[Cesky Krumlov]Another day another trip down the river

Today we rented a raft to ride down the river to the next town. The river banks turned from terracotta and white to various shades of green quickly. We saw forests, huge rocks, fields, etc. Lovely. Somehow we thought there would be lots of places to stop along the way for beer, but there were only a few. We stopped once in a wide field for budweisser (note lower-case b; this is the home of the beer that the US company stole the name from). Literally hundreds of plastic bottles had found their resting places along the edges of the river in this otherwise pristine-looking landscape. This further confirms my new found dedicating to drinking tap water. (The dedication began because Maya pointed out that they transport all that water to sell with trucks, when there is perfectly good water running through the taps in every developed nation in the world.)

My companions along the river were 3 Aussie girls and 2 boys from Holland. I am certain that none of them is over 25, but I am trying not to think about it or bring up subjects to establish my age. I did notice last night when they discussed where they wanted to go for "unie" and what they thought about studying or where they thought about working. And I felt a little inadequate when all of us lay out in our bikinis; no, inadequate is not the word. I didn't so much feel that I was comparing myself to them as I was some kind of perverse fraud or observer who should not really have been there but was pretending to be something I was not while being exposed by my equipment. Speaking of misrepresentation, the issue of gun control came up, and they assumed that I am against it bc I am "American". It soon became clear that we all agree on the issue.

I still need to catch you up on my adventures in Karlovy, but that might have to wait for another day. The bottom line is that the swimming pool was worth the trip. It is a huge modern thing on the hillside overlooking the sweet historic town. You can literally look at the townscape as you do your laps. Unfortunately, there weren't many people in it doing laps -- just horse playing -- with a few swimming around them.

Mary had had a reservation at the same hostel that Steve had found for me (but was full), but they refused to honor it. It also turns out that the town was providing student accomodation. I am telling you this so that all may learn from my mistake: ask about cheap accomodation at the tourist information center whereever you go.