Caliban – Opinion and Righteous Anger

It’s another sunny day in west Bohemia and another sunny day in the whole of Europe, I think; even friends and family on both the east and west coast of the USA are complaining about the heat. Summer never used to be this hot. What a bloody mess we’ve made of the climate.

This morning, we went underground to explore the passageways running under Plzeň. It was about 10°C down there, providing welcome temporary relief from the glowing orb in the sky above ground. The guided tour, which was in English, was very interesting, too.

Afterwards, Sarah went back to the hotel and I ascended the 303 steps of Chrám sv. Bartolomĕje (St. Bartholomew’s Church) tower for views over the city. One has to work off all of that zmrzlina somehow.

In the afternoon, we went to the Pilsner Urquell brewery for a tour of the brewing process and the brewery’s premises.

Incidentally, have you ever wondered why this famous beer is better known by its German name than by the Czech name of Plzeňský Prazdroj? Well, as the company history shows, the name of the beer was registered before the Czech Republic had come into existence, so the official language of the Austro-Hungarian empire was used, that being German.

Before the tour, we had dinner at the brewery’s excellent Na Splice restaurant, which is very large and has a great playing area for children. We liked this place so much that we went back there this evening for dinner, too. Eloïse mercifully left us alone to eat, happily engrossed with building blocks and other toys.

The guided tour was in English and was great, especially the 6.5°C beer-fermenting cellar. We could have happily spent the rest of the day down there. I’m quite proud that we found two good ways to keep cool today, whilst not sacrificing any of the touristic experience. On the contrary, both activities were firmly rooted in tourism.

The tour culminated in — what else? — a beer-tasting session. Straight from the cooper’s barrel was poured for us a generous beaker of the golden pivo. You can’t get this variety anywhere else; it hasn’t been filtered or pasteurised. It tasted as vile to me as any other beer, but Sarah liked it. Even Eloïse sampled a few drops, much to the amusement of the people around us.

Speaking of beer consumption, Sarah has downed no less than 1.5 litres of the amber nectar today. “I don’t like beer,” she says, but the fact speaks for itself. She likes lager, all right.

And so our time in Plzeň comes to an end. Tomorrow, we drive the 83 km to Karlovy Vary, where we’ll spend several nights relaxing in this famous spa town (a.k.a. Carlsbad in English and Karlsbad in German).

Karlovy Vary will almost certainly be our final stop in Czechia, bringing to an end our exploration of the Czech and Slovak republics. Of course, we’ll still be in excess of 800 km removed from Amsterdam at that point, so we’ll break up the journey by spending a night in Germany somewhere (Kassel, perhaps) on the way home.

Today was really shitty; not only did we have to say goodbye to our room at the very atmospheric Hotel Růže in our beloved Český Krumlov, but Eloïse didn’t sleep well on the way, waking up after just half an hour’s kip. Add to that the fact that today’s drive was significantly longer than usual and you’ve got a recipe for motoring misery.

We had decided to drive south-west to reach the Národního parku Šumava (Šumava National Park) and then head north-west along its edge for a while. The diversion was beautiful, but it added quite a few kilometres to the clock.

I had no idea that the Šumava was so popular with the Dutch. Once we were in the vicinity of Lake Lipno, every fourth car or so was Dutch. I couldn’t believe how many of them there were. As we drove past a supermarket, virtually every car parked outside was Dutch; presumably the occupants were inside, stocking up on groceries to take back with them to the camping. Odd that I’ve never heard of the Šumava’s popularity with the Dutch.

Later in the day, with about 90 km still to do, Eloïse became inconsolable, so we had to stop in the next town and find a patch of grass on which to let her play. Between her crying, her CD playing and the air-conditioning blasting away, I failed to hear the rear parking sensor beeping away at me and managed to reverse into a tree, putting a nasty dent in the bumper of the car. I’ll have to see about getting that fixed when we get back. I didn’t even see the tree looming up in the rear-view mirror. What a twat.

We eventually drove into Plzeň at about 17:30, allowing just enough time for a quick walk around the town’s main square, before heading off to dinner.

