postcards in the stone

I am noticing a shift in my perspective on travel the more I do and see. Now fear not, this isn't my way broaching the topic of wanting to come home or expressing some deep concern over my choice of travel companion. Couldn't be further from the truth. No, what I have noticed is that the more cities you see the more they look alike. Now it stands to reason that a lot of these cities feel similar. Large swathes started as Roman settlements, many fell under the rule of various Saxon or Frankish 'Holy Empires' and they have all kept pretty well apace of each other in terms of architectural and technological advances. But I think the nail in the coffin was tourism. When people start talking perfect English to you in Bruges or you walk into a McDonalds in Prague and can order a McFlurry that tastes the same as in Australia, a place really starts to lose its sense of individuality.

Now I'm not entirely sure why I expected Prague to be any different, and I'm almost certain the four days of solid drizzle didn't help my opinion, but it was just another city of cobbled street and churches with a Palace on the hill. It seems like the standard formula. I had wanted it to be some magical place of East meets West (in a strictly European sense), the border town between the former Soviet Union and the Western world. Instead I got another cheap vendor hawking his trashy wares. I could buy a boomerang with scenes of Prague painted on it for Christs sake! This is indicative of the rest of Europe I have experienced to date, and likely a foreshadowing of what is to come. Oddly enough I'm getting the distinct feeling that any individuality I will be finding will actually stem from the youth of the city as they struggle to be none conformist. So far I have shied away from this because it seemed too much like home, but now I think it will be more memorable than just looking at postcard in the flesh... or stone as it were.

So to be honest I was a little glad to get out of Prague and head out into the country for a little while. We traveled south to a lovely town called Český Krumlov, nestled against a cliff on an S bend on the Vltava River. Sure, there may have had cobbled streets, and yes I think there was a church or two. Now that I recall it... I do believe the castle was on a hill overlooking town... Oh Jesus...