Mlynec being part of Zatisi Group definitely offers amazing food and even wonderful views. We have only been to two and it seems like the unwritten rule is to tantalise guests by serving gorgeous dishes befitting to the fabulous view they have. As they say, location! location! location!

If the dinner at Bellevue was worth it because of the magnificent view of Charles Bridge from afar, Mlynec will hand you the bridge on a silver platter. Up close and personal.

Like Bellevue, the view of the bridge and being right next to Vltava river makes everything else a little less...noticeable. Oh well (it's not a full-on rant, just a tiny bit complain), service could have been more attentive, like Bellevue. A little more attentive, a little more explanation of what the order of dishes will be, a bit more smile, but whatever shortcomings there were that day, the view made up for it. Alright, that's a lie, the view and the FOOD, made up for it.

Basically, because Alex isn't really the "course" type of kid, he just wanted his main. I don't even remember if he ordered dessert. 

Bearing in mind, I am still suffering from some health issues caused by an allergic reaction somewhere, so really I'm am not in the mood to be addressed to, any less than one would in a decent and nice place like Mlynec.

We all had our appetizers, then Alex's main course followed right after we finished our first course, which is the same dish as Jason's and hubby's. 

Our mains didn't arrive for more than 10 minutes. It was a bit disjointed, and hubby, when hungry can be quite vocal. I guess most of us are. I on the other hand, didn't want to spoil the meal and this nice treat, I couldn't be bothered. I am more concern about finding a physician right after lunch.

Hubby inquired about the late mains and our designated server explained the logic behind the order.

Since Alex didn't ask for appetizers, they didn't want him to wait longer without eating. Empathy, that's good. Initiative, another plus. It was all good intention you see? As a parent and a mother, of course I appreciate it and get where he is coming from. But the way it was explained was a teeny tiny bit on the irritated side. 

It would have been nicer had he explained the order of courses as he deemed fit so we are aware and not left wondering. Then, we wouldn't have to ask for it. Or better yet, he could have asked whether Alex will mind if his main course arrives with the rest of our mains. Guests want to be taken care of but also in parallel, likes to be in charge. 

Obviously, whatever appetizer we ordered, Alex had a taste of. That's how we are. We like to force feed them (just kidding). We like to open up our kids palate to different tastes, so really Alex was not starved. Frankly speaking, he was too busy taking selfies and photos of the bridge.

That minor incident aside, it was still a lunch we totally enjoyed. In the end we were all smiles. We're fed and we're happy with what we ate. Come bill time, I was more than willing to give a generous tip. I think it all boils down to cultural differences and hunger games.

Asians like us, no matter how exposed we are to different cultures, still appreciate warm and hospitable service like how it's done in our continent. We all have to compromise, I know. Be more flexible and understanding that sometimes, if not most of the time, "When in Rome, do what the Romans do".

Of course I have to have my wine, right off the bat. With it, whatever I can munch on while waiting for the main attraction. Some uneventful bread sticks, it's nice but not that exciting. Although, these sticks might have disappeared in mere seconds, since we were actively chatting and going through our to-do list for the remainder of our vacay before we leave Czech (with a heavy heart!). 

Goat Cheese Gervais, Burned Peach, Homemade Gingerbread, Fresh Herbs. That is my first course. Just imagine church bells ringing when sweet peaches and salty and creamy goat cheese married in my mouth. 

It was an explosion of flavours like .... well, let's not go there. I nibbled and savoured every bit of this masterpiece. Thinking of it alone makes my mouth watery. 

Poached 62°Organic Egg, Smoked Duck Breast, Peas, Chanterelle. Jason had this and I dove into it a little bit. I am greedy! What can I say? Do you know what feelings you have when you see something so cute you want to pinch it? Well, I felt the same with this dish. 

A little bit of the duck, a slither of the chanterelle, a good spread of the coulis on the concoction, a leaf or two, deliver them with gusto to your mouth and you will savour every chew. Honestly, the egg is an added twist, I wouldn't really say it's the main star, it's more like the honourable mention. By the way, this egg is similar to what we had in Bellevue, though Mlynec separated the yolk from the white. The cooking method however makes this dish safe for preggers to eat.

Green Lettuce Salad, Beet, Young Carrots, Orange with Coriander Dressing. Hubby ordered this for his first course. He wanted to try the duck confit but, knowing his taste, I advised him against it. He likes salad though and this salad looked inviting. 

