Český Krumlov Museum, Tower, and Castle Gardens

A later start today, as the museum and tower entry doesn’t open until 9 a.m. The plan was to be there first thing to avoid the crowds. On the way, we passed a geocache that we couldn’t look for yesterday due to there being too many people. Much easier this morning — we had the place to ourselves.

There were only two people ahead of us on the way up the 162 steps of the tower. The staircase gets narrower the higher you climb. We didn’t bother counting the steps. Partway up was a dungeon — or so the sign said. It was just a small side room with steps leading down, but the way was blocked off.

Near the top was a large bell that would be deafening if it rang, as it’s so close to you. We emerged onto the viewing platform, which circled the tower. You can walk around about 90% of it, giving you sweeping 360-degree views of the city and surrounding area.

After enjoying the views, we descended to the bottom and headed into the museum. I’m not usually into museums, but it was interesting. Two things stood out the most: first, chatting to a young boy who was explaining “Double Chess” to us — he plays it online. The museum had an old decorative physical double board. I didn't even know there was such a thing. Two people can each control two armies or four people can play at once. It sounds very tricky to keep track of. 

The second thing, for more ghoulish reasons, a glass coffin containing the remains of a saint, apparently relocated to this castle from Rome. A bit gross, if you ask me. Oh, and there was also a small, very narrow movie theatre, which I’m guessing was once used by people living in the castle. Rows of ten or so seats in pairs facing an old TV sized screen. 

Our tickets cost 560 CZK (about $45 NZD). Touring the inside of the castle costs more, so we were happy with just the tower and museum visit.

After the museum, we wandered through the castle courtyards and crossed the Cloak Bridge in the opposite direction to yesterday. We wanted to see if we could spot our kitchen window. We both thought we found it — but in different places. I’m sure one of us was right. 😂

Next, we visited the Castle Gardens, which are very large and beautiful. One area is mostly low, manicured hedges forming separate sections, and the other is filled with flowering gardens. We also saw the Revolving Auditorium, though it was closed as they seemed to be filming something. We could watch and listen from a distance but couldn’t get up close — we did, however, see it revolve.

On the way back through the castle grounds and city, we ticked off some locations for an Adventure Lab geocache. One stop we hadn’t visited before was the Monastery Kláštery Český Krumlov. We gathered the answers needed to later find a physical geocache, once we solve the simple puzzle.

The afternoon turned out to be very hot. I braved another circuit of the city while Sarah stayed at the apartment. It reached 32 °C today — warm enough when you don’t have air-conditioning. Still, we can’t complain, given the news reports of 40 °C-plus temperatures and wildfires in Spain, Greece, Turkey, and Albania. Our decision to head north for cooler (yet still warm) weather definitely feels like the right move. We just hope it doesn’t get too hot here, and that the south starts to cool before we head back that way.

We weren’t keen on cooking tonight, and didn’t want to pay tourist-restaurant prices in such a touristy town, so we opted for a doner kebab for dinner. There were several places all in the same street. We chose the one with the most customers — they looked young and frugal too. 😂 Not the cheapest kebabs we’ve ever had, but the portions were generous and no more expensive than at home: $27 NZD for two kebabs and a serving of fries.