Here there and everywhere/ Jednou tady a pak zas jinde

I hope you have enjoyed your summer like I did. Our whole family made it to the Czech Republic this year and although my husband could not stay for too long, we made our time count. For a whole week we were city-hopping, airbnb-ing, and doing the tourist-kinda-stuff. Turns out, I have never been to cities like Cesky Krumlov or Ceske Budejovice which would have been a deadly mistake had I not visited the cities in my lifetime; they are absolutely breath-taking! Granted, Ceske Budejovice is mostly about the square itself, but since it is located on river Vltava, you can enhance your trip  experience by doing  boat rides to the Hluboka nad Vltavou for example (exquisite castle in the late Gothic style).

Cesky Krumlov….wow…..Although I was born and raised in Prague (therefore I tend to be a bit biased) I have to admit Cesky Krumlov is MORE beautiful than Prague. I know, it is hard to believe, but it is true. The horrendous tourist overflow is a different story. Did you know that the European Union is funding part-time jobs for people to get paid to act as ‘locals’? I am dead serious! The apartments in the center have all been turned into hotels and/or Airbnb which in turn inflated the rent prices of the leftover flats so much that local people cannot afford it. So, if you would like to hang out for about 5 hours in front of your ‘flat’, drink ‘your’ coffee, and pretend to talk to your ‘local’ friends, pet ‘your’ cat, water ‘your’ flowers on the windowsill, or perhaps hang ‘your’ laundry on a clothes line, give them a call.

The fact is that when you walk around the city (Cesky Krumlov) you quickly come to realize you are surrounded mostly by foreigners, from which 99% are of a Japanese nationality. If a bear suddenly came to attack us, they would be prepared to defend themselves with their selfie sticks.

Overall, I was not really impressed with the quality of service. Just when I thought I saw an improvement I happened to deal with such a rude waiter/waitress who spoiled it for everyone else. It is a good think I can write a Yelp review about these businesses because such behavior cannot be left unpunished.

On a more personal note, I cannot begin to express how happy I was that my 2 children can speak Czech enough to play with my friends’ kids. They can actually form relationships which will last them lifetime! And of course, they get to communicate with their grandma and grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins….you name it.

Overall, it was a great trip. But we missed our critters terribly – especially our sweet dog Pixie-girl who literally peed herself from happiness when she saw us again.