It must have tasted good since I wasn't able to even try it.

For the main course, Hubby and boys ordered fish. Preventing the boys from ordering another salmon for the umpteenth time, and hubby's been eating all kinds of meat, they settled for Seared Sea Bass, Vanilla Potato Purée, Dried Tomatoes, Capers, Olives, Baked Lemon Juice. 

It was tasty. I had a bite of it but not so much, seeing it's a small piece and my boys love big portions if what is in front of them are yummy. I didn't want to get more dagger looks from Jason so I stopped trying to steal some of his food. 

Hey you beautiful thing! 

I didn't want to eat it. I just wanted to look at it and take a lot of selfies with it. If it looks tempting here, imagine how enticing it was when it was placed in front of me. 

Any discomfort I was feeling because of my allergy, the pressure in my head that feels like it's about to pop, the irritation at the beginning, they all, melted away, dissolved into the abyss of the delectable creation I'm seeing. Obviously, the discomfort came back a few minutes after we left Mlynec but for now, let me walk you through this kind of production of a broadway performance.

Traditional Czech Duck Confit, Red Cabbage Foam, Potato Dumpling. To be brutally honest, I still am not fully sold with the idea of dumpling and sweet red cabbage type of slaw with a gorgeous meat like duck, but knowing Europeans, they'll retort with, "we don't need you to be sold with the idea of our traditional food, missy! You just have to get over yourself and understand that this is OUR dish". To which I will reply with huge apologies. 

That being said, I can eat this dish, anytime, any day, anywhere. IF, only IF, it is prepared the way Mlynec Chef prepared it. 

The less-flare dish I had in Karlovy Vary was nowhere near this one. I couldn't get passed a few spoonfuls of that plate. Mlynec's version? I wiped the plate clean! I find every component balance, not overpowering each other. Very complementary. Everything was well seasoned. It's like some jazz gig going on in my mouth when I ate it. It was perfection on a plate. Even hubby felt a jealous pang when he had a bite. 

I long for the next time we visit Prague. I hope this dish will make a come back.

I noticed menus in both Bellevue and Mlynec change periodically, which is good. Season-based. Maybe I can make a special request for a price if this baby is not in the list.

For a boy who likes ice cream, he always complain about how cold it is! Jason asked for chocolate ice cream, nothing fancy for dessert. Alex had a taste and then went back to his phone. He is 12 years old any way, his priorities changed. On second thought, we all had a taste of his ice cream. It came with dagger looks of course.

Of course mine has to be better than just chocolate ice cream! I didn't come here for ice creams.

Deconstructed Apple Crumble, Apple ice cream, Walnuts, Caramel, Raisins, Cinnamon. I tell you, it was the perfect ending. Of course I have to have my coffee as the only ending in any meal but you know what I mean. The coffee is a normal progression. This dessert? Luscious beyond words. Look at it! It screams gratification on a plate! Yes, another on of my foodgasm moment. Oh don't be a spoil sport, it's all PG13 talk. It's just one of those dishes that I can't seem to get the hang of a better word.

This ended our sensational lunch at Mlynec. It was like a movie, a whole basket of emotions that we went through in one seating. Definitely unforgettable. 

Mlynec Restaurant
Mon - Sun:
12:00 - 15:00
17:30 - 23.00
Telephone: +420 277 000 777
Telephone: 800 165 963
Fax: +420 246 013  713
Email: mlynec@zatisigroup.cz
www: www.zatisigroup.cz

[*I'll talk about my trip to the Emergency Unit in another post. Let's not ruin the foodie moment, shall we? And don't get any ideas, it has nothing to do with this to-die-for meal :) ]

By now the whole family is exhausted and I am in hellish pain (from my ear infection).

Traveling from one town to the next, tour after tour, information about different towns, one castle to the the other, a toss between centuries... it is quite a lot to absorb.

One thing I learned? I'm gonna have to take it easy in the next trips.

No doubt I have no regrets with the tour, the place, the food and most especially my chosen tour guide, it's just a matter of logistics the way I laid out the days.

I should have put a breather day every two tours or every other tour so it will be less daunting.

I would have also had time to at least write my blog piece fresh from the experience.

But no crying over spilled milk, what's done is done. We just have to bear the exhaustion as much as we can and push for it.

Today's tour is Glass works production, which is along the way to Karlstejn Castle.

Hubby and I felt like kids going on field trips, because essentially, it is a field trip!

