🏰🌿 Český Krumlov

Český Krumlov felt like a painting you could walk into 🖼️ and I mean that literally. The first glimpse of the castle 🏰 tower spiraling up in pastel pinks and greens, rising over the Vltava’s lazy curve 🌀🏞️, stopped me mid-step. 🌤️Mornings came with a short walk across cobbles still wet from the dew, the town not yet awake, and everything smelling faintly of damp stone and chimney smoke. 🍖🍺 Lunch was always simple, always perfect. A plate of roasted pork with sauerkraut and dumplings €8 in a courtyard shaded by grapevines 🍇🥩, or sometimes just a sausage from a street cart near the square 🌭 hot, spicy, €3, eaten leaning against a fountain ⛲️ while watching schoolkids chase pigeons 🐦👟 I found a riverside bar where beer cost less than €2 🍺 golden, cold, and served with a view of canoes floating past like lazy punctuation marks on the river 💬🛶 One evening, a couple danced to an old Czech folk tune someone played on accordion 🪗 just them, under the fading light, no audience but the river. 🌕🕯️ At night, the streets emptied in that fairytale way, not eerily, just softly. I walked alone, passing old wooden doors with iron knockers and flickering lanterns hanging above taverns still murmuring with laughter 🎭🍷. The castle courtyard glowed like something enchanted, bats darting through warm air, the stones still holding the sun’s heat. My last night, I sat on the hill behind the castle with a cheap bottle of wine (€4 from a corner shop), legs tucked under me, watching the lights flicker on like stars ✨ thinking how some places don’t just charm you. They slow you down. They ask nothing but that you look. #europeonbudget #budget #travel