"When in Krumlov"

[from right to left: Beeler, Erinn, Alex the birthday boy, me and Max]

So before I get started on my trip to Cesky Krumlov, Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava, and relay all the details of serenades, castles, drunken river nights, and speedo clad geriatric patients let me first being with the night before.

So Thursday night was our beloved slavobro, Alex Ungers' birthday. So naturally we celebrated. Before actually joining the boys for a night of "Steak and Titties" [their words] Andy, Beeler, Sarah Jo, Erinn, Kate, Pat, Adnan, Nate, Andrew, Chesky, and I went to a little [though not too little to accommodate us] bar down the street from the K apartments. There we consumed a very impressive 32 pivos. Then we ventured over to Popsicle Square where we met the Ungers [Max and Alex], Orange, Nick, Sean, and Coozy at the Beer Factory. At every table in the factory there is are four taps where you just get glasses and pour your own beers. Its [Andy, me, Beeler] really fun, and they put up the "high scores" on a screen so you can race if you want. Well there was really no shot for anyone else in the place because before the large group of us even got there, the boys had consumed about 8 liters themeselves. We raised it to an impressive +16.4. [I say plus because that was the last time we documented the actual amount.
Shortly after we re-emerged from the factory to begin the "titties" part of the night [don't be too appalled yet, just hear me out]. We were waiting on the corner for a while because some of the others, I guess, weren't quite ready to leave. So I started talking to a really nice Australian boy, his name is Nick, but we will call him Random Aussie #1 [you'll understand later]. After that we ventured down the street to the strip clubs. I, and some others opted out of that escapade and went to a sportsbar down the street, hoping for soccer but settling for baseball. Not much transpired there until we left to go to a bar called The Globe to watch the VP debates that were being aired at 3 in the morning. It turned out to be a bad life choice but we wanted to do our civic duty and be as in the know as possible when November 4th rolls around.

So it was only a bad life choice because it meant that I got home at about 4.15 am and had to be at a bus station at 7.30am. Not much time for shut eye. But we made it and I passed out on the way to Cesky Krumlov, which was the first stop on our 5 day tour of four countries. We just wanted to start the marathon off with a sprint as they say. Before getting to Cesky Krumlov, we stopped at ancient ruins that are from B.C. Pretty awesome. They were a Celtic settlement that was inhabited before the Slavs even came to that area. It was pretty inaccessable so we had to hike to get there and we acutally got to see some lumberjacks felling trees. First time for everything I guess. Once we got to the ruins it was pretty spectacular. Andy and I decided to do some exploring and climbed into one of the windows of the ruins. I then decided, after being assured it was kosher, to climb up to the top. It was really amazing and I earned a reputaion of not being a dainty girl. Not sure why they ever thought I was, seeing as how I am probably the least girly girl here. But anyway, we then continued on to Cesky Krumlov which is a small and beautiful town south of Prague. We got dropped off at our hostel and then we picked up a very hurried lunch before we went to the castle for a tour. As a side note, our hostel room was called Show White and the Seven Dwarfs. And that is not a typo, it actually said show. This will come into play later which is why I took the time to write it now.
So we made it to the tour just barely and got a complete history. It was a really great tour. The man's name is Bryce and he is really great. He is actually from Florida and moved to Prague and then Cesky Krumlov where he is now some sort of castle official. Anyway, the tour was one of the best I have been on. The castle is also really cool because the last family who owned it was really rich and had to leave abruptly, during Hitler's regime, and they were very meticulous about their inventories so the castle looks almost exactly as it did when they lived there. It is not "museumed" out, but very historically accurate.
After the tour Chesky and I returned to the hostel for a quick nap and were later joined by the others in our room, being Erinn, Beeler, Sarah Jo, Heather, Alyssa and Katie. During our nap these two guys poked their heads in looking for a guy but got an invitation from Erinn to come in. They declined and left. Soon after we left for dinner at the local brewery. Unfortunately, I caught a cold, probably from the lack of sleep and pivo consumption, so I didn't really drink any of the beer, just a taste. It was good. Bryce showed up at the end of dinner with his guitar and he began playing songs that we know. Needless to say, it turned into a full fledged concert for the other guests, who surprisingly liked drunken serenades. Who would have thought?
After dinner, well actually when the restaurant stopped selling them all beer we left. Thankfully we split into groups, well two groups. The ones who like to party went to the only club in town, and the rest of us went to Cafe VanGogh with Petr, Geiger, and Bryce. The others included: me, Chesky, Andrew, Andy, Nate, Pat, Skylar, Alyssa and Eli. It was really fun. We just sang and talked and had a great time.
So when we returned to Show White we swapped stories with Heather and Erinn and found out we missed Sean pole dancing, but not much more. So now it is about 1.45 am and we are all sound asleep. Around 2.30am a bulky man enters our room, half naked, and crawls into bed with Erinn. I'm not sure why Erinn didn't castrate him, knock him out, scream, or do anything to deter him, because if he had tried to climb into my bed, he would have been terribly sorry when he woke up. But she let him in and it turned out to be the guy from earlier, who "we invited to come back later." HAHA. His name is Dean but we will call him Random Aussie #2. Our group attracts Aussies like moth to a flame apparently. But anyway, so we were chatting with him and then in a moment of silence he assures us he isn't fat, therefore winning the nickname Walrus for the rest of the night. When Katie and Alyssa arrived back to the hostel, Katie marches in and says, "if there is a boy in this room, I'm gonna be PISSED." She had been blown off by some German guy on her birthday and was none to pleased by it. She went out to smoke a cigarette and said "When I come back Aussie, if your not in my bed, I'm gonna bust this place up." Dean was legitimately terrified of her. It was probably one of the funniest things EVER. And this isn't one of my exaggeration evers, but I mean really, ever. Hilarious. The next morning we woke up with about two hours of sleep behind us again. Nice. And that concludes the Cesky Krumlov part of the tour. It was pretty fabulous.