I have never seen glass blowing in action, in person. The next one we'll see will be in Murano, Italy (God-willing our visa makes it to fly time, what with the holidays coming up, Murano might be moved to next year).

Wherever you go in this amazing country, one thing is for sure, you will always end up smiling because your heart just feels warm and fuzzy. A message that you receive from the universe through gorgeous nature surrounding you. It's like getting a big hug from your grandpa or something. 

Today we get to see everyone in action at different stages. From initial glass blowing, to cutting, to designing to polishing. 

The tour explained the process and how they re-use excess glass and rejected ones. It also explains the assembly type process where one designer is only responsible for one portion of the design.

Questions of the day which we haven't really asked and probably will ask our tour guide Eva to shed light on are:

• If every production included excess glass, the trimmed ones and the rejected ones, how was the first production done? Was it through glass from somewhere else or through other composites excluding glass altogether?
• If one designer is only responsible for a portion to ensure accuracy, do they get to do rotation, because, really, I think I will be bored to be doing the same sets of lines forever.

RÜCKL CRYSTAL a.s. located in Nižbor have been around since 1846. It is a family-owned and managed business, which I think is awesome. 

At the end of it all, we get to do some shopping from their own showroom. Since I came up with the idea of one-back-pack-each, I have to be content and happy with cute earrings. 

I got lilac, blue, clear and pink. I gave the three as gifts while I kept what's not chosen for me. Glad because I really wanted the blue one but didn't want to be greedy :P

Hubby was eyeing some wine glass sets and I would love a water pitcher, but unfortunately it won't be possible in this trip, if he's not willing to check-in a bag. 

As a side note: he got sold with the one back-pack each idea when he saw tourists dragging their wheelies all over the cobble-stoned streets. It was a sorry sight especially in our last few days, it wasn't as cold anymore and mid-day you'll sweat bullets. Imagine arriving in Prague taking the train or tram with suitcases? It's such an effort. 

Not to mention if you end up in an accommodation that has no lift? God bless you. In Europe, being an old world beauty and all, most buildings don't have elevators. 

Honestly the one back-pack each is a great idea especially towards the destination but coming home I think it's fine to check-in a bag because at some point you'll be having souvenirs and shopped items (lady talking here!). I guess on this case because I want to pass by Amsterdam, no luggage to collect is indeed a good idea. 

Going back to the tour, let's just say, we had a "blast!" Get it? Glass works? Blast? Pfft! please get it so I don't sound ridiculously sad.

After the glass works tour, we traveled forty-five minutes to reach Hrad Karlstejn.

Once again, King Charles' popularity proved itself. Karl is a German term for Charles.  

But first, we have to climb the steep hill, the old way. Horse drawn carriage. Obviously you can hike up, walk on the road, do what you want, but we're not coming here every year. We don't even know if we'll manage to come back to this town in the future... so might as well do the right thing. Arrive like a queen. Did you see my wave?

The carriage will drop you off up to the area where transportation are permitted to pass, the remaining distance you'll have to cover by walking.

We have a video clip of this ride but still need to locate it in the abyss of videos and photos.

*to rent the whole carriage is CZK 1,000 which is AED 200 roughly. For a 15-20 minute ride for the five of us, it's not so bad.

The castle was initially built to be the treasury of royalties but ended up like the Summer Palace for some royalties while some made it their home base. The castle now is pretty much how the castle was centuries ago. Some of the interiors were refurbished, restored, replicas and some originals from hundreds of years ago. 

The real crown jewels used to be in Karlstejn but now was moved to Prague Castle. The jewels in this castle are now just replicas.

In it are exquisite designs, furnitures from all over the world and a lot of them from the Orient. Makes you think, I thought "made in China" is only popular nowadays? Apparently not!

Being able to afford importing of furnitures from the Far East used to be a sign of wealth. Today, if your stuff is made in China, people smirk.

In one of the castle's room, locked in (at least for the duration of her duty), there was a beautiful lady who performed for us. She was wearing traditional garb and had a beyond-words voice of an angel who also played the flute. We were in a trance for the whole duration. Somebody could have robbed us and I'm pretty sure no one will notice whether items are missing. It was like Liv Tyler's elf enchantment in Lord of the Rings.

The way the tour happened for Karlejn and Cesky were: tour guides have their own set of keys. Every time they open a door, once the last guest is in the room, they lock the door we entered from. Then they continue with their information bit while you are all locked in that room. Once they're done with their bit, they'll open the next door and the same claustrophobic practice happen.

