Parting Shot

When I see the posts of my friends I can’t help but feel that I’m falling a little(o.k., a lot) behind. And, well that inspires me a little to write. Life seems to pass me by so quickly and I have a hard time disciplining myself to stop and record some of it. If it’s not one thing-like work, it’s another- like school. Then factor in(oh yes, I’m learning the lingo in my developmental math class) boyfriend and friends and family and then somebody named Elizabeth and it’s no wonder I put things like updating my blog off. If I’m not careful it may sound like I’m bitching. Not true. I’m loving life and am excited about where it’s going.

And then as I was searching for an image for this post I found: a reminder of where I’ve been. This is an old tourist brochure for a little town in the Czech Republic called Cesky Krumlov that I visited in 2002 when I was traveling in Europe. As an exploration from Prague I had gone down there intending to return after a couple of days and ended up staying a week. It’s about a 3 hour bus ride south of Prague and when the bus arrived in the early morning I was still a little sleepy and not knowing what to expect. Certainly not what I saw. It had just snowed and had made the curves of the hills above the city all meld together and give the appearance of an empty and enchanted town from a story book. Cesky Krumlov is nestled in the valley of the Vltava River and the city center is still a great mix of buildings from the centuries, most of them medieval with red tiled roofs crowded together over cobbled stone streets. Stone bridges connect over the river and it’s a great walking city.

There’s a lot more to do than you might expect from such a small town. There’s a great museum that was housing an enormous Dali exhibit at the time I was there. And when I say enormous I mean sprawling over what seemed to be an old castle with timbered roofs and many floors and rooms that were just FILLED with his lithographs, drawings, sketch-books, diagrams, paintings, etc. I had no idea he was so damn prolific. It was an amazing display. There’s also horse-back riding in the hills and tubing in the river with a movie in the summer. We just watched the snow fall during the day, made pizza, walked to the top of the highest hill in the area(getting lost on the way- of course), heading down to the bars and drinking with locals. The one thing that I did there that I still don’t recommend to many people is absinthe. That is the most vile thing that I have ever drank. The idea of melting sugar into the glass to make it palatable is a laugh. It burns, and smells and it then becomes impossible to close your mouth so long that pools of spit form and spill out of your gaping mouth. It’s awful fun to give to your friends though.

My fondest memory of Cesky Krumlov though was from our last night there. Every hostel that you stay at will give you a sheet of recommended things to do in the area, upcoming events, etc. I felt that the one I was given was a little better in that it gave you things to do where you might actually meet someone who lived there, instead of the usual tourist-y stuff. So, there was a restaurant a little ways from the hostel that 3 of us decided to go and visit. It was about a block down the street, but since the city is built into the valley we had to go down several flights of stairs to reach what we thought might be the door to the restaurant. I say thought because it was just that, a door. No sign or window, just a light and a big, banded wooden door, and since it was the only one that had a light above it we decided to take a chance and knock. The door, seriously, opened a crack and this big czech guy with a mustache poked his head out and looked us over. Obviously he was not expecting us, but seemed happy to see us and let us in to find a seat. The restaurant was in a small basement with an arched stone roof with about 30 or so family crests painted or hanging on it. The tables and chairs were just planked but obviously well made, because they’d been there forever, dark with age and soot. The cooking fire was in the middle of the room with a stone chimmney built around it. It was dark but cheerful and we were the only ones there with the man who let us in- the cook/owner/waiter/etc. excepting the group of 3-4 guys in the corner who were just finishing their meal. So, we ordered and watched him make our food as we drank our czech beer. The food was amazing, simple, flavorful and for poor travelers- plentiful. And as we were just sitting back to talk about whatever it was we were discussing the group in the corner pulled out their instruments and treated us to some awesome folk music! It was great, we couldn’t believe how beautifully the night went. So, we ordered another beer and sat back to enjoy the music and talk.

No experience in my time travelling was ever quite like that one. It felt kind of like a gift. Perhaps because I left shortly after and came home, but it will always be special to me.