the perfect little town

I left Prague yesterday morning, I was just kind of itching to move on.  So I headed south to the small town of Cesky Krumlov, which many people had said was really lovely etc etc. 

As I was getting on the bus another backpacker came along & we ended up sitting next to each other & chatting along the way - another Australian (of course), Dave.  We found out we were staying at the same hostel, so we got lost together trying to find it (one of those situations that would have been completely depressing/frustrating if by myself, but with two of us it wasn't so bad).  Turns out the "when you get to the square, just turn left" instruction was to go through this tiny crack-in-the-wall-passage on the left - I'm sure no one has ever made it to this hostel without getting lost.

Anyway, it was a sweet little hostel, with only two other guys there, so it was almost like having our own apartment.  We went out exploring, and even in the rain Cesky K. is absolutely gorgeous.  It's a little town with a river twisting around it, and a castle on a rock up above.  Cobblestone streets and cute houses and just so pretty!

We went out in the evening (yes even in the freezing, rainy weather) to see if we could get some pretty night photos.  And then we spent this morning doing a little more wandering before heading onwards...

It was nice to be somewhere tranquil after lots of capital cities - it would be a great place to just stay and chill out for a few days, if I didn't have a packed schedule! 

I have enjoyed the Czech Republic, although the people aren't exactly what you'd call friendly - I guess their troubled past & cold hard winters do make for a fairly grim outlook.  The exception was the hostel staff - in Prague they were very friendly & helpful etc, and in Cesky K the lady who ran the hostel singlehandedly hardly spoke any English but was just so sweet & accommodating & even offered to drive us to the bus station coz she was going that way to pick her kids up from school!