A bit eerie, much like in the movie Twilight were a bunch of tourists were led to the dungeon thinking they'll be seeing historical artifacts but actually ended up as snacks? Yikes!

As a side note: Czech people are blessed with amazingly gorgeous features, they do look like they came from vampire movies. Unfortunately, whatever shots and videos (including the singing awesome lady!) we managed to take inside the castle can't be published here. Sowee. Trust me, you have to visit the place to understand our fascination. 

Natural red hair women with healthy, rosy and porcelain skin are everywhere! I mean of course brunettes and blondes were also mingling around and they're also gorgeous as hell (ask my hubby), but somehow the most fascinating ones are the red hairs. And don't get me started with their guys. You kinda have to stop yourself from offering your neck and stupidly saying "please bite me". Everyone is strangely captivating.

The castle is surrounded by greenness. There were a lot of stairs to climb but they were all worth it. Czech in general is a walking country, so much so that my bum hasn't been this toned since my exercise obsession days. 

One of the best room in the castle is where the King's Throne is situated. It is by the pillar in between big windows.

A tactic used, we found out. The King has a very good view of whoever is in front of him while you can't see his face at all. The center throne's detail is zero from where we were standing. The glare from the big window is so bright, it was almost blinding.

Going down from the castle's hill is another experience. The streets werelined with different restaurants to choose from and items for sale that are just downright cute. There were clothes, wigs, bags, clocks, etc. 

My boys had fun trying out knight's helmets. Even my hubby has to join in.

Our guide is Eva of Sightseeing Prague. She and Adrienne (our designated driver) fetch us from Krumlov and brought us to the destinations today.

Our tours were a mix of education, fun and relaxing moments. It's never too much of everything.
Email: tours@sightseeing-prague.com 
Mobile phone: +420 728 880 367.
Website: http://www.sightseeing-prague.com/en

For more information on Ruckl Crystals, please visit: http://www.ruckl.cz/en/

And you will think this is the main reason we came here... to hob knob with the stars, eh? 

It was a coincidence that I booked our tour to Karlovy Vary the day before the International Film Festival. It was a pretty busy town that day which is quite nice. Everyone was gearing up to THE BIG DAY. 

IFF aside, Karlovy Vary is a known spa town in Czech. They have one of hottest concentration of healing springs in Europe. 

Citizens can get a prescription from their doctors for a 2 week spa time and they will automatically head down here. I think Germany has the same practice and Germany has a town for spa as well, a "medical" "relaxation" spa. Just don't know if it's as good as this one. 

In Dubai, we don't need hot springs... we have have a natural "sauna". Tee hee hee!

Typical Eva, the day has to start with either a background of the town or a full immersion at the onset. 

On our way to Karlovy Vary, she took out her Becherovka and asked hubby and I to drink it. It is apparently a herbal bitter. The taste was so strong, I don't even know whether it is an alcoholic drink, if it's not, it gave my head a spin for sure!

With the drink, she offered us the traditional wafer of Karlovy Vary, Oplatky. It comes in different flavours but we opted for the chocolate ones when we bought boxes to bring home. I loved the wafer, the Becherovka, not so much.

Straight away, from the parking lot we have to pass by Grandhotel Pupp. If you don't know what is Grandhotel Pupp, it is just the hotel where the stars stay at during IFF and the hotel that was featured in Queen Latifa's movie, The Last Holiday. 

You still don't know what it is? Watch these clips and get entertained!

So of course, one in the list for this town is a dang photo op by the Grandhotel Pupp's grand facade. But we need to stay focus, we came here for the hot spring, eh? So understanding why the town is so popular lesson, here we come! 

From Grandhotel Pupp, we walked our way to the Hot Spring Colonnade which houses Vridlo, Spring 1. On our way, we did our competition for the day... paper boat race!

I can't really remember who won. I definitely lost. My boat succumbed to the flat waveless body of water. I think Alex's boat had a head start, then Jason overpowered his, must be the unconventional folding the boy did. Then hubby's boat for some reason went against the stream?

His is the only one that floated upright so he got a special award for that. It was fun. People were wondering "what are these cuckoos cheering about?" 

