Cesky Krumlov - "Crooked Meadow"

On Friday our ECES group took us on a trip to Cesky Krumlov, a city 2 and a half hours south of Prague. The name Cesky Krumlov is derived from a German word and is translated as "Czech crooked meadow." The reason for the name is because of the topography of the city, specifically the Vltava river and its crooked path. It is the 2nd most popular tourist spot in the Czech Republic and named one of the top 50 most beautiful cities. Luckily we had a sunny day to explore the city.

Before we got to Cesky Krumlov, we stopped along the way to hike to some castle ruins. None of us knew we would be hiking through the woods so a lot of people weren't properly dressed. Needless to say I had a lot of fun on the hike and really enjoyed wandering through the ruins. Our guide told us that the translation for "castle" means "locked in." It is not until the castle is no longer used for defense until it is called a chateau and used for leisurely or high society living. Here are some pictures from the ruins.

After we left the ruins it was just a short ride to get to the city. Once we got there we had time to eat. I got broccoli and my friend Jaldhi got the typical Czech meal of fried cheese and we split it. It's interesting because a lot of Czech meals seem to have one item instead of the variety offered in American dishes.

Once we finished lunch, our guide took us on a walk around the city and we learned a lot of interesting facts. We ended the tour walking through the Cesky Krumlov Castle, which is the second largest castle in the Czech Republic after the Prague castle. This castle was cool because it was built on a cliff overlooking the city and surrounded by the river. It also has a pretty extensive garden and our guide said its much prettier in the spring.

After we got back from Cesky Krumlov around 7:30, a few of us went to an opera called Don Giovanni that we had already bought tickets to. We missed the first half of the show, but it was still really cool to see the second half. The inside of the theater was breathtaking, the pictures I took don't do it justice. Mozart wrote the opera and he actually had the premier of the show in that theater!!! It was crazy to think that Mozart was there. The opera was sung in Italian, but luckily there were English subtitles so we could understand. Altogether was a great Friday!