Hi, I'm Rick Steves, back with more of the Best of Europe.
This time we're soaking up the off-beat delights of the Czech Republic.
Thanks for joining us!
To get a fair look at any country, you need to venture beyond its dominant city.
Here in the Czech Republic there's a world of cultural riches outside of Prague -
and in this episode, that's our focus.
We'll discover stately squares with no tourists; eat stinky cheese and wash it down with Europe's
best beer...
Honza: ...the stinkiest cheese in the whole country.
See the trophies of a bored yet trigger happy prince and learn of an evil Nazi hoax. Then
we'll follow the epic story of the Czech nation on canvas, paddle through the bohemian countryside,
and delight in a fairytale town that comes complete with jaunty Gypsy music.
Buried in the heart of central Europe is the Czech Republic. Skipping Prague, the capital,
we start in Olomouc in Moravia, before visiting Moravsky Krumlov, Trebon, Terezin, Konopiste,
and Cesky Krumlov.
As Europe unites into one vast free trade zone, it's employing its own kind of internal
Marshal Plan, investing hundreds of billions of dollars into its own infrastructure. Here
in the Czech Republic they have a new express train zipping you in less than two hours from
Prague to here...Olomouc.
Its circa-1950s train station is a fascinating blend of old and new: Bright and happy workers
put down their hammers and sickles long enough to greet you - a reminder of the country's
recent communist past. Just a short tram-ride from the station gets us to the old town center.
Olomouc, the historic capital of this region, is the Czech Republic's fifth-largest city
with 100,000 people and home to a leading university. With its wealth of cafés, clubs,
and student life, Olomouc gives you vibrant local culture - without the tourist crowds
and high prices of Prague.
I'm joined by my Czech friend and co-author of my Czech Republic guidebook, Honza Vihan.
Rick: So, Moravia, is that a political unit or an ethnic region?
Honza: Moravia is region in the Eastern part of the Czech Republic.
Rick: And how would you describe the Moravian people?
Honza: Well to generalize the Moravians are more emotional and friendlier then the people
in the western part of the country.
The fortune and misfortune of Olomouc comes from its strategic location at the intersection
of Central Europe's main east-west and north-south trade routes. The city's historic core is
simply workaday Moravia. Trams clatter through the streets - as they have for a century.
The town's economy is lively even without much tourism.
Standing in front of the Town Hall surrounded by the vast square and its fine noble and
bourgeois residences, you can imagine the importance of Olomouc in centuries past. The
people here are proud - as if their fine city was still ruling Moravia...which is hasn't
done since about 1640.
Locals brag that their city is the home to the country's second most important bishop
and its second most important university. Perennially number two, Olomouc actually built
its bell tower to be six feet taller than Prague's. But, when it comes to plague monuments,
Olomouc is unrivaled..... this baby is the tallest and most grandiose anywhere.
Throughout Central Europe squares like this are decorated with similar structures, erected
by locals to give thanks for surviving the plague. The tip of the column features the
Holy Trinity: God the Father making a blessing, Christ sitting on a globe, and the dove representing
the Holy Spirit. Tumbling below the Trinity, the archangel Michael - with his ever-ready
sword and shield - reminds us that the Church is in a constant struggle with evil.
It all sits upon a tiny chapel where, on the day the column was inaugurated in 1754, the
mighty Hapsburg Empress Maria Theresa - who traveled all the way from Vienna - knelt to
pray - devout, yet envious. Proud little Olomouc, way out here in Moravia, had a plague column
grander than Vienna's.
A series of allegorical fountains decorate the old town. Most were inspired by classical
mythology. This one, featuring Julius Caesar, is dedicated to the legendary founder of the
town.
The modern turtle fountain is a popular meeting place for young mothers, and a fine place
to watch toddlers enjoy the art.
This astronomical clock was destroyed by the Nazis in World War II. Today's version was
rebuilt in 1953 by the communists - with their kitschy flair for propaganda. In good Social
Realist style, you have earnest chemists and heroic mothers rather than holy saints and
Virgin Marys. In this region so rich in agriculture, these symbols of the 12 months each feature
a seasonal farm activity. High noon is marked by a proletarian parade, when a mechanical
conga line of milkmaids, clerks, blacksmiths, teachers, and first defenders are celebrated
as the champions of everyday society.
As with any full service astronomical clock, there's a wheel with 365 saints, so you'll
always know whose special day it is. And this clock comes with a Moscow-inspired bonus - red
bands splice in the special days of communist heroes: Lenin died on the 21st day of the
year; Stalin's saint was Tomas - day 355.
We can't leave Olomouc without experiencing one of the city's greatest attractions; its
notoriously stinky cheese.
Rick: So we know about the great Czech beer. But what's with this famous cheese from Moravia?
Honza: The Olomouc zarushki? Well it's the stinkiest cheese in the whole country.
Rick: [Laugh] Really: Honza: If there is one thing you associate
with Olomouc, it's this cheese. My mom comes from this region, when I was a kid when she
would start eating this at home, me and my dad we would just clear out of the kitchen.
So the thing that makes this cheese is the way it ages. It ages under the aged meat so
the meat itself has to be aged to age this cheese. Then you have to age in order to like
this cheese. Rick: And what are you putting on it?
Honza: That's young onion, young, strong onion. Rick: Why is that important?
Honza: Is good for you as a man. Rick: [Laugh]
Honza: It stinks but is good. Rick: And what is this?
Honza: This, these are really strong mints so you can go and kiss your wife when you
go home.