Whoah it was hot! Honestly, the sunny weather was a little too hot for me so going straight away to Hot Spring Colonnade was exactly like sauna :)

The original temperature of Vridlo spring is 73 degrees C, too hot for us! So we opted for the cooled down temp of 30 degrees C. The taste was .... honestly, if it's cooler, it tastes.... well to put it mildly, I didn't really like it. It's like drinking water from a corroded water pipe. Harsh but true....

I know I came from Dubai where summer is hell but the good thing about the UAE is that A/C everywhere is on full blast, summer or not!

In Czech, A/C is not on full blast. It's just barely there to make sure you have the artificial breeze but not too much to overpower the natural one. Actually Europe in general, I heard is like that.

We bought these babies as a souvenir but also to drink the spring water, local style. We saw everyone carrying these while walking around town, chatting. We should try it too. We asked what it's called, nothing special, it's a "sipping cup". Literally, you can only sip. 

The Springs

There are 15 main springs to be exact, I'll just trust that and wouldn't want to actually challenge it. Few of them are far from the rest so we skipped them. We have visited the springs that are located in the colonnades nearby. Those are free, not commercialized, it actually look quaint, if only there's not a herd of tourist in ALL of the colonnades.  

The sun, the walk, the heat, frankly I couldn't wait to eat lunch! Let's finish the colonnades and hunt for a shaded place (preferably with A/C) where we can seat and eat fooood!  

I'm a foodie after all.

These mugs come in different shapes, colours, materials. The only constant in its design is the spout. In the end, we understood why the spout was so small and why really the most you can do is sip from it. 

We filled them mugs up, placed the tip to our mouth and sip we did... bleh! It's mineral spring water alright. It tasted like all sorts of metals. You'd think you'll drop down dead from lead poisoning or something. As I said above, the cooler it is, the stronger the after taste is.

Surprisingly, we're all okay. We survived tasting a few of them, I think I tried 5, I got a little dizzy afterwards, not sure if from the heat or the big surge of minerals into my system. Either way, I didn't feel good for awhile.

 Colonnades were built as masterpieces by architects and designers to house the springs for locals and guests alike. Comfortable and convenient during harsh weathers. Some of them were initially temporary structures but became a fixture like the Market Colonnade. When we visited, there's a small coffee shop serving snacks and cakes. You can sit down there and people watch, it looked very inviting. According to Eva, that shop is very new, she hasn't seen it before (and she's a local and a tour guide!). As for us, we moved on (though I would have loved to people watch).

Mill Colonnade's original plan was supposed to be a ginormous two story structure but the locals didn't want anything too big for their small town, even so, Mill's arch is still impressive and very much pronounced. If the original plan was bigger than what they have now, THAT IS REALLY BIG!

After sipping a lot of spring water and me feeling a little drunk, we walked some more around town.

We saw a Greek Orthodox church, sadly I'm not sure whether a photo was taken. There are a lot of gold designs in it. Apparently, whenever a prayer is answered, parishioners show their gratefulness by donating an item that is either gold plated or gold leaves wrapped or stuck on them. It's very different from Catholic Churches.

We also saw an Anglican Protestant church. We didn't go inside though Jason surely tried.

We head back to the main boulevard and in the street we saw a couple of musical steps. We couldn't figure out which note is which so we mostly just jumped on it and made some awful clanging sound. Some Germans made use of them better by dancing some folk steps, all with interlocking hands and what not. 

But it's been a long couple of days, tired and by now, I was really hungry, frankly getting cranky. I was already seeing stars!

Aaaaand speaking of stars, hungry or not... my priorities are straight... red carpet needs its due respect... so I and Jason must grace it with our presence. I can almost imagine the swarming paparazzi the next day. International stars everywhere? Oooof, heavenly!

Finally food! I enjoyed my ghoulash and enjoyed bits and pieces of everyone's food. It was my first time to have ghoulash, it felt like a warm hug in a cold weather. 

I ordered the duck with Czech version of dumpling and cabbage stuff but I tell you, I am not a fan of how they combine salty duck with sweet and sour cabbage side dishes. It's an acquired taste and my taste on this particular meat is the Oriental one. 

For sure it's a big hit with the local since our guide seems to be in love with it. I mean, separate each part, I can appreciate it. Together, it sort of put me off and it's nothing to do with the dish, my palate needs more training. So yes, we have to come back to Czech after a year.

It's not over until it's over. Eva book us for our last field trip. A tour of the innards of the hot spring itself. Our new guide showed us the geyser of Vridlov first and explained how the springs were discovered and how it works.

A miniature version of town is in display with indications of where the pipes were inserted.

