Cesky wha?

Folks, welcome to Cesky Krumlov. Yes, we are still in the Czech Republic, but even now, after poring over a map, I have no idea where we are. :D

Cesky Krumlov is the home of cobbled streets, a castle, a freezing river (it feels and looks like it should be a river of ice), and two bears. Yes, two bears. Now, I've been to the zoo however many times it is appropriate for you to go to the zoo in your childhood, just like anyone else, so it's not like I haven't seen animals in cages before. But this . . . this is ridiculous. The "enclosure" (i.e. a massive concrete moat around the castle that they've decided to convert into an enclosure) is apparently an ancient tradition with the town from way-back-when. Unfortunately, the poor bears (1M, 1F) are stuck living with each other and the endless crowds of people hanging over them. It's all very sad really, watching them walking 'round and 'round the same path for 5 mins - I walked away. It was a bit depressing. Apparently they have had people attempting rescue missions for them. :D

One amusing situation did present itself, though. Today a friend (Nicole!) and I did the tour of the castle and decided to offer ourselves the lovely view on the way up by hanging out one of the windows. One of the bears decided to come walking up the hill and have a bit of a stroll 'round too, so I was within a couple of metres!!! It turned out someone had dropped their passport and/or travel documents out the window and the bear had spied it!! No, they weren't mine. :D So now I've got photos of the bear playing with the passport, tossing it 'round and ripping out pages. Amusing - and he was so close! :D

A couple of mates decided it would be a great spot of fun to go rafting down the river on the rapids. I didn't think that pneumonia was a great spot of fun, so I declined. When I tell you it was cold, I'm not exaggerating. It was *COLD*. Sheesh! I was rugged up and still chattering! :D The rain didn't help, either!

Oh, and I bought two hats. :D And had a conversation (of sorts) with an old drunk German guy who couldn't speak Czech. Or english. Or German either, by the sounds of it. :D "Schlafen" (i.e. sleeping) was said a lot. Very amusing. Still not quite sure what we were talking about.