Reporting from Budapest, Vol. 2 (Foreign Correspondent Series: Czech Republic, Day 2)

Apologies for the lapse in posting this series.  Grueling week, you know.

We awoke from our post-diszkoban slumber at 9:30, lounged and cleaned ourselves up for a bit, then decided to explore the complimentary breakfast around 10.  Neal had spoken with our check-in host about breakfast in German, and Neal assured us that breakfast didn't end until 11:30, maybe 10:30, or at least at some half-hour after 8 AM.  Downstairs was dead, and the restaurant was dark -- we missed breakfast, and we were crushed.  We replaced the meal with some snacks in the room and set out to explore the town.

First stop: pastry shop in the town square.  We shared a variety of treats, and I had a coffee.  Not quite breakfast, but we figured we could tide over to lunch on that.  Now late morning, we started walking and re-found the town pond we had seen the night before.  Frozen solid, the lake was covered in snow and in tiptop condition for ice hockey with a little shoveling.  Sure enough, as we made it down to the lake, we came across a group of local kids playing hockey.  Neal, through a series of gestures, secured a spot on one team and took to the ice in sneakers.

Raw talent.

Surprisingly enough, ice hockey is much harder in sneakers than on skates, so we took turns trading out with the hockey stick (which was unfortunately left-handed).  This game with the kids was no doubt the early highlight of the trip.  Paradise Club was rocking, the local kids were cool, and Jindřichův Hradec was becoming more and more of an awesome discovery.  I booked the rooms through www.discoverczech.com (legit, and the owner is very helpful) randomly; I just went for the closest town available to Tábor for the cyclocross championships.

Local sports heroes.

Jindřichův Hradec gets the seal of approval.  Legitimately this hot after playing hockey in hiking boots.

Group shot with our new homeboys.  Neal says "Number 1."

My ad hoc tripod

We said thanks and goodbye to our new friends, hiked out to the island in the middle of the lake, then moved on to see other parts of the town.  Nothing terribly exciting, other than a few beautiful buildings and quizzical signs.  Lunch went down at a delicious pizzeria, with lots of salamis, chilies, and cheeses involved.

Getting aggressive with the Easter Egg palate.

Gorgeous balcony

The central part of town was filled with beautifully laid cobblestones.  This pattern was only one of several.

Quizzical sign no. 1.  After a little research, I think this means "End No-Parking Zone."  European sign designers do not fear the double negative.

This guy was selling fish and auto tires out of his garage.  I have no other way of explaining this.

One last pre-dinner adventure:  going out in search of the third largest castle in Czech Republic (Deceptively hard to find, even three blocks from our hotel.  We literally walked by it and spent a half hour trying to find it.).  Not especially spectacular in a photograph-able way; the castle was a big collection of buildings within a wall, more of a true Medieval-style castle, I guess.

My best shot in the dark.

The enormous swans living in the castle's mostly-frozen pond.  I am constantly amazed that animals survive the winter without the aid of clothing and centrally-heated shelter.

We also wanted to see the World's Largest Mechanized Nativity Scene in the adjacent Regional Museum, but alas, the entire museum was closed January through March.

We had dinner at an Indian restaurant in town.  Ranjan met one of the owners at Paradise Club the night before (yes, this raised some flags, but Paradise Club is the only place to hang out) and got his card, so we gave the restaurant a shot.  Both Ranjan and the owner speak Hindi, so Ranjan ordered up a delicious and filling meal for all of us.  My favorite of the night was saffron kulfi, an Indian ice cream.  Hard to describe but delicious.

We knew we had to be up in the morning for traveling to the race (about an hour's drive), so we played some cards back at the hotel and retired early.  This time, we were determined to get our complimentary frühstück.