rainy krumlov

may first in many cities across europe means an all day party in the street in celebration of european labor day. may first in czech republic, well, that is probably one of the quietest days you ever did see… probably because everyone gets a bit wild for witches’ night the night before.

but of course, i am awake. me, with scheduling a lesson pre 9am and deciding to head out to krumlov for the day. the streets of budějovice

, especially usually bustling lannova třída were as dead as doornails. 

so, krumlov: also emptier than i have ever seen it, even in the dead of winter! the atmosphere was cool and rainy, and as i walked into the city center from the north gate, that overwhelming, somewhat familiar sense of peace washed over me. i always forget how peaceful krumlov can me on these rainy spring days. but i never forget to take photos, especially of wet, shiny cobblestones.

we hid out in old cafes (of which krumlov has plenty good ones!), chatted with the laibon guy as usual (a drawing of him, below), and saw the josef váchal exhibit at the fantastic egon schiele centrum. there is also a really wonderful josef seidel photography exhibit going on now until november that is all about south bohemia. i love seeing these hundred year old photographs from places i now know well. the funny thing is? most of the places, especially cesky krumlov, look almost completely unchanged.

everytime i walk around here, i am always just fascinated by this little gelateria house (below) that stands alone, though it clearly was attached to another building at one point in time.

my statement “krumlov is good for the soul” stands.

the rest of the long weekend was anything but eventful, as alex came down with the flu and i was hanging around taking care of him doing major wedding research. 

for this week, i am hoping to get more in-tune with the world around me (that i seemed to have lost touch with over the past couple days) and slightly less in-tune with the online one. to have some space to think, to ramp up my yoga practice.  to enjoy the warm weather,  to live, to fully experience my upcoming birthday, and to celebrate. so enjoy this beautiful first full week of may, my friends, and travel well.

ps, what to do in

for every season & the five-petalled rose festival