“CESKY KRUMLOV,” THE WAITER REPLIED when I asked where he would take his girlfriend for a weekend getaway. The summer floods of 2002 had put an end to the Prague tourist season and so he had time to sit with us and chat — we were the only customers in the restaurant. We hadn’t heard of Cesky Krumlow; we didn’t even know about the flooding. In fact we were just beginning to learn about UNESCO World Heritage sites but we followed his advice and bought train tickets to Cesky Krumlov. We had to switch to a bus for the final bit where the tracks had washed out. Affordable lodging seemed scarce and we ended up in a hostel room so small I actually had to stand on the bed to close the door. While the residents were busy shoveling mud from their homes and rebuilding their lives, we were living in a medieval fairytale and had the own almost to ourselves.
Holasovicei Historical Village — South Bohemian Folk Baroque
Today, with our own wheels, we took our time driving on more back roads from Karlovy Vary. Sir Clive, our GPS with his “proper” British is doing a great job in the Czech Republic and we had no trouble finding the historic village of Holasovicel. The original village dates to the 1400s but the town we visited today were built by the German residents in the 18th and 19th Centuries in a style known as “South Bohemian Folk Baroque.” After a short break we were on our way to Cesky Krumlov.
The castle at Cesky Krumlov
Our waiter’s secret is out; Cesky Krumlov has been discovered, even by the Chinese! There is a giant parking lot just for tour buses. We upgraded from the tiny hostel room to one of the pensions that ring the old city. When we weren’t dodging tour groups we were trying to find places we remembered and recapture the magic of our first visit. But Cesky Krumlov isn’t the same place — nor are we the same starry-eyed people we were then. We should all do as Paul Simon sang, "Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you."
