What better way to end the 4th week in Prague than with a class trip! Prof. Rankine organized a trip to Cesky Krumlov, a beautiful castle area around 3 hours away from Prague. The word “Český” simply means Czech, or Bohemian. This castle is the second largest in Czech Republic after the Hradčany castle complex of Prague.
On the way to Cesky Krumlov, we lunched at the Budweiser Budvar brewery (est. 1895), known best for beer called Budweiser Budvar in the European Union and Czechvar in the United States and Canada. We also had a guided tour around the facilities that was followed by a beer sampling. We then moved on towards Cesky Krumlov. After checking into the hotel and some R&R, we went for a short rafting trip on the river around the castle. The next day saw Prof. Rankine taking us on a hike to the ruins of the Dívčí Kámen castle and Zlata Koruna. The rest of the day was spent wandering around Cesky Krumlov. On Sunday, we did the really interesting Cesky Krumlov castle tour and climbed up to the tower as well (shown in the picture). Real bears, bearskin rugs, paintings of children with the face of an adult to ward off death of the child, the ghost of the White Lady cursed by her husband to forever roam the castles because she would not forgive him for torturing her – the stories of a castle kept us hooked through the entire tour. We returned to Prague shortly thereafter, happy to have seen the beautiful Czech countryside. Thank you Prof. Rankine!
As I ride the bus back to Prague from Cesky Krumlov, I think that we T-birds are truly lucky to have such an opportunity, and I’m sure the China module students would agree to the same. It’s been a fabulous 4 weeks here in the Czech Republic, and we’re realizing that times are a flyin’, and we have just around 3 weeks left in this beautiful country. Time to explore more!
Stay tuned for more on the Czech module!