According to legend, it was by accident that the spring was discovered. Prince Wenceslas was walking through the vicinity when a donkey fell into a water. When they tried to save the donkey, they discovered the hot temperature of the water the donkey is in. That's the legend. 

Going back to reality, for a period of time the water was only used for bathing and external healing until it was proven safe to be consumed and proven to be healing.

Initially they let the hot springs where it want to "spring out" but a number of accidents occurred when the pressure is too much and explosions became inevitable.

They then helped eased the hot pressure by inserting pipes that distribute water to different Colonnades and hotels around town. 

Any hotel the bears the seal means they are connected to the towns pipe for natural hot spring.

The guide led us underground, in a really, hot tunnel. Fumes and calcification and build ups of minerals is everywhere. 

She showed us a sample of pipes that is replaced where a thick build up of minerals will be impossible to take off. A scheduled maintenance and replacements of pipes is a must to ensure health, safety and hygiene.

In the tunnel are some photos of colonnades and the building stages it went through. 

Souvenirs processing was also shown where a rose made of a strong paper material is drenched with the hot spring for a few hours and dried for a day. The stages of mineral build up is shown. The white rose turning into rusty-like covered rose. These souvenirs are available for sale in the shops around town.

Souvenirs covered in hot spring mineral varies from vases to mugs to other decorative items that can withstand the process.

She let us walk outside where we can actually see hot water bubbling from the ground. The whole wet area seems to be abundant of bubbles. She said that there are more springs coming up everyday, everywhere. It is just how the nature of town is. I was drenched in sweat and it's mostly because they are not kidding! It is hot spring! 73 degrees C worth of hot springs everywhere!

Algae were also very visible and so we asked how it affects the water supply. Since algae requires sunlight, water in pipes does not have them.

After literally a hot day, hot springs, IFF, jam packed with activity day, we wrapped our last out of town tour and our last day under Eva's guidance. It was indeed a wonderful and memorable journey.

We celebrated the first of the many things we discovered and tried by having a sit down at Grandhotel Pupp's coffee shop. I had coffee ice cream, hubby and Eva had tea, boys had some ice creams and juices. It was a glorious day. 

We couldn't be more happy and grateful for the sunny day (though it was hot), our every patient and accommodating guide, Eva and our lovely and wonderful driver Adrien. 

Our guide is Eva of Sightseeing Prague. She and Adrienne (our designated driver) fetch us from Prague and brought us to the destination and back today.

Our tours were a mix of education, fun and relaxing moments. It's never too much of everything.
Email: tours@sightseeing-prague.com 
Mobile phone: +420 728 880 367.
Website: http://www.sightseeing-prague.com/en

Where do I start, where should I start? 

We have fallen madly in love with Krumlov. So much so that we have already planned for August next year to spend at least 3 nights if not more in this magical town. One lousy overnight stay in this town is just torture.

It is hard to explain how beautiful this place is. It's like Disneyland but for the whole family, without the rides. It's like one of those enchanted towns in Disney movies. It was very quaint.

Summer time I can imagine us trying the downstream kayak that lasts for a few hours to longer than half a day. Or walking around town listening to artists all over the world trying their hands on street performance while trying to break-in to a much bigger audience of the industry. All over the world, because the songs came in different languages, some familiar, some not. 

We can also just spend the days pigging out, sampling dishes near and far, traditional and new, a mix of cuisines that would have made the place tacky but surprisingly, didn't one bit. 

It's a place of breakfast buffet at a nearby hotel or a bohemian feast by the river or a Chinese restaurant by the town square or a feast in an old jail house with only candles to keep your table lit. But then again, you can try your own cooking at an apartment equipped with modern gadgetry, a WiFi to connect with the social world, then you open your window and you're greeted by the majestic castle's tower confusing you if you are still in present time.

Krumlov is such an amazing place that there is not enough words to describe it. Anyone who dare asks me how my vacation was, my answer will always be, "one heck of an adventure". Czech Republic is not to be missed. Krumlov should be a place a person should visit at least once in their life time. It is that enthralling.

How did our tour start?
2nd day out of town tour, the adventure of the first day started to take a toll on all of us. We start dozing off en-route to Krumlov. Eva noticing how knackered we were, took the orientation lighter this time. 

She patiently waited for all of us to be awake to give us a little history of the town. It's always great to have some information under your belt to understand what you are looking at. Basically we were mostly asleep from Prague to (Ceske) Budejovice were we did a pit stop. Half an hour away from Krumlov, just enough time to be armed with some history.

