YEAH WE HAVE INTERNET BACK!!! It is good to have some internet connection again! Not that is was out long, just long enough. I guess it was out on Friday morning just before we left to visit the small picturesque Czech town of Cesky Krumlov!

view of the castle

It took about four hours to get there by bus, which wasn't bad seeing how I passed out pretty easily and without much delay. And for the times that I did spring to life, the Czech country side was filled with rolling hills and yellow flowered fields, possibly growing mustered seeds. The country side of southern Czech Republic reminded me much of the country side of Missouri when I drive back to school. The fields are green and lush and small towns pop up out of nowhere.

view from the castle

But Cesky Krumlov is a living example of what I imagine any small European village to be like. Cobble stone streets, so narrow it's impossible to imagine how a car can find it's way through, an extremely organic city plan, an elaborate castle complete with Bear mote, all surrounded by wooded areas [which made it feel more isolated than it really was].

when in doubt a bear mote will do the trick.

When we arrived it was Friday and kind of rainy. Without hesitation we checked into our hostel and hit the street aided by a cartoon map with circles and scribbles drawn on it by our host, indicating the "hot" spots in town. As afternoon turned into evening the rain picked up and we decided there was only one thing really to do. Pub crawl.

The whopping five bar tour started with a bar called the horor bar [spelled in Czech no worries] it was located in the basement of an old church. Barrel vaults sprang from the ground and spanned the length of the room giving us just enough space to walk without ducking. Furthermore the atmosphere was made complete with spider webs and skeletons hanging from the ceiling, not to mention the staff was...how do I put this...Goth, real Goth. An interesting experience but I was looking forward to the more traditional pubs, such as the gorilla, gypsy bar and a few more.
horor bar...scary

Saturday we were out of our hostel at 7:45 to discover what we missed because of the rain the previous day. We once again walked up to the castle and meandered through the precisely manicured gardens. After which we climbed to the top of the castles single clock tower and took in a wonderful view of the entire city.

a top the clock tower

garden garden fountain

wooded area in the castle garden

After winding our way through the streets, getting lost and then realizing that we ended up in the same place we were in the first place, we decided to take in an art exhibit by the contemporary Czech photographer and another exhibit of the Czech art Nuevo master mind Mucha. Both were interesting to see but I greatly preferred Mucha over Jan … somebody. After the art exhibit we headed for the museum of torture, and it was SUPER creepy. I seriously think that we were the only people in the entire dungeon like display of metal clamps and torture devices. It was the most uncomfortable 20 minutes of my life. While the museum wasn't all that big, it had numerous dark shadowy corners and a few ominous looking nooks. The fact that there were howling and moaning sound effects coming from some of the displays didn't help me much. I think I grabbed poor Luke’s arm a hundred times. I was so thankful when the torture tour was over.

popular bus stop if i do say so myself

fields of green and yellow

It wasn't too long before we grabbed some lunch and boarded the bus back home, and three hours later we arrived in Prague, in the rain, imagine that.