May 28-May30, 2005

Exploring Bohemia

It feels good to be away from big cities! The countryside here is truly charming. Nature at its best. With this unseasonable weather it has almost the ripeness brought by late August when the soil appears ready to yield its fruit.

I can't get over the prettiness of the landscape. Gently rolling hills where vast mustard fields put splashes of bright yellow. Wild flowers everywhere; lazy rivers speckled with sunlight; tranquil glossy lakes and the roads are honeysuckle scented narrow lanes winding up and down. I am travelling by bus stopping often at villages embedded in all this green, with their red roofs huddled around a gothic church steeple. We pick up and drop off all kinds of people among them children, riotous and merry because school is coming to an end.

Grassyfield with close up of fruited tree

I am enjoying the slower pace. I am surrounded by smiles; people chat amiably among themselves and are friendly to me. I guess Prague folks are sufferring from the "capital city syndrome" like in other European metropolis. The expatriates here paint a rather negative picture of the locals. They have told me horrific stories about attacks and robberies in broad day light on the trams or metro. Innocent travellers have been victimized, apparently prayed on the night trains to wake up with nothing left. Expats have also said that locals are very racist and that darker skinned people are often ill treated.

Gary knows an East Indian visitor who was spat upon at a tram stop for no reason. I must say that I have experienced none of this. I have found Prague people reserved but not unfriendly and here, in the countryside, I feel in my element surrounded by superb scenery and pleasant people!

In Bohemia, I have explored a string of typical towns, some of them so well preserved and authentic that they have been declared part of the cultural heritage by UNESCO.

View into Cesky Krumlov snuggeled around the river, Vltava

Cesky Krumlov is one of them. It looks almost a toy city with its old town square, its small bridges and the river, a scintillating emerald colored ribbon snaking around along grassy banks. The architectural masterpiece of the place is undoubtedly the Castle perched on the hill. A stunning sight.

View of the Cesky Krumlov castle overlooking the river

I went to visit it early in the morning to avoid the hordes. I particularly enjoyed the courtyards, the gardens, and the elaborate central fountain featuring aquatic animals, cherubs and nymphs spouting water, a little like in Versailles.

In Cesky, I stayed for the first time in a long time in a Youth Hostel. I had forgotten how noisy, messy and inconsiderate youngsters can be.

Some of the luxurious antiques inside the castle

I guess I was the same at their age! However, I got lucky. I was put in a triple room opening onto the back. The noise of the cascading river was covering the loud music and the partying going on in the front. I slept blissfully. In the early morning, there were some hungovered souls unable to make it to their bunk. I bumped into one of them. He looked green, a Saint Patrick's Day kind of green, and was moving in extreme slow motion. Concerned, I asked him if he was okay. He answered me with a burp, collapsed on the floor and started snoring loudly!

Welcome sign on the entry into Ceske Budejovice

"Excuse me. Do you know if there is a train for Plzen?"
I eyed him incredulously. Did I look like a train time table, sitting here at the bus station? "I am sorry but I have no idea. The train station is five minutes away to the right maybe you can go and ask."
"I can't, there is a bus leaving for Plzen in five minutes. If I go to the train station to check, I might miss it."

Ceske Budejovice was another one of these jewel towns. I enjoyed it more because it was quieter. There at the bus station where I met a weird Chinese American who did not seem to know whether he was coming or going. With a hat that looked like a chamberpot upside down on his head and sophisticated camera equipment around his neck, he approached me.

Ceske Budejovice town square

Still not following what was going on, I suggested, "You could ask the lady at the bus information booth. She might know about trains."
"No, I can't. She does not speak English. The service is very bad in this country. How do you manage yourself?"
"I smile a lot," I answered looking very serious.
"You smile a lot! But I do not have time to do that. I am on a serious assignment. I am a professional photographer, with deadlines to meet. You look so relaxed. You look like you would go wherever the wind pushes you."
As I could not decide whether this was a compliment or not, I said nothing and resumed reading my book.
Insistent, the photographer with the chamberpot hat sat beside me. "And where are you going yourself?"
"I am going to Telc, on the 9 o'clock bus."
"To Telc! Waoooh. There's a bus going there! I think I'm going to follow you. There is a castle to photograph there."
I could not believe my ears. I just vaguely nodded.
A beautiful, tall, slender Czech woman with a rather low neckline walked by. The chamber pot said dreamily, almost without thinking... "I like this country. I think I will come back some day.
Frankly amused, I hopped on the bus. The chamber pot followed but sat right at the front on his own. What a relief! He spent the two hour trip taking pictures of everything and anything: fields, cows, trucks, lamp posts. He kept clicking to the great annoyance of the driver who was too polite to complain. Once we arrived, he approached me again, "Are you looking for the Information office too?"
"Not at all. I am on my way to the train station to leave my pack." I hurriedly left, never to see him again.

The houses, reminiscent of German and Dutch traditional style, are attached to one another and come in a myriad of colours: pistacchio green, rich pink, vivid orange or yellow as well as more muted tones. Their facade is always particularly ornate with a crest on the top.

I rather liked Telc, despite the encounter with the chamber pot. It is a small community (only 6000 people), with a delightful cobblestone central square, the usual church, town hall, fountains, Gothic arcades, statues and Renaissance buildings that I had admired in Cesky Krumlov and Ceske Budejovice.

Fountain in Telc square

Telc facades in rust, white, pink and orange

Telc facades in yellow, green, peach and tan

Telc also has a castle, so fairytale like that it seems a set from a movie! The village is entirely surrounded by ponds, which

enhances the pastoral, small town atmosphere pervading everywhere.

By the way, I did leave my pack in Telc train station.

One of the elaborate hallways in the Telc castle

It was not a lie to get rid of the chamber pot photographer! The train station was deserted. There was one man who appeared to cumulate all duties: selling tickets, directing the rare trains and keeping the luggage. It took him about ten minutes to do all the paper work and put the necessary stamp. And it costs me only 9 crowns: 50 cents.

See you in Moravia!

The journey continues...