We have today arrived at Ceske
Budejovice, the capitol of the Bohemia region of the Czech Republic (despite
weeks of practice, we still have no idea how to pronounce this place. Even our
Google translate says, ‘You’ve got to be kidding, mate). We are at Ceske for
two nights, a shortish stopover on our way to Prague, although it was only a
three and a half hour trip. Our hotel, the Grand Zvon, is as its name suggests,
grand in every respect. The rooms are decorated as if from the nineteenth century,
but not old and decrepit like our Salzburg accommodation, which was probably
the worst of our trip so far. The Hotel Grand Zvon reminds me of the sort of
hotel the Communist Party officials would have used a mere twenty-five years
ago in Cold War Czechoslovakia. You know what they say, all comrades are equal,
but some are more equal than others (I’m not sure I can get away with saying
this even in modern Czech Republic, so I’m going to type quietly).
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| Even though it's gloomy, Salzburg is still a lovely city |
We left
Salzburg after four of the dreariest days you could imagine. Although we
arrived in sunshine, we awoke the next morning to thick cloud and drizzle which
did not lift for our entire stay. To be perfectly honest, it really clouded (pardon
the pun) our perception of this city to the extent that we left pretty
unimpressed. I’m certain in sunshine it is lovely, but you get sick of walking
in the rain and fog, which pretty much blanketed the city obscuring almost all
views. The other thing which stands out about Salzburg is the saturation
bombing of tourists of all things Mozart. I was honestly sick to death of
Mozart t-shirts, Mozart pens, Mozart stuffed toys, even Mozart strudel. I don’t
care if the guys was a genius, I think even he would have thought it over the
top.
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| Our lovely hotel in Ceske, the Grand Zvon |
If you ever consider visiting Salzburg, be aware that it is the most
expensive city we’ve ever visited anywhere. Alison and I needed to take out a
second mortgage on our home back in Wangaratta just to buy a cup of hot
chocolate (we had to take our first mortgage out to buy a bun to go with it).
Yesterday, we paid close to $10 AUD to go up and back in an elevator of
literally ten seconds duration, just so we could go for a walk through the
elevated parkland. And too bad if you need to go to the toilet while you’re out
walking; for two people (there’s something about one person going that makes
the other person also want to go) that’s going to set you back almost $2 AUD.
Out of pure principal, we’ve refused to pay, which probably explains why we’re
both suffering from massive bladder infections (just joking).We’ve been on the
road now almost four weeks, and the jadedness is starting to manifest itself.
Our weather since leaving Greece has been pretty terrible. We counted three
half-days of sun in two weeks, and I swear yesterday in Salzburg the
temperature never crept above 6 or 7 degrees all day. The pattern has been that
we have cloud and rain until the day we are due to leave a place, and then the
sun comes out. It has become somewhat an exercise in looking for things to do
to keep busy, rather than really enjoying places.
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| Premysla Otakara II Square - this is the view from our window (lucky, aren't we) |
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| The same square at night - simply stunning |
Fortunately, it has been fine
all day today. The rail trip from Austria through Bohemia was absolutely
lovely. One thing you have to give Europe is its lovely scenery. The
mountainous terrain of the eastern Alps today gave way to the rolling farm land
of Eastern Europe. I could really see myself driving a tractor on a few acres
of dirt here, and I reckon it’d be pretty affordable. In fact, the contrast in
the cost of living between Austria and the Czech Republic couldn’t be starker.
We just went shopping here for a few freshly baked rolls, a pizza sub, two
apples, some milk and a drink and it came to around 80 koruna. My god, 80
koruna for that! Oh yeah, forgot to mention 80 koruna is around $4 AUD. In
Salzburg, we’d have had to sell the car to buy this. Ceske is a really love place, and hopefully we'll get a chance to explore it better tomorrow (if the bloody rain can hold off for one day).
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