Czech Republic. Český Krumlov is people sized though, and easily seen in a day, but for me it was the perfect place to relax and enjoy a few beers - after taking in some of the impressive sights of this beautiful medieval town.


More detailed reports to follow, of course, but I’m pleased to say that good and sometimes excellent beer is still available in what has become one of my favourite countries to visit.

2 comments:

retiredmartin said...

Glad you enjoyed Cesky. Clearly not many canoes on the river now; my teenage sons capsized theirs on those falls while we enjoyed our beers !

Paul Bailey said...

There were still a few hardy canoeists out on the river, Martin; in fact there was an annual canoe marathon taking place on the Saturday afternoon. I’m not sure where the starting place was (apart from somewhere on the Vltava River), but Cesky Krumlov was the finishing place, with presentations and other celebrations taking place on the lawn in front of the Eggenberg Brewery. The brewery beer hall was also hosting a live music evening that night, which was connected with the canoeing event.