11.5.2000
HOSTEL
SKIPPY
is like home. It’s a charming little house on the river. Take any bus to get
there from the train station. They all head into town. If you tell the bus
driver you’re going to Hostel Skippy, he’ll tell you where to get off. The
locals that got off at the same stop pointed me in the right direction. Everyone
seems to know Hostel Skippy.
CESKY KRUMLOV
is built along the river Vlatava, which snakes its way through the
town multiple times. Crossing bridges constantly, you get confused… which
part of town am I in now?
My
favorite area is across the river on a small strip of grass wedged between
the church and the water. Locals go to sunbathe, read or practice violin.
Even
here... Can you find the DSS dish?
This
picture is taken from my favorite area.
The
view from the deck of Hostel Skippy.
12.5.2000
The best food I had on the trip was at BABYLON, just
up the street from Hostel Skippy. If you walk towards the town on Plesivecka,
don’t cross the river, and instead head left along the water. This street
is lined with restaurants. If you go to Babylon, order the house special,
which is a Serbian pan-fried pork cutlet with potatoes. Order a pivo
(beer) to go with it and you’re set. Sit at a table next to the river, so
close you could dip your feet in. The entire meal is US$3. Enjoy it because
you won’t get this in the big cities.
For some reason,
the French developed an architectural style that utilizes what is called a
fake front (faux façade). This style involves painting texture onto
a flat blank wall to simulate stone. You get beveled brick edges painted as
if the sun is always high in the sky and to the left. It doesn’t fool anyone.
The castle in Cesky Krumlov is painted this way.
Tourist
gets in the way of my shot. No... that's me.
Cesky Krumlov
is home to the EGON SCHIELE MUSEUM. Schiele happens
to be one of my favorite artists. He’s considered part of the turn of the
century Viennese Secessionist movement that was started by Gustav Klimt (more
on Klimt in Vienna). Schiele loved the bohemian countryside around Cesky Krumlov,
which was Schiele’s mother’s birthplace. On May 12, 1910 (that's 90 years
ago to this day!) he moved there with his artist friends Anton Peschka and
Ervin Osen. His stay was short lived though, as the conservative citizens
of the town took offense to his nudes of pubescent girls and kicked him out
of town on August 6, 1911. The museum has sketches and paintings of the town
and several works by Kokochka, another member of the Secessionist movement.
It doesn’t take
long to explore the entire central part of town, cross every bridge, walk
down every small path. So I spent most of the day lazing around by the river.
Reading, sketching. This is my first vacation from my vacation.
