We began our trip 100 km south of Prague on Friday morning in the small town of Tábor. This city, named after the mountain in Jordan where it was believed that the Transfiguration of Christ took place, was the historical seat of the Hussite movement in the Czech lands. The Hussites were a religious group who fought against the sins of the Catholic Church in the Czech lands during the Reformation, and it is named after its leader Jan Huss, who was burned at the stake as a heretic. Jan Huss has become a hero of the Czech people under the Protestant history of this land.
During our brief morning in Tábor, we toured the church and town square. After lunch at a local Czech restaurant (included for free), we also saw the undergrounds of Tábor, which were used to connect the residents of the town after World War II. The weather during the weekend was amazing and crisp, and there is no more beautiful place for autumn and the changing of the leaves than in Bohemia.
Next stop on our tour was Český Krumlov, where we spent the next two days exploring the sights and experiences of the most famous tourist town in the southern Czech Republic. The entire town in walkable in just 10 minutes, but the lack of sights does not diminish the amount of interesting things to do. Pictured above is a panoramic view of the famous Krumlov castle, which is a UNESCO protected heritage sight.
After eating dinner (again, included) on the Vlatava river at a little patio pub, we called it an early night to rest up for our full day on Saturday. In the morning, we went on a tour of the castle grounds with our accompanying history professor. The most impressive sight was the Baroque theatre, the most beautiful and well preserved in all of Europe.
Later that afternoon during our free time, we rested up and sat down again at a pub on the Vlatava River to enjoy an Eggenberg, the traditional Czech beer of Krumlov. The above picture is a view of the castle from the place where we sat down for our <$2 beers. After shopping a little around the shops of Krumlov, we had dinner at a vegetarian restaurant to shy away from all the heavy Czech cuisine we'd be subjected to all weekend. A night out on the town (aka seeing all 2 bars and 1 club) in this small town, and we were ready to head back to Prague.
Třeboň was our final stop on Sunday on our all-inclusive tour of Souther Bohemia. Instead of touring the historic town center, our programming leaders took us to the carp-harvesting festival. As you may know, the Czech Republic is entirely land-locked, so all seafood must come from ponds and lakes. In this particular town, there is a big festival when they begin the harvest (pictured above), which includes traditional Czech food, candy, sweets, toys, and, of course, carp of all preparations.
The last activity before the bus ride back to Prague was a tour of the Regent brewery. It is a famous beer of the town of Třeboň, and we were given an exclusive tour of the brewing facilities. The guide only spoke Czech, so our professor had to translate most of the tour - beer brewing vocabulary is pretty difficult, too! After seeing the beer-making process up close, we went down into the freezing and dark beer-curing cellars. There, our guide gave us each a large cup of fresh beer from the supply to taste before it was even bottled!
After the tour, we were each given a free sampling of Regent beers and taken to lunch at the brewery pub. A warm mushroom soup, potato pancakes, and honey cake dessert made for a great end to the trip. Overall, it was an incredibly pleasant and relaxing vacation from the hustle-and-bustle of Prague..and almost every cost was included in our program tuition! This week, I am working the Forum 200, which I will be sure to update you on soon.
Last but not least, I just booked an inexpensive flight back to PARIS FOR THE FIRST WEEKEND OF DECEMBER! I'm so excited to go back to my home this summer, to use my French, and to see all the beautiful Christmas-time decorations. À bientôt!
I like you in argyle...
ReplyDeleteI like that picture of you too!
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