I only refer to it as Krumlov because we are already in the country. Cesky Krumlov somehow means Czech's Krumlov, so Eva pointed out that it will be redundant to call it with it's full name.

Our competition for the day was to find as many 5-petalled rose symbol we can find. Every valid symbol is worth a minted coin. At the end of the day, we'll count who won the most. Of course my team (with my big boy Alex) won, again.

The 5-petalled rose is the symbol of the Rosenberg family who used to rule Bohemia in the olden days. They did beautifully and bountifully for 300 years from the 13th century. Their coat of arms (as above) has the red five-petal rose and so is every street's house and shops adorned with it even more so in the present day.

The kind of adoration and pure appreciation of this noble family's history is up there (picture me, pointing to the sky).

They're in almost every door, water pipes, road drainage, paintings, gates, windows and the list goes on. 

We didn't realise how much walking we've done until the time we reached the end of the day. We walked and walked and walked, looking up, down and under just to make sure we get to call the rose first. My hubby was a little sneaky so Alex and I have to be sneakier. 

We started at the parking lot (on the map, it is on the top right of the castle and walked every where in this little town, visited the church, crossed couple of bridges which are essentially the town's border and we picture how the castle was protected from previous invasions. We walked so much that we have viewed the castle from different angles.

Were we tired? Knackered. Every shred of my flesh were crying murder. Does it matter? No. I always muttered under my breath whenever I feel exhausted, "I didn't come here to rest, I came here to get drowned with information, be bathed with culture and be oriented with how life is and was in Czech".

By the time we finished criss-crossing roads, wide and skinny, it was time to eat. 

Lunch was at U DWAU MARYI. A restaurant with magnificent views to offer, the castle, the town, the river, the kayaks passing by, the ducks, the birds, the sky, the everything you appreciate outside the stern wall of cities.

U Dwau Maryi I believe is also a Pension. Pension is pretty common in Europe, it's a type of accommodation that is cheaper than the chain of hotels most are familiar of. I have never been in one, nor seen one so that's as much as my knowledge about Pension is.

Going back to lunch. Since we love to try different type of dishes, our guide, Eva brought us here.

She recommended OLD BOHEMIAN FEAST for 1-8 person. Each of us chose the type of meat we want. I and hubby went for pheasants, Eva chose rabbit and the boys pick chicken. Each chosen meat comes with smoked meat (which in this case was pork ham), millet, potato cake, dumpling and salad.

This is the first time we had dumplings that is different from the oriental type we are so used to. Their dumpling is a type of heavy, thick slices of moist bread. 

We could have easily ordered this centuries ago, the only difference is, we wouldn't have used knife and fork, it will be our bare hands. 

*By the way, the restaurant beside U DWAU MARYI is a vegetarian restaurant. Although Bohemia is all about meat, vegetarians will never go hungry anywhere in this country.

Eva nudged me to visit the washroom and take the liberty to roam around the house which is now turned into a Pension/Restaurant.

The restaurant has a wonderful character to boot that even just going to the washroom is like a time warp.

Shiny wooden stairs with all its bumps and corners, walls as uneven as the cobblestone road outside the premises, ceilings that whispers events it witnessed, kitchen in a small archway, every single piece screams a period of time when life was a lot simpler.

The restaurant overlooks the Vltava river and so it is just but plain fitting for my husband to go down there and have a photo op. It is not a quiet river, in a sense that there will always be a group, a couple, a family of kayakers going down stream to wherever their destination ends. Or it could be adorned by a group of ducks or a few sparrows flying low, playing like they are almost touching the water.

While waiting for the rain to die down, Eva gave us a new competition to keep ourselves busy. A puzzle! I love puzzles and once again, Alex and I won. I always start with the corners and sides, once those are sorted out, pieces within will fall into place. Just like life.

The puzzle is about the four seasons. Seasons that this place has. Winter, Autumn, Spring and Summer. Isn't our guide such a clever lady?

As soon as the rain stopped, we toured the Castle. We were not allowed to take pictures or shot videos inside the castle and so we are only posting shots outside, as a respect. Of course we could have taken pictures or videos inside but if we did, we won't be posting it anywhere on the net no? After all, we want to encourage anyone able, to visit the place themselves and get lost in Krumlov's beauty.

