Lover of Wine – Travel along on our adventures – DAVID & JANEEN

Prior to leaving for this trip, I had arranged a guide to take us out of Prague and into some of the historical sites.  We were picked up by Ilona and her husband, Peter,  who acted as the driver and off we went.

The first stop was to Český Krumlov Castle located about 2 ½ hours outside of Prague. The Castle dates back to 1240 when the first castle was built by the Witigonen family, the main branch of the powerful Rosenberg family. For the next several hundred years it pass through a number of Noble families ultimately passing to the Schwarzenbergs. After WW II it ultimately became a property of the Czech government. The entire area, castle, village and surround areas, were declared a national monument in 1989 and in 1992 it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

We started our tour in the gardens of the castle at the top of the hill     and walked through several squares ultimately getting to the main gate of the castle and into the town. Along the way we had beautiful views of the river, the village and the surround buildings.

With each square there were interesting sites to see – faux windows and doors on the walls,   representations of the coat of arms of the Rosenberg family and historical objects like rock cannon balls.  Interior shots of the Castle show how richly appointed all the rooms are.

        

After leaving the castle we walked through a portion of the village and across a bridge to the main section.

The village has winding small cobblestone streets lined with shops, restaurants and open areas – squares. We walked to an over look to look back at the castle and through the church.    

  Note the stones at the corner of the buildings.  This was to protect them from horse and carriage impacts.

After a lunch of local fare     we headed back to the car to continue our adventure.     This view of the castle shows the walkways created to separate various levels of society.  The top level was for the Noble’s to walk from the Castle to the gardens, the middle level was for servants and the lower level was for access to the Theatre from the Castle.

After connecting with Peter, we drove to České Budějovice for a quick tour around the square with it’s impressive buildings.  

Budějovice has long been well known for the beer brewed there since the 13th century. For a time, the town was the imperial brewery for the Holy Roman Emperor, and Budweiser Bier (i.e. beer from Budweis) became, along with Pilsner from Plzeň, one of the best-known lagers. Brewing remains a major industry. This is the town that the American brewer took the name for Budweiser Beer

From here we went on to Hluboka Castle.   This historic chateau and is considered to be one of the most beautiful castles in the Czech Republic. In the second half of the 13th century, a castle was built at this location and rebult several times over the years. Finally being modified into it’s current form by Adam Franz von Schwarzenberg in the beginning of the 18^th century. It is in the romantic style of England’s Windsor Castle. The owner fled the country in 1939 to escape from the Nazis.  

Today’s adventures were all south of Prague.  Tomorrow we head east to see other sites not normally on the common tour route.

 

 

As mentioned in yesterday’s post Janeen found an artist who’s jewelry she liked.  This involved her buying a lovely necklace and a bracelet.  Well, the design was such that it was a gold and silver piece but the two pieces (bracelet and necklace) didn’t match.  So today, as it was HOT, we called an Uber and got a ride to the third shop of the store that represented the artist.  Unfortunately they didn’t have anything that would resolve this issue.  We went for a great lunch at Kampa Park Restaurant for a nice bottle of Sav Blanc and lunch.

We were right on the river and watched the boats going back and forth on their various tours.

Insofar as we didn’t resolve the jewelry issue, we called Uber again and went back to the original store (also the “flagship” location) to see what they could do.  Well, the staff were very friendly and with only a little prompting by me called the Artist directly to see about making adjustments to the necklace and bracelet.  Well, not a problem they said – we can ship it to you in 4 to 6 weeks.  Naturally I took a picture of them

and with only an addition 200 Czech Koruna (8.40 US) the deal was done.  Of course this only made the total value of our purchases in the 7000 Koruna range. But Janeen will be happy and it will arrive in time for our anniversary (I hope).

On our way back to the Hotel we stopped for a quick picture (standing in the street) of the Powder Tower.

An event relaxing day for sure.

The Estates Theatre was built during the late 18th century in response to the Enlightenment thought regarding general access to the theatre, and theatres themselves demonstrating the cultural standards of a nation. The Estates Theatre was designed and built a little less than two years for the aristocrat Count Nostitz Rieneck. Currently productions include a variety of productions – drama, opera, music, plays – and the schedule changes virtually every day requiring the stage to be reset daily. Our visit included a nice tour of the building, a visit to several boxes and a performance by several musicians.

After the tour of the Theatre, we went to the Municipal House. This is a civic building originally built in the 1380’s but destroyed but ultimately rebuilt in 1905. It was finally opened in 1912 and has a large auditorium and a number of “waiting” rooms around the outside of the main auditorium. It is notable for having a good deal of art installations done by Alfons Mucha, Jan Preisler and others. Today it is used as a concert hall, ballroom, civic building and I was temped to get tickets to see Diane Reeves who was scheduled for Friday evening.

 

Lunch at the Municipal Building wasn’t anything to write about but at least it was filling and in an interesting environment.

From there we went shopping as Janeen had found an artist’s work in the gift shop she liked so we had to track down where we could see other examples. This ended up as trip to a nice shop at which we purchased a lovely necklace (more on that tomorrow).  This involved going to two of the three shops but again more on that tomorrow.

We did stop in Old Town Square for a nice bottle of wine.  It was SO hot, the water truck showed up to wet down the plaza and people as desired.

Heading back to our hotel took pictures of a couple of interesting buildings.

That evening we connected with Jerry and Gloria and took another Uber to dinner at Divine Cafe and Wine Bar.  Sitting in the patio we enjoyed a lovely dinner of the special of the day.

The following day Jerry and Gloria were to fly home so this was to be our final meal on this trip with them and it certainly was enjoyable.  A cab ride back to the hotel and the day was finished.

Prague is widely considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world, its called the Golden City. The variety of architectural forms is an extraordinary harmony, the city can watch all directions and styles, where Romanesque and Gothic buildings,   built in Renaissance and Baroque whimsically combined with more recent trends: modernism, cubism. It will take several days to experience all the splendor of the Czech capital.

On our way into the city, we passed by this building – called The Dancing House, or Fred and Ginger, is the nickname given to the building designed by Frank Gehry – that’s right the same architect who designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA.

 

We arrived at the Art Deco Imperial Hotel just a few blocks from the Old Town Square.

After getting checked in, we went down the street to a burger place and had a wonderful lunch (with a couple of brews) and chatted up locals at the adjacent tables. It is amazing to me that English is so common in Europe and yet we don’t speak other languages. O’well, maybe I start classes at PCC.

 

After lunch we walked along the river ultimately finding our way to the Old Town Square passing interesting restored buildings, the Astronomical Clock. This was installed in 1410 making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still operating. We were there in time for the 4 o’clock strike where all the movement operates – really something to see.

  

After another break for a beverage we went to our dinner spot – Wine O’Clock Shop.   This was a small place with basically small plates available and lots of Italian Wines. It appears Veronika, the Owner, likes Italian wines and imports them from a small region along the eastern coast down by the boot. As part of our small plate dinner, Veronika made this really wonderful blue cheese dish.

After finishing we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the next day in Prague.

As the river would not allow the boat to go further along our path, UniWorld arrange a Coach tour into the Bavarian Forest.      This was a nice alternative and included a site seeing tour along the route, a horse drawn coach adventure through the forest, a visit to a glass museum, a glass factory and a lovely lunch.

After we returned we packed up for tomorrows trip to Prague and had the Captian’s Farewell Dinner.     All and all a very nice day.