Cesky Krumlov

After eight days on the road, we finally arrived in Cesky Krumlov, the last stop on our Christmas vacation. We had gotten very lucky with the weather on this trip. It was obviously cold, but not unbearably so. By the time we made it to the Czech Republic late on the eighth day, checked into our hotel, and woke up the next morning, that had changed with temperatures below 30 degrees all day. Thankfully our hotel was right across the street from the beautiful old town area which could easily be covered in a few hours.

Cesky Krumlov dates back to the early 1200s and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With lots of quaint shops, delicious restaurants, a castle, and a population of less than 15,000, it's a wonderful, quieter alternative to the capital city of Prague. 

The Vltava River runs through the city, and even though it was absolutely freezing outside, we got to watch a man fly fishing in it. He didn't seem bothered by the temperatures at all.

We did not get to tour the castle complex, as they apparently don't give tours in the dead of winter. We were, however, still able walk the castle grounds and take in a great view of the city below. Because I had a full memory card on one camera and a dead battery on the other, I was only able to use my phone camera (which was super crappy at the time) to take pictures the entire day. 

Once we came down off of the castle hill, we were quite thoroughly chilled, so we meandered into the cutest little coffee shop for some warm drinks. They had the cutest sitting area, complete with a grand piano coffee table. I was in love!!

After our coffees and hot chocolates, we made a quick stop by one of the Christmas market booths for some cookies which we took back to our hotel and devoured. The Czechs know how to do a cookie!

Our anniversary is New Year's Eve, but we decided to celebrate a day early since we'd be heading home the next day. We gave the kids money and told them to go find dinner on their own, while we went to a great little restaurant with some amazing food.

We ended the night walking through the old town square where their little Christmas market was still all lit up.

It was a fantastic 22nd anniversary and a great extended Christmas vacation! We had honestly been a little nervous about taking such a long trip when we set off nine days earlier, but we were extremely blessed with great weather, safety on the road, and most of all some great memories.