I take the luxury of sleeping in today, and don't leave the hostel until - dare 
I say it - 8 a.m.!

It's a foggy morning, and I decide to go for a hike.  According to the hostel 
recommendation, the trail I'm about to take leads to a church on a hill with the 
best view of Cesky Krumlov.  My biggest mistake is that I delay eating breakfast 
thinking that I would only be taking a short hike.  And for the first time, I 
don't have any reserve food in my backpack either, so I make it to the top 
thinking about my stomach the whole time.  As for the view, it's not that great 
as it's too far from the town.  

I snap a few shots and rush back into town to plunder the bakery.  The woman 
behind the counter asks me what I want.  I pretty much say yes to everything she 
points to before hungrily devouring my order.  By the way, "yes" here is 
pronounced "ah-no".  It's awkward to try to convey "yes" while saying "no" at 
the same time, but the locals know and appreciate the effort.

Thinking back to the day before, I had the best view of Cesky Krumlov when I was 
riding into town on the bus from the north side.   I walk out of town in that 
direction, climb a hill, and get a much better view.  Continuing around the 
area, I stumble across an abandoned disco.  The door is locked by a chain, but I 
try to squeeze through the six inch opening, only to get stuck half way through 
before giving up.  

Relentless in my pursuit for abandoned buildings, I roam around the some more 
and encounter an abandoned hotel.  The building is completely barred up.  
Looking around for an entry point, I see the bars bent out of the way on the 
second floor.

Kids: don't try this at home.

I toss my bag up to the second floor and examine the route.  I ascend onto the 
patio using a special rockclimbing technique along a building column.  The door 
is locked, but the  glass window on the lower half of the door is smashed in.  I 
carefully manouevre through the remaining fragments and creep into the building.  

The interior is definitely not as amazing as the abandoned house in Croatia.  
Everything inside is stripped out, including the doors.  There's nothing too 
interesting about the rooms.  Broken glass is everywhere.  The elevator is stuck 
between the 3rd and 4th floors.  

Then I spot the stairs leading to the basement, which look more like a descent 
into a dark abyss.  I hesitate for a moment, but decide my adventure would be 
incomplete without a trip down there.

As it turns out, the basement turns out to be the best part of the hotel.  The 
floor in the boiler room has caved in, and the storage rooms are still partially 
furnished.  Best of all, I have lots of time to set up my shots.  I carefully 
adjust and play with my angles, shutter speed, and aperture before 
photographing.

As I walk along the dark hallway, I feel eerie cold drafts blowing against the 
back of my neck.  Didn't the movie "The Sixth Sense" say something about that?  
Well, I brush it off and explore every single room in the basement, hoping to 
discover something interesting (or grisly). 

After spending some good time in the basement, I leave the hotel.  As I look 
back at the building, noticing the tacky sign at the top, I realize that I 
didn't venture onto the roof!  

So I climb back in and make my way up.  A ladder on the top floor takes me to 
the elevator crank room.  From there, I try prying a door open to reach the 
roof.  Unfortunately, it's stuck, so I take some shots in the crank room before 
leaving the hotel.

Arriving back in town, I wander aimlessly for a while before making my way to 
the Egon Schiele International Center (Museum).  I don't expect anything big as 
most of the houses here are only two or three stories high.  As it turns out, 
the museum is surprisingly spacious, with a fun interior design built on the 
existing architecture of several combined buildings.  It mixes rustic, wood 
features and flooring with flat walls and open concept rooms/lofts.

Work from local artists are displayed here too, but the real highlight is of 
course, the Egon Schiele collection.  This museum is definitely worth a trip if 
you're in town.

As night falls, I have dinner with a hostel-mate coming from Paris.  I order the 
Czech national dish, roast pork with dumplings.  It's not significantly 
different from the meal I had the night before, and I'm left wondering if the 
inn's sizeable menu is in part due to having several variations of the same 
dish.

Back in the hostel, I join my friends from New Zealand for hot chocolate and 
conversation.  As we talk about our travels, I wonder what's in the New 
Zealander blood that makes them travel so much.  I mean, these group of girls 
are all 19; they just finished high school and decided to travel around the 
world for a year before heading to university.  How great is that?  Another cool 
factoid: One of the girls' dads allowed usage of his credit card to treat the 
gang to a five star meal in every major city they stayed in.  

It's an entertaining night as (yet another) bunch of Aussies join us.  I draw a 
few sketches before heading off to bed in preparation for an early wakeup.


Next: The Road to Vienna