Plzeň is the birth-place of pilsner, the original pale lager. Beer is cheaper here than a soft-drink or even a glass of water of the same capacity. That fact’s not peculiar to Plzeň, though; the same is true all over the country.

There’s no driving on the menu tomorrow, a fact that pleases me no end right now. We’ll be exploring Plzeň on foot.

After two nights in Brno, followed by one in Telč, we now find ourselves in the south Bohemian town of Český Krumlov; and what a town it is. We arrived here this afternoon, via the pretty town of Slavonice, which is situated very close to the border with Austria.

Quite simply put, Český Krumlov is the nicest town I have ever been to; full-stop. In terms of sheer picturesque beauty, it blows all other challengers off the map. Prague, aesthetically speaking, at least, is a mere pale reflection of all that this town has to offer.

Every last detail for which tourists typically clamour is here: the imposing chateau, the winding river, the pretty town square., the narrow alleys, the buildings with lovely gables, the rolling hills, the good food and drink… and so on and so on.

After just a couple of hours of looking around, Sarah and I were in agreement: it was the nicest town either of us had ever been to. Touristic in its beauty and charm, the place is swarming with people who come here to enjoy it, but strangely, that has not spoilt it by attracting corny, exploitative commerce.

For me, this is Middle Europe’s best kept secret. I knew I was in for a treat and I had been looking forward to this particular stop on our itinerary since we set out, almost two months ago now, but nothing could have prepared me for how beautiful and charming this old town is.

It’s not just a pretty face, either. You can take to the river here, go riding on horseback, while away endless hours on the terraces of the many cafés, etc., etc. We’ll be taking to a raft on the river Vltava tomorrow afternoon.

We’ve extended our stay from two nights to three, as we already know we won’t want to leave here. If you’re planning to come to Prague this summer (or any summer), you owe it to yourself to spend a couple of nights here.

A lazy day today. The weather has relaxed its grip considerably, with today somewhere around the 26°C, a world of difference from the 32 – 35°C we’d been enduring for what seems like weeks now.

We ascended the Südturm of the Stephansdom this morning; all 343 steps of it. The view from the top of the tower was partially obscured by renovation work, so the climb was of dubious value.

In the afternoon, we walked around Rathausplatz, admiring the very impressive Rathaus, from which the sqaure obviously takes its name. There’s a film festival going on here during the months of July and August, with a film in the open air every evening. It’s one of those moments when you realise the sacrifice you’ve made by deciding to have a baby.

Dinner this evening was courtesy of the Sacher’s room service. We’d had lunch very late and neither of us felt like going out again, so we did the lazy thing and had dinner brought to the room in time for the day’s Tour de France stage on Eurosport. This is the life, all right.

And so our time in Vienna comes to an end, more or less. I’m stuffed from all of those dinosaur-sized schnitzels and energised from a steady stream of excellent Großer Brauners. What a great city!

For the first couple of days here, I wasn’t sure I was going to like Vienna nearly as much as the other capitals we’ve visited on this trip, but now I’d have to say that it comes close.

Vienna has an undeniable style, with its grandiose and bombastic architecture, its fountains and statues, and its wide boulevards. Its cafés offer the perfect seat for people-watching, their coffee and cakes a delicious feast for the eyes, nostrils and taste-buds.

It’s an expensive city, there’s no denying that, but it’s a rewarding place to spend time. Its many parks are a free and easy way to relax in the shade, enjoying some respite from the baking heat. They’re also a good way to meet the Viennese, themselves. Before you know it, you may find yourself playing football with a couple of local children; we did.

Tomorrow, we head back to Czechia, to the country’s second largest city of Brno for two nights.

And so begins our gradual return to Amsterdam. From this point forward, we’ll generally get closer to Amsterdam with each day’s final destination. Actually, that’s probably been the case since we entered Hungary, but because we still had another country to visit, it felt like we were getting yet further away.

The diminishing geographical distance notwithstanding, Amsterdam feels further away than ever. The nomadic lifestyle suits us well and I, for one, will be sorry when this trip comes to an end. What will we do? The answer is obvious: start planning our next trip!