It's an odd thing to be nostalgic for a city one hasn’t even left yet, but our emotions leaving Prague for a brief interlude in Cesky Krumlov could accurately be described as such. Long story short, Prague is one of those cities that it hurts deeply to leave; that you wake up months and years later longing for out of the blue. Again, there is no time to let these feelings set in, we have had to get used to leaving one enchanting place for the next.
We arrived in Cesky Krumlov midway through a stunning spring day and wasted no time getting out on foot to see what the place was about. The second largest feudal settlement in the Czech Republic aside from Prague Castle, Cesky Krumlov was an important place of influence for centuries, and has retained potent residual charm from those times passed. The old town is small and easily navigable on foot. The castle complex and surrounding hills provide scenic views of the terra-cotta roofs, church steeples and iconic tower. The castle moat is famous for being home to some bears, though their utility as a method of defense is questionable at best. While wandering throughout the day we had noticed a church perched on a hill in the distance and figured it would probably be a pretty great place to watch the sun set over town. We decided to walk to it, and ended up chewing off quite a bit more hike than we had originally imagined. The aching legs were worth it though as we finally got to enjoy the sun setting over the rolling, unmistakably European countryside from a bench in front of an 18th century church.