Český Krumlov

We were dining in a quaint and rustic little cafe/bar in Cesky Krumlov and I had ordered the trout for dinner. When it arrived it was beautifully presented and still have the head attached!- just like in cartoons… We made a big deal and asked the solo waiter/bartender to take our photo as we held up our beautiful meals. We were the only diners and he was the only person there beside the cook… anyway – he couldn’t speak a word of English so I used sign language to ask if I would be allowed to take one of the thick cardboard drink coasters – I was collecting them and most places were totally fine if you took one for a souvenir. He shook his head ‘no-no’ and quickly went in to the kitchen (I wondered if I had really offended him) He returned to our table a few minutes later with several new coasters and indicated we should have them. We thought this was SO nice and THEN he comes out a moment later with 2 empty beer glasses with the Eggenberg crest on them and insisted we should take them. I was immediately skeptical and was nervous about how much he was charging us for them but he insisted they were free and let us take them home. We all seemed to want to be able to communicate with each other so by the time we were leaving we were doing charades of everything… and then I thought I’d say the only thing in Czech I knew… Jaromir Jager – his entire face lit up completely and he said so proudly “Peetzburg Peengwins” These were the only English words I heard him say. Czech Rep had just beaten Canada in the World Cup of Hockey that year… I got him to write down his name so when I got home I took a photo of us holding our glasses and sent it to him c/o the restaurant and enclosed a Pittsburg Penguin postcard and keychain… I have never heard if he received it. The coaster is shown below…

If you like orange, mint green and pink, this place is for you!

You should go during the five petal rose festival. There are steet vendors and people in renaissance costumes. It’s pretty amazing.

the best time to go is off-season, when the streets are nearly empty (i’ve been twice, once in early january, once in april). the tranquility and beauty of the town is simply magical, especially when you’re the only one around and are just immersed in the quiet beauty of the area.

this is a very beautiful and cool place!