Well it seems I´ve spent most of the past couple of days navigating around the local train system! I finally got on the train to Ceske Krumlov, a small town in the south of Czech Republic, and the ride wasn´t too exciting except for the obligatory passport check by the cops (why only me I wonder? hehe). It was starting to rain but thankfully it stopped by the time we reached Ceske Budejovice where I had to change to a smaller local train. This had the benefit of taking me through some nice windy sections of track that meandered through the hilly countryside. The pine forest encroached closer to the track in this part of the world and I´m sure I saw Little Red Riding Hood´s Grandma´s house (but still no wolves :). It´s very pictureseque and I was even more blown away with Ceske Krumlov!
This little medieval place was like going back in time, and its cobbled streets, beautiful old buildings and the castle on the hill surrounded by a babbling brook was a postcard in every direction. Pity it was dark and I couldn´t see any of until the next day, lol. But there was a mess up with my accomodation booking so they transferred me to the Hotel Ruze, a 5-star affair close by. Oh why me! haha. That was the best room I´ve stayed in yet. Big double (2 poster) bed, gothic ceiling, wooden floor and lovely furniture, and a bathroom with all flash fittings. Perfect for the honeymoon couple, oh wait, where´s my wench! Well they even supplied the wenches - kind of, the reception and waitress staff all wore medieval wench costumes, which was a nice touch :)
I spent some time walking the slippery cobbled paths around the old town and up to the castle. Some touristy things were closed (like tours of the dungeons) but the grounds were open and the views very specky. This is such a romantic place and couples of all ages walk arm in arm admiring the atmosphere. I found a guy selling hot wine (more like hot brandy!) so had a romantic moment with him and warmed myself up on a glass as we talked broken German by the stream, haha. It hasn´t been so cold here but still chilly. I could have spent another night easily being waited on by wenches, but alas, I had to be in Salzburg before nightfall, so it was sad to have to leave so soon.
I had to back track to Ceske Budejovice to change trains for Salzburg, and it turned out to be beautiful sunny day. There was a bit of waiting around between changes but once we got going, the other changes (at Horni Dvorice - good name that one, at Summerau and Linz) went pretty smoothly. I had 3 Japanese travellers equally confused about train changes as I was so it helped to know I wasn´t alone. Once we crossed into Austria, more rolling hills of pine forest encroached on the track and swathes of snow covered fields broke the landscape interspersed with small towns. There was a noticeable difference between the Czech and Austrian towns as suddenly we were in the land of BMW, Porsche and Audi´s :).
On arriving in Salzburg it became obvious that we had left the eastern block for the cosmopolitan extravagance of this European centrepiece (though I still pined for Ceske Krumlov wenches lol). But after a friendly ride to my hotel and settling in, I´m sure it won´t take long for me to assimilate with the locals. Now if only I had brought my Gucci suit!
More sightseeing to come. I´ll try upload some pics when I get on a decent PC - these hotel ones are terrible. Check back regularly for the next episode ;).