Thirty miles south of Prague is Konopiště, the lavish residence of the Archduke Franz
Ferdinand. Its interior dates from about 1900, when the heir of the Hapsburg throne, Franz
Ferdinand, moved in. Against the wishes of his uncle, Emperor Franz Josef, Franz Ferdinand
married a Czech countess, Sofie. To escape family problems back in Vienna, he purchased
Konopiště and moved here to raise their 3 children and wait his turn to be emperor.
Money was no object as Franz Ferdinand turned his castle into a palace with all the latest
comforts: As one of the first castles in Europe to have an elevator...a shower with hot and
cold running water...and even a new-fangled flush toilet, Konopiště shows "modern" living
around the year 1900.
The archduke had lots of time on his hands as his uncle, Emperor Franz Josef held onto
power from 1848 all the way until 1916. While he waited, Franz Ferdinand amassed one of
the best collections of arms and armor in the entire world. The exhibit, mostly Italian
from the 16th to the 18th centuries, raises weaponry to an art form.
And for Franz Ferdinand, guns were more than showpieces. Obsessed with hunting, he traveled
around the world, shooting at anything with four legs: deer, bear, tigers, elephants,
and this Polish buffalo. He actually recorded over 200,000 kills in his log. Keep in mind
Royal hunting was a kind of massacre game with his aids sweeping doomed animals into
the archduke's eager sights. Over 4,000 trophies decorate the walls and halls of his castle.
Franz Ferdinand did more than his share of shooting. But in 1914, he himself was shot,
along with his beloved wife Sofie, in Sarajevo. His assassination sparked WWI which ultimately
ended the rule of the Hapsburg family - whose crown he had waited so long to inherit.
Another site near Prague is Terezin, a town built in the 1780s with state-of-the-art walls
designed to keep out German enemies. In 1941, the Nazis evicted its 7,000 inhabitants and
packed in 60,000 Jews, creating the Terezín Concentration Camp. The town's historic walls,
originally meant to keep Germans out, were now used by Germans to keep the Jews in. But
this was a concentration camp with a devious twist.
This was the Nazis' model "Jewish town," - in reality a concentration camp dolled up for
propaganda purposes. Here in what they called a "self-governing Jewish resettlement area,"
Jewish culture seemed to thrive, as "citizens" put on plays and concerts, published a magazine,
and raised their families in ways that impressed Red Cross inspectors.
The Germans wanted the Jews to accept this new reality - harsh, but at least life would
go on. Children made dolls of their friends "in transport" - as if relocating was just
the start of the next stage of their lives. They drew carefree memories of life before
incarceration and they made scrapbooks about life in the camp. The museum comes with a
recreated barracks furnished with actual belongings of Terezin inmates.
Sinks were installed - looking good for human rights abuse inspectors from the outside world...but
never actually plumbed with water. Group showers became a routine part of life here. The fatal
last shower many Terezin residents would later take at Auschwitz looked no different...except
there were no windows.
Tolerable as this sham Jewish town seemed, virtually all of Terezín's Jews ultimately
ended up dying either here or at the extermination camps farther east. As you explore the camp,
ponder the message of all such memorials: Forgive, but never forget.
Today, the Czech Republic - independent and enjoying an unprecedented prosperity - is
dotted with plain and sleepy towns. These non-descript, work-a-day places go about life
oblivious to modern tourism. But one particularly ugly town hides an artistic pearl.
Moravský Krumlov has only one real restaurant and shops shut down by 5:00. The concrete
ugliness of the circa-1950s main square (rebuilt after the town was bombed out by Russians
in WWII) feels a world-apart from the rest of the country.
But...there's one good reason to visit Moravský Krumlov: Discovering the Slavic Epic, by the
Czech Republic's greatest painter, Alfons Mucha. His masterpiece is tucked away in the
town's decaying castle.
Around 1900, Mucha made a hugely successful commercial career for himself as the Art Nouveau
poster artist and illustrator of ads and magazine covers.
His specialty: pretty women with flowers, portraits of rich wives, and slinky models
celebrating the good life. But he grew tired of commercial art.
Mucha dedicated the second half of his career - 18 years - to painting the Slavic Epic [correction: Slav Epic],
20 huge canvases designed to tell the story of his nation on a grand scale.
The art fills this humble space only until a suitable home can be found in Prague.
In this self-portrait young Mucha is the seer - a conduit, determined to share wisdom of
a sage Slav with his fellow Czechs.
Mucha paints a brotherhood of Slavic people - Serbs, Russians, Poles, and Czechs - who
share a common heritage, deep roots, a hard fought past, and ultimate triumph. Through
this series of epic events, Czechs can trace their ethnic roots:
Mucha, with his romantic nationalist vision, shows how through the ages Goths and Germanic
people have brought terror and destruction to the Slavs....the Slavs whose pagan roots
are woven deep into their national character. The establishment of the Orthodox Christian
faith provided a common thread for Slavic peoples. To maintain their identity, they
stood up to the Roman Church with courageous religious leaders boldly confronting Vatican
officials. The printing of the Bible in the Czech language was a cultural milestone.
Then they endured three centuries of darkness during the time Czechs were ruled by the Catholic
Austrians. Mucha's final canvas shows the ultimate triumph of the Czech people as, in
the 20th century, they join the family of nations with their Czech ethnicity intact.
The Slavic Epic.
A short drive takes us to another popular stop: Třeboň. Its venerable square is lined
with playful arcades artfully blending both Renaissance and Baroque building styles. The
town was built by 17th-century businessmen, whose wealth came from fish farming. From
one of the outdoor cafés, you can watch the parade of local life in the shadow of another
plague monument.
The bank sports a relief extolling the virtue of working hard and stowing your money right
here. And a happy