St. Vitus Cathedral

On my last week-end in Prague, I visited St. Vitus Cathedral which was located on the Prague Castle compound. It was incredibly beautiful and built in stages from the 9th century to the 15th century. St. Vitus Cathedral was as beautiful on the outside as it was on the inside. What do you think?

As I was leaving, I noticed how the stained glass windows would shine on the marble floors and leave these beautiful color patterns. Walking out of St. Vitus Cathedral, I heard my footsteps on the color splashed floors echoing quietly behind me.

Love, Love, Love Ceske Krumlov Castle

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.....

Ceske Krumlov

Our bus entered the township of Ceske Krumlov, which translates to "a Czech (or Bohemian) crooked meadow."

Right away it gave off an "old world" feel.

We stopped for lunch and I ordered pork loins n' gravy, potato dumplings, and sauerkraut washed down with Eggenberg beer; a typical Czech meal.

After lunch we explored the crooked alley ways and cobble stoned streets of the town below.

I so loved how this pic turned out. It captured the charm of this little shop.

Storefronts continued down cobble stoned steps.

Final destination was the Ceske Krumlov Castle, which is captured on the next blog.

Ceske Budejovice - City of Budweiser Beer

About 1.5 hours south of Prague is the city of Ceske Budejovice (a.k.a. "Budweis" in English), which is the largest city in the Southern Bohemia region. In the 13th century, it was a township that produced "Budweiser Bier" (beer from Budweis), the royal brewery of the Holy Roman Emperor, that was a very well known lager. Incidentally, America's own commercially successful Budweiser beer was "originally brewed as an imitation of the famous Czech original." Anheuser-Busch tried to buy the Czech brewery to gain exclusive rights to the "Budweiser" name, but "Budweiser Budvar Brewery" refused. We didn't stay long in Ceske Budejovice. Our bus stopped at the old town square only long enough to take quick pics, before we headed to Cesky Krumlov Castle 10 min away. It would've been nice to have toured the brewery and sampled liquid goods, but our schedule was too tightly fixed. However, while we were at the square, some folks were dressed as trees.... and I'm still baffled why. LoL. Guess some things are better left unknown. Next stop, Cesky Krumlov Castle.

Canary Yellow Canola Fields

Yesterday I took a bus tour to Southern Bohemia, the southern region of the Czech Republic. The country is so small that it only takes 2 hours to go from one end to the other. The tour was headed to the cities of Ceske Budejovice and Cesky Krumlov. Along the way, I enjoyed the picturesque countryside, and was astounded to see ample bright yellow canola fields and rural ponds that made the drive enjoyable. Now, every time I use canola oil, I'll think back to the fields seen below. Who would've thought canola oil came from vivid fields of bright canary yellow?