TRAVEL – Page 37 – jane sadek

DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, TRAVEL, United States

Palmer’s is Perfect – Almost!

January 25, 2017January 10, 2017 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: PARTYING ON PALMER’S PATIO

Armed with a recommendation and an address, Deb and I headed towards San Marcos. We wanted to grab a bite before we headed to the outlet mall. We found a lot more than a bite at Palmer’s!

An Awkward Beginning

From the street Palmer’s doesn’t look like much. In fact, coming from Gruene, the first thing you see is a wall with a large mural. Nothing about the mural let us know we’d made a good decision, but when we found the parking lot we realized we’d found the nirvana which had evaded me during an earlier yoga session.

A large shaded patio with a splashing fountain promised we were about to have a good time, but we had to work for it. As we passed the patio entering the restaurant there were scads of empty tables, but when we asked to sit out there, the hostess hesitated. She had to go check something and she asked us to sit down. When she came back she said we’d need to wait a little and that sounded OK, until a little turned into a lot.

There was a time in my life when I would have meekly sat there until called, but that time has passed. The hostess busied herself sorting through menus and made a career of ignoring us. Since the patio was virtually empty, we wondered what was up. Finally, I asked exactly what we were waiting on since there were so many tables available. She stammered around about the wait staff having just taken orders and not being quite ready to serve us. I didn’t stammer when I said we’d rather do our waiting outside.

She reluctantly seated us on the patio and soon we’d made our drink orders. It was never quite clear why the hostess expected us to wait docilely in the slightly dank and very dark vestibule, but with the breeze blowing, a jazz trio playing and the water playing in the fountain, we didn’t care for very long.

A Little Bit of Heaven

So, the service was lacking before we ever got a chance to sit down, but I didn’t really care. The food took forever to get there and when I got it, I didn’t like it very much. (Nothing on the menu suggested the fritatta came heavily drizzled with sour cream. There are only three things in the whole world that I won’t eat and sour cream is one of them.) But that’s alright. I was happy and didn’t want to get unhappy!

Sitting on the patio at Palmer’s is the closest thing I’ve found to sitting on the patio at Joe T’s; and sitting on the patio at Joe T’s is the closest thing I’ve found to heaven – only the food at Joe T’s is good, really good.

The food might have been mediocre, but they had something called a Poinsettia to drink. For the uninitiated, a Poinsettia is the same thing as a Mimosa, except that you use cranberry juice instead of orange juice. Orange juice is not one of the three things I refuse to partake of, but I do avoid it if I can. Now that I know about Poinsettias, I will never have to regret that I don’t particularly like Mimosas, ever again in my life.

Here’s what’s funny. A Poinsettia was $5, but according to the waitress, “for $8 you can get twice as much.” I planned to be there for a while so I went for the large. Forget twice as much! I could have gotten everyone on the patio severely drunk with the huge bottle of Poinsettias I was served. Deb had started with a make-your-own Bloody Mary Bar, with which she had been underwhelmed, but if we would have known, we would have just ordered the large Poinsettia and two glasses. We both drank as much as we dared over several hours and still couldn’t make a dent. See why the fritatta didn’t matter!!

I could go on, but the bottom line is this, the shady patio, the jazz band and the Poinsettias were so good, nothing else mattered – not the lousy service, not the mediocre food, nothing. I will return to Palmer’s but it was time to head to the outlet mall. Look out credit cards!!

TRAVEL

Going Gruene!

January 18, 2017January 3, 2017 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: THE GEM OF NEW BRAUNFELS

With the Magnolia Silos in our rear view mirror, Deb and I put the pedal to the medal. The Gaines DIY magic hadn’t charmed us, but we’d been through the New Braunfels area before and knew things were looking up.

It’s Pronounced “Green” Like the Color

My friend Shana said the retreat would be in New Braunfels, but Deb and I were looking forward to Gruene. We’d been through about a year before and knew it warranted further investigation. Gruene is a cute little historical district inside the city of New Braunfels. While New Braunfels is famous for Oktoberfest, Gruene offers other opportunities.

The name of the little enclave of funk maybe pronounced the same way as good environmental choices, but there’s a lot of bad choices you can make in Gruene. For instance, at Gruene Hall you can drink too many beers and end up starting a bad relationship. Or you can clean out your pocketbook and overload your credit card in the charming boutiques. And of course, there’s tubing, which means sunburn, puckered finger tips and probably too much beer. I’m teasing, but only a little bit. Most folks go to Gruene to unwind and a large number manage to become unwound.

We’d looked at the map and decided we’d be really close to Gruene, we just hadn’t understood how close and while the pictures of the accommodations looked good, we hadn’t anticipated how good!

Welcome to the Retreat!

Yup, that’s our retreat. It was just around the corner from Gruene’s main drag and in the middle of heaven. We were among the first to arrive and had to wander a bit before we figured out that we had, in fact, arrived at the right place. Soon we were moving in and sampling the goodies Shana had whipped up for us.

Next stop was a large flagstone patio with a circle of brightly-hued Adirondack chairs. We found a seat and got to know our fellow retreat mates. What an amazing group of women. I figured they’d have to be pretty special to count among Shana’s friends.

We spent the evening hanging out around the campfire, swapping stories and laughing – a lot. Shana let us know this was a do-it-yourself retreat. She had plenty of food in the frig and yoga sessions were available, but there were no planned coaching sessions. That was OK with Deb and I. In spite of one too many margaritas, I managed to find my bed and get a good night’s sleep.

In the morning, I pulled on my exercise togs and headed to the patio for some yoga, but it had been a while since I’d yoga’d and the humidity made it a little much for me. I got busy hydrating and dressing for a day of shopping. A good number of the girls were going to tie rafts up to the trees in the river and another bunch were going tubing, but the San Marcos Outlet Malls were calling.

I asked Shana where we should go to lunch and she recommended a place called Palmer’s. WOW, was she spot on! I’ll tell you about it next week.

TRAVEL

Road Trip Time!

January 11, 2017January 12, 2017 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: GIRL’S TRIP TO NEW BRAUNFELS VIA THE MAGNOLIA SILOS

Last summer, my friend Shana announced she’d gotten her life coach certification and extended an invitation to her first retreat. I didn’t hesitate. Of course I was going to attend and I figured my bestie would go, too. The trip also proved to be the perfect opportunity to stop in Waco at the famous Magnolia Silos.

The Magnolia

Deb and I aren’t exactly DIY enthusiasts, but we’re all about shopping opportunities. In Dallas, the buzz about The Magnolia was so loud we figured it had to be wonderful. As it turned out, we’re just not the Fixer Upper types. I’m sure that’s not hurting Chip and Joanna Gaines at all, but it did increase my growing sense of disconnect with the modern world.

We took a few wrong turns, but found the famous silos in spite of ourselves. I’d heard on the weekends you couldn’t get near the place. This particular Friday morning it was quiet, which may, in part, explain some of our lack of enthusiasm.

Lunch Time

The “restaurant” at The Magnolia is a group of food trucks with picnic-table seating. On the surface that seemed like my cup of tea and it could have been, if the sun hadn’t turned the gravel covered area into an Easy Bake Oven. We strolled up and down the row of food trucks and quickly understood why everyone was standing in line at the Cheddar Box.

The other choices available didn’t resonate with us. We should have wanted to eat at the healthy place, but this was a road trip after all and indulgence is the name of the game. There were some unhealthy choices, but the heat made those unappealing. The crepes sounded good, but I didn’t want to start with dessert. That left the Cheddar Box. While my Guac This Way sammie was good, I can’t give the Cheddar Box any points for efficiency.

After waiting in line we were given a number and sent to find a table. They said they’d call us when our sammies were ready. While there were plenty of tables, only a few were covered, so everyone who was visiting The Magnolia, on this particular day, was huddled together out of the sun. We made nice with the strangers at our tables and found they’d been waiting quite a while for their grilled cheese sandwiches, long before we arrived to huddle with them. Then we waited together for another while. By the time we got our sammies, the heat had drained us of our enthusiasm for them.

The Shopping Opportunity

The Magnolia Market was at the front of the property on the way to the car, so Deb and I hit the new garden center next to the food trucks. While charming, the gardening style was a little un-manicured for our tastes and the goodies in the shed a little steep for our pocketbooks. We figured we hadn’t yet happened upon the Magnolia Magic, so we headed for the main store.

I’d only watched one episode of Fixer Upper, so I didn’t know the style used in that episode was the sum total of the Magnolia look. To me, something named after one of my favorite types of foliage, should be as elegant as the aroma of the namesakes blossoms. Instead it was sort of log cabin meets minimalist porcelain. Everybody else walked out with bags of goodies. Deb and I just shrugged our shoulders and went back to the car.

While it was not exactly the break we’d hoped for, we’d managed to get lunch and mark something off our to-do list. On to New Braunfels!

Accommodations, Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, International, Museums, TRAVEL

Cruise Afterglow

December 28, 2016December 28, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: VIKING’S DANUBE WALTZ – WHAT A TRIP!

As I sit in my office on an October Saturday afternoon in Heath TX, listening to the fountain that dances in my pond and writing a post you will read in December, I have nothing but kudos for my April cruise on Viking Cruise Lines. My travel agent, Sandra Rubio at CTC set up everything perfectly for us and Viking Cruise Lines is amazing – simply amazing!

What I Liked Best

Wonderful new friends! Deb & Mike Radcliffe and Gwenne & John Penkert were the best cruise buddies you can imagine – and they live in Oregon, which gives me an excuse to return to one of my favorite places.
The inadequately named “Silver Collection,” a part of the Imperial Apartment Museum in the Hofburg in Vienna. Decorative Arts overload! I will never forget it.
Pretty much everything I ate and drank on the Viking Tor, but especially the bottomless wine glass at dinner.
Budapest – yep, the whole thing. Can’t wait to go back someday. And Rick Steve’s is right about the Baths.
Lunch in Cesky Krumlov
A sunny afternoon stroll in Passau

What I Liked Least

The Faux Castle

The non-stop Lufthansa flight from DFW to Frankfurt. Worst flight EVER!!
Not having more time in Budapest.
Bratislava, Slovakia – didn’t feel good, didn’t get the shore excursion I wanted, the guide was iffy. Other than that it was a great stop (tee hee.)
Being in Vienna in the rain on a Monday, which is when the Lipizzaners don’t perform and some of the museums are closed. Loved Vienna, but after three visits there, I have yet to see the Lippizzaners and I could have done without the rain.
Anything to do with Empress Elizabeth, otherwise known as Sissie.
The guide in Passau.

On Our Way Home

Viking got us home as smoothly as they did everything else. While we were at breakfast, our bags were whisked away. We boarded a bus and after a pleasant drive were at the Munich airport.

While not awful enough to include in my “least liked” list, German airports didn’t rate very highly with me. They get high marks for cleanliness, but they were confusing. We roamed in befuddled circles in Frankfurt and repeated the exercise in Munich.

Security was on high alert, because we got there just as some international dignitaries were strutting through the airport. I think there had been some sort conference, but the airport was full of people who looked as if they were used to getting preferential treatment and security was tight.

Thankfully, the Delta flight to Chicago was much more pleasant than the Lufthansa non-stop torture chamber. However, because customs dumped us outside the secured area, we had to go back through the TSA screening and that was a nightmare. They were so backed-up, we had pity on some people who were about to miss their flight and gave them our spot. What else were we going to do with our time? Go shopping?

Finally, Dallas! As much as I love traveling, I do love getting home. As if to welcome us home, a full moon hung low in the sky over our pond. It was the first trip I’d returned from without having my beloved Shih Tzu, Precious, to greet me. I miss that white ball of fur.

I’ll give you one more look at our overview video and then I hope you’ll come back next week to see what else I’ve been up to.

Architecture, ART, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Shopping, TRAVEL

A Lovely Afternoon in Passau

December 21, 2016December 21, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: GLADLY GUIDELESS IN GERMANY

After lunch Bill and I ventured into Passau on our own. While we’d been frustrated by our guide’s demeanor during the morning, he had led us through a shopping area and shown us a nice riverside walkway. Passau is no Vienna and we’d had lunch, so Bill was amenable to hoofing it around on our own.

A Marvelous Afternoon

While our morning tour had left a bad taste in our mouth, it had not besmirched the charming little town. The first item on my agenda was to find some tokens for my friends. A thorough search of the room did not turn up any of the darling gingerbread ornaments I bought in Cesky Krumlov, so I needed to get busy. I wanted to get something for my Bible Study girls and then I had a couple of other friends for whom I wanted to buy something more substantial.

Passau has a significant pedestrian area with shops called Ludwigstrasse and nearby are a couple multistory of enclosed malls. My patient husband wandered through all of these with me, hunting down the appropriate souvenirs – only I wasn’t finding much that I thought was appropriate. Finally, we wandered into a knick-knack store and while most of the items were tacky bibelots with the words “Passau, Germany” emblazoned on them, I found a shelf populated with charming ceramic cherubs molded into a variety of poses. I’d found the trinkets I wanted for my Bible Study girls.

Strolling Along the River

I was still baffled about what to get for my best friend and my next door neighbor, who is truly the best next door neighbor in the world, but Mr. Bill was ready to roll. We headed toward the river and were hugely rewarded.

The morning had been chilly in more ways than one. Yes, our guide had been Mr. Rude, but the weather was overly crisp, also. I’d layered up with a denim jacket and a wool cape, but had still been uncomfortable. The afternoon weather was so glorious that we might have been in Dallas on one of its best days.

We discovered it was the first really warm day for Passau that spring and the whole town had turned out to enjoy the river. Children tossed balls into the air. Lovers ogled one another on shared blankets. Giggly girls shared secrets strolling along the river. Another girl sat on a stairway leading down to the river captivated by a book. Beer drinking students toasted everyone that walked by. It was like a movie set!

Once More to the Ludwigstrasse

Armed with a map the rude guide had provided, Bill and I maneuvered around the finger of land pointing to the confluence of the Inn, the Ilz and the Danube. When we got back to the boat, Bill agreed to hit the Ludwigstrasse with me one more time. I was in a tizzy. I had to finish packing and dress for dinner soon, but I just didn’t want to head home without something for my friends.

As I bounced from storefront to storefront appalled at the pricing, Bill came to the rescue. One of the clothing stores was having a bit of a sidewalk sale and Bill pointed it out. I doubted anything would be affordable, even marked down, because all the prices I had seen were pretty steep. Bill helped me figure out the exchange rate and the discount. Suddenly, I was all smiles. Not only had we found exactly what I’d love to get for Deb and Sherry, but I wasn’t going to break the bank!

It was a quiet night on board. The evening happy hour was devoted to disembarking instructions. Dinner was delicious, but sad. We’d made wonderful friends and we didn’t know when we’d see them again. Then there we had to be out early in the morning. For all practical purposes, the cruise was over.

Come back next week and I’ll get you back to Dallas. In the meantime, enjoy this video of our final stop.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL

Pretty Little Passau

December 7, 2016October 15, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: THE FINAL SHORE EXCURSION

Waking up in Passau was bittersweet. During the night we’d passed from Austria into Germany and docked at Passau, but my research had not mined up any nuggets for my “must-see” list, in this town at the confluence of three rivers. The overwhelming emotion was regret. I was going to have to leave this cozy boat where they took me from destination to destination, fulfilling my every need and desire along the way.

The Morning Rush Hour

In Viking River Cruise land, mornings were busy. We had to get up and get breakfast before the tour started. There were no lazy days at sea. It might have been nice to intersperse all these activities with some down time, but Mr. Bill is not a two week vacation kind of guy and on an 8 day river cruise you are engaged every single day, all day long.

Passau was no different. The walking tour began at nine. After a delicious breakfast we disembarked and found our guide. We did not get the pick of the litter.

The Walking Torture

He was a Frenchman, resettled into Germany and I’ll just say it, he was rude. He was quite knowledgeable, but so unpleasant. He was obviously unaware that we were on a walking tour, not taking an oral exam for a PhD. He’d pepper us with questions and then ridicule our answers. If we dared ask him a question, he’d belittle us. I’m not exactly ignorant of history, but the one question I asked him about a date painted on a castle, resulted in my most uncomfortable moment of the cruise.

We put up with him for a while, but it was finally so unpleasant that we wandered off and found our own way back to the boat. However, Passau is a lovely little town, in spite of the rude guide, so I’ll show you some of it.

Pretty Little Passau

If you’ve been following me along on this cruise, then you know the operative word for the predominant architectural style along the Danube is Baroque. We got a taste of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Cesky Krumlov, but pretty much everything else has been Baroque-on-steroids. Passau was no different. The architectural highlights are the Prelate’s Palace and St. Stephen’s Cathedral, but the whole town is lovely. For some reason, the Rathaus has murals painted all over it which are reminiscent of the Middle Ages, but they are merely modern interpretations of that era. Architecture aside, the three rivers are the real stars of the show.

Enjoy this gallery of shots from our walking torture. I can’t tell you much more about them, because the only way I was able to avoid killing my guide was to ignore him. We finally abandoned him and made our own way back to the boat. Come back next week and I’ll tell you about the rest of the day, which was a lot more fun.

ART, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Music, Performing Arts, TRAVEL

A Great Night of On-board Entertainment

November 30, 2016October 13, 2016 Jane Sadek

Cruise buddy Deb hams it up with the talent — Cruise buddy, Deb, hams it up with the talent

TRAVEL THERE: RODGERS, HAMMERSTEIN AND MOZART

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, it did!

Back to Elegant Dining

I’d been disappointed by the over-hyped Taste of Austria dinner. Visually, it had been lovely, but the culinary experience couldn’t beat what we’d already been enjoying. Quality not quantity is my interest.

After my trot around Linz, we scurried back to the boat and I jumped into my evening attire. This was the penultimate evening of the cruise and the captain was throwing a cocktail party. That included a toast, which meant champagne would be served. So I was janie-on-the spot in the lounge. I didn’t want to miss any champagne. The captain didn’t try to labor through another bout of English, thankfully. Instead our cruise director translated for him.

After the toast, the lederhosen, dirndls and oom-pah-pah were gone from the dining room- much to our relief. We waxed nostalgic about our service throughout the evening as if we’d been living on the boat for years, instead of a matter of days. The Viking Daily had promised Mozart and the Sound of Music as our evenings entertainment and we wondered how that mixture would pan out.

A Salzburgian Romp

A troupe of singers appeared and offered a few tunes. Their voices were wonderful and they wore authentic period costumes. The evening started out very high-brow and then they began the audience participation part of the performance. I was not surprised in the least that they chose Bill. They always choose Bill. I’m beginning to think he must be offering bribes. Anyway, here’s a few photos from his appearance.

That was fun, but the next part was even more wonderful. They switched from classical to a classic, The Sound of Music. I can’t say I was actually yearning for tunes from the Julie Andrews movie, but as soon as the first few bars of intro wafted through the lounge, I had tears in my eyes. The singers merely zipped through the soundtrack, hitting the high points, which was lovely, but I secretly wanted more. I wanted to be reminded of every frame of the movie and especially Edelweiss, which is on my personal top 10 (along with Leon Russell’s Stranger in a Strange Land, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and Gordon Lightfoot’s Rainy Day People.) I’ve never streamed a movie to my phone, but it did cross my mind that evening.

The performers were real characters. They were hamming it up with all the guests, so Bill wasn’t the only one to garner their attention. He’s just the only one who entered the spotlight. After the performers left, the tempo got much faster and the girls hit the dance floor. I have a few more photos to share below.

The boat didn’t head towards our next destination until 10:30 and I’d entertained thoughts of taking another stroll onshore, but it didn’t happen. If you let them, Viking will fill every moment of your day and that’s what happened on this particular day, except for the visit to the Mariendom.

Next up is Passau, Germany. Come back next week and visit this lovely little town at the confluence of rivers.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, TRAVEL

A Little of Linz

November 23, 2016October 8, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: HANGING ON THE HAUPTPLATZ

Once the bus returned us to the boat from our excursion to the Czech Republic, we only had about forty-five minutes before it was time to get ready for dinner. Having had the chance to rest up on the bus ride, we were raring to visit Linz, so we dropped off our junk in our cabin and hit the gangplank again.

Lovely Afternoon in Linz

In Cesky Krumlov it had been a tad bit chilly, so I’d been all layered up to keep warm. Linz was a whole different story. There we regretted our long sleeves.

As with most of our stops, our boat was docked adjacent to exactly what we wanted to see. We stepped off the boat and into the Hauptplatz, one of the largest main squares in Austria. You can see the plague column behind us in the photo above and the Old Rathaus is nearby. In fact, I had a map showing this square is the center of sightseeing, but it was late and most things had closed – not to mention that we barely had time to walk down the street a bit and then get back to the boat. So we kept to the main thoroughfare.

The architecture along the venerable main street is gorgeous. Churches butt up against chic boutiques and everything looks as if a modern day Hapsburg is coming for inspection. The one thing I really wanted to see was the Mariendom. The “new” cathedral can accommodate 20,000 people. I figured that would be worth seeing.

We didn’t get very far down the street until we ran into our cruise buddies. They’d hit the streets directly from the bus and were already headed back to the boat. We wanted to explore a little more.

Finding a cathedral to accommodate 20,000 isn’t all that hard if you’re anywhere near it, so soon we found a side street that took us right up to the big church. We were only there for a few minutes, but I have to confess that I thoroughly enjoyed the respite from tourism.

All the other churches we’d been to were definite tourist destinations. We’d gotten to Mariendom late enough for the tour buses and their occupants to be gone. A few parishioners were spread among the sea of pews and were obviously praying. This was a church that was really a church. It felt like God was there, so I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for the wonderful trip we were enjoying. Then I couldn’t resist getting the panoramic picture above!

Though we hadn’t really taken much time at all, we had to hurry back to the boat. Bill still managed to grab a few shots along the way. I’ll share those with you and then I hope you’ll be back next week, because it was a favorite night of entertainment. Enjoy Linz!

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, Shopping, TRAVEL

The Quaint Town of Cesky Krumlov

November 16, 2016November 26, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: A TOWN IN A TIME WARP

Cesky Krumlov was lucky. While it suffered a season of Communism, the Communists never had enough money to modernize the place. So when they were kicked out in 1989, all Cesky Krumlov needed was a little TLC. Tourists discovered it in the early 1990’s and the rest is history.

Entering the Time Warp

As I mentioned before, our wonderful guide was a native Krumlovite. He grew up there and had an abiding love for his lovely little town. We had disembarked our bus up in the castle gardens and seen a couple of lovely vistas from the castle grounds, but this charming blue, onion-domed church was our first taste of Krumlov proper.

The pace of our tour slowed down as the guide shared the highlights of his town, including his favorite places to eat and stories about his friends. I’ve toured with guides that turned this dialog into an “ain’t-I-great” soliloquy, but the charming citizen of Krumlov did not fall into that trap. His stories were all about the wonders in his favorite town.

By the way, while it is tempting to call it a village, rather than a town, it got a city charter somewhere along the way. They would probably be insulted because that I was calling it a town instead of a city, but I want you to get the feel of the place, even if my terminology is not technically correct.

On Our Own

We wandered along quaint little streets until we reached the town square, where our guide released us to our own reconnaissance. Our little group of cruise buddies hotfooted it back to our guide’s favorite restaurant and enjoyed a delightful lunch with generous quaffs of Czech beer.

And here’s their sign

Here’s where to find the restaurant

Then we headed out for shopping. EEEK! The prices were astronomical. I strolled into a handbag store and hurried out with my tail between my legs. While I’m not great at currency conversion, I do know enough to figure out when I’ve wandered into a triple digit zone. The cheapest handbag I could find was very comfortably in that triple digit zone and while my friends are certainly worth that much, I can’t afford it.

There were dozens of establishments featuring souvenirs – you know the kind, t-shirts and tea towels emblazoned with screen-printed images – but that wasn’t what I was looking for. Finally, I found a store with darling little gingerbread Christmas ornaments. I almost bought them out and was thrilled with my find, but unfortunately I lost them somewhere along the way. I was broken-hearted because they were hand-made and seriously darling.

Had I anticipated the expenditure, I would have bought up some amber jewelry. Every other store on the winding streets is an amber jeweler and I loved most of their wares. My bestie loves amber and I desperately wanted to find something for her, but in a town where a small cloth clutch costs about $200, you can imagine what the amber cost. Still, the prices were not unreasonable, so if you go, budget for the amber and shop until you drop!

Suddenly It Was Time to Go

For the final half hour or so, we abandoned our cruise buddies, because I was still desperately on the hunt for gifts. All of sudden we looked at our watch and realized we had to leave – right then. That’s when we figured out we were lost and Cesky Krumlov no longer felt like a quaint village, but more like the city they prided themselves on being. Our panic only lasted a short while, but that was long enough. They’d warned us they would leave us if we weren’t on time.

We strolled back through the town, up a path around the castle and there our buses were waiting for us. The drive back to the boat seemed longer than the trip to the Czech town, because we were hoping enough time would be left to check out Linz before dinner.

We did make it back early enough and I’ll share that with you next week, but for now, enjoy all these pictures from Cesky Krumlov.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL

A Quick Stroll through Cesky Krumlov Castle

November 9, 2016October 8, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: TAKE MORE TIME HERE THAN WE DID

Cesky Krumlov Castle is a treasure trove of history, architecture and decorative arts. Let’s start with the history.

The Medieval Lords of Krumlov

There’s not much left from the Middle Ages, but this has been a castle since the 13th century. The one remaining tidbit is the castle tower, left over from the days when the castle’s first job was defense. According to Rick Steves, if you go up its 162 steps you’ll get a find view of the Czech countryside, but I wouldn’t know.

Moving on to the Renaissance

While the tower is Medieval, it’s decoration is not. That’s all Renaissance, so let’s move up a few years. When the Krumlovs died out, their cousins, the Rozmberks, moved in. (Rozmberk is often rendered as Rosenberg, but let’s be Czech about this.)

The Krumlovs had been your basic local gentry, but their cousins were a whole different animal. The Rosmberks went on a serious building campaign, but don’t let the pictures fool you. Those walls in the courtyard are just plaster. All the fancy stonework is merely painted on. They weren’t being cheap, it was just the style. In fact, they probably could have gotten the stonework cheaper than the painting, but they were all about the show.

Everything had to look modern and up-to-date for the Rozmberks. They turned that practical, defensive tower into a folly of astrological signs and symbols. I’m not sure who came up with the idea of a pastel yellow and baby pink as an acceptable color combination, but I would like to complain about it. Pink and beige were often used together throughout this region, too. Both color themes make me a little nauseous, but they were all the rage apparently, based on the frequency of their use.

While I didn’t approve of their color schemes, I have to admit they did do a great job out in the gardens. The glorious Renaissance gardens in the French style, with a magnificent central fountain, were something to see. It was a little early in the season for floral displays.

They symbol of the Rosenberg family can be found all over the castle. — They symbol of the Rozmberk family can be found all over the castle.

Visions of Grandeur

It wasn’t enough for the Rozmberks to have the best castle around, they wanted to climb even higher on the social ladder. So they decided they wanted to be kin to the the Orsinis, who were ruling the roost over in Italy.

Now there are a number of stories about their claim to Orsinism. Some say they just added a fake limb to their family tree and were powerful enough to pull it off with aplomb. Others claim they actually did have a legitimate claim. My favorite story is they expressed their desire to be Orsinis to that family and for X amount of money, the Orsini’s adopted them. That sounds about right from what I know of the Orsinis.

The Crest of the Orsini-Rosenbergs — The Crest of the Orsini-Rozmberks

Whichever story is true, the Rozmberks celebrated their promotion in a couple of ways. They altered their family crest and added a bear to their moat, because as we all know, Orsini comes from the Italian word for bear.

When I titled this post as “a quick stroll” I’m referring to the way I saw the castle – almost at a dead run! We were in and out of the castle environs almost before I could get out the camera for a few photos. (Confession, we did not take the bear picture. It’s off the Viking memory stick we purchased. The bear hid from us during our quick stroll.)

What’s more, the tour was only outside and we didn’t get so much as a peek inside. Museum Girl was about to have a fit. Here she had a well-furnished Czech palace to check out and we’re ripping through the courtyards at a fast pace. One of the reasons the castle is well-furnished is because once a Hapsburg-related family gained control of the place it fell out of favor and became a sort of over-sized attic.

Another reason you can enjoy the castle in its former furnished glory is because Czech curators share better than Americans. They actually try to get the various bits and pieces they find to the appropriate castles. Because Cesky Krumlov Castle spent so many years as a warehouse of out-of-fashion and damaged furnishings, there are still huge areas of the castle that are still cleaned out and cataloged. When they find a piece that seems to belong to another castle, they send it along with their regards and curators at other castles do the same. American curators seem to share a penchant for hoarding. The bowels of their institutions hold tons of items the public never gets to see, because the museums hold on to every bit they get for dear life. I liked the Czechs even better for this little tid-bit.

Once we’d checked out the bear pits we had a choice to make. We could either head to the ticket office and go on one of the interior castle tours or we could head out to the picturesque town. The town is charming and I had a wonderful time with our cruise buddies, but Museum Girl was about to go into melt-down.

I’ll share a treat with you. While I didn’t go through the castle, someone on the Viking crew did and they got some marvelous pictures, which I’ll include at the end along with more of my pictures of the exterior, but there’s one more bit of history you need to know about Cesky Krumlov.

The Baroque Theater

I chose to get a degree in Performance instead of Literature and I’m glad, because to get the degree you have to have a smattering of all the arts, including the performance arts. One of my classes was the history of theater and I thoroughly enjoyed it. (The professor was somewhat of a kook, but welcome to the university!)

We studied all the old playwrights and reviewed the various venues. I reveled in the Renaissance era when cathedrals used to fly children through the air on wires as cherubs. (No child labor laws to contend with.) However, the Baroque period was also something. Every castle worth its appellation had its own theater and each theater proprietor tried to outdo the other on special effects – only there was no digital CGI. They used actual flames and fireworks to get their effects. And that’s exactly why there are only two of them left in the world. Cesky Krumlov is one of them!

It killed me to forego the pleasure of touring the theater. If I ever get back to the Czech Republic, wild horses won’t keep me away from taking every tour offered in Cesky Krumlov. Now enjoy the pictures and come back next week for a tour of the town.