The Ceske Krumlov castle is nestled high above the town that affords visitors with a magnificent view of traditional Czech red roof tops and the horseshoe bend of the Vltava River. The castle had a faux brick fresco painted on the exterior, an artistic design borrowed from the Romans. We couldn't take pics of the interiors, but all the rooms were ornately decorated. I did sneak a photo of a stairwell that had the family coat of arms painted on the ceiling . The most interesting part of the tour was seeing formal dining rooms adjacent to every bedroom. Apparently, this was common practice back then, but the kitchens were several floors below which made it difficult for servants to haul food and china to all the dining rooms. Also, on the tour was a bear held in captivity outside the castle in an enclosed lower courtyard. I felt sorry for him. The poor thing served as mascot for the Ursini family (which means "bear" in Latin) that hailed from the royal Holy Roman Empire and were the castle's earliest owners. Consequently, the castle went on to serve royal families of German, Austrian, Hungarian and Czech descent. During communist Czechoslovakia, the castle fell into ruins but was refurbished with the pendulum swing of liberated democracy of the 1990's. Incidentally, the 2006 film The Illusionist starring Edward Norton and Jessica Biel was filmed at Ceske Krumlov Castle. This makes me want to Netflix it, just so I could see the castle again.... Hmnnnn.....