The castle has it's own garden which is massive by the way. It has it's own under-the-stars auditorium/theater. It's such a genius theater because the whole seating area is the one revolving into different scenes on a 360 degrees. 

The garden in the end has a pond above the hill where the castle is practically perched on. The pond is full of wild ducks which isn't really that wild. They're quite friendly and Jason had fun engaging with them.

After all the climbing and walking and at some point during the day, dragging our feet from location to location, we finally reached our bed for the night. Castle View Apartments.

I booked this through booking.com so many months before. My focal point was the view.... and the fact that Rick Steves mentioned it in his books and featured it in one of his tour videos.

I must say, it is indeed Castle view. 

Before the dark night came (which was sometime after 9PM), hubby and I roamed around town looking for Droggerie, I needed pain reliever for my ear (sadly my ear infection re-occured, because I started smoking heavily again). 

What I found out, to my utmost pain and discomfort was that shops in this town closes like crazy early. By 5:30 PM, half are already closed. We were informed that we'll have to come back the following day as it is too late for the drug store to still be opened.

As we desperately look for any mini-market who might miraculously carry the ever elusive pain reliever, we came across a mini-market who's owned by a Vietnamese man. Language barrier you say? Hubby's good with sign language. The answer is he doesnt' have pain reliever. He did however offered us fresh cherries. 

We hesitated in the beginning but the minute we tried a piece, we were sold. Funny enough, it is the first time I ate unprocessed cherries. Didn't realise how gorgeous it is in its original state. I couldn't stop munching it and I was not sure up to this day if there's any after effect if you eat too much of it. At that moment, I couldn't care less and frankly if I see a box right now with something as nearly as sweet as what we had in Krumlov, I wouldn't waste time searching the net for after effects. I will just dive in and eat the lot!

For dinner, we decided to go to the tavern across our apartment. Apparently it's an old jail house. Eva, our tour guide suggested the place if we want to stick to traditional, and we did. It is called Krcma v Satlavske. True to being traditional, the restaurant's glow either came from the spit-fire, the candle on tables or the cigarette from the man who's dining by the back of the door, enjoying his dinner solo.

Although it looks like a walk-in kind of tavern, it's highly recommended to make a reservation. We were lucky because we arrived before 9 PM. There were 2 vacant tables left on the ground floor, right where the spit fire was cooking meat. We wanted to move upstairs and enjoy without the smoke and flames but were informed of reservations.

In the end, it was actually good that we were seated where the action was. We enjoyed watching the cooking process. Boys think cooking meat without all the marinades to masque it's real taste was pretty cool, I think so too.

If shops close at 5:00 PM, taverns and restaurants like this have their last order at 9:30 PM.

I felt really bad for some tourists who came last minute to the tavern, looking quite hungry, only to leave empty stomach, they missed the last order for the night. They can still order drinks, just no food and when you're hungry? Where's the fun in that?

So off to bed we went. The only downside with the apartment is it can get pretty hot in the middle of the night if you don't open the windows. Since I was a little unwell, I asked for the windows to be shut. I woke up sweating rivers!

The boys were okay as the electric fan was on them but my poor husband slept without a blanket and nothing much else because it was deathly hot! 

I got up and opened all the windows that I can reach hoping I am not inviting insects let alone vampires in. After all this is bohemia, I won't be surprised to wake up with a creature in the room. Luckily for us, nothing weird like that visited us.

The morning after, we had our buffet breakfast at Grand Hotel.

The hotel rate included buffet, a decent and filling one. We were very happy with the meals we all had. It is not as elaborate and grandiose as Dubai but when you're in a hurry, running late and is off to another old town in a few minutes, you really don't have time to complain. All you have is gratefulness that you have something in your stomach for another full day. Life is really that simple. The buffet have everything we need for the day, a balance diet. What else should we ask for?

Since I eat really slow and I can see the boys back to their iPhones for some games to catch up, I told them to please spend sometime by the town square and enjoy the place. And what did we see? They went to the square alright, did by the bench but still playing :)

Kids!

Our guide is Eva of Sightseeing Prague. She and Adrienne (our designated driver) dropped us off in Krumlov. Eva got us oriented with the town. Then she and Adrienne fetch us from Krumlov to our next destination the following day. 

Our tours were a mix of education, fun and relaxing moments. It's never too much of everything.
Email: tours@sightseeing-prague.com 
Mobile phone: +420 728 880 367.
Website: http://www.sightseeing-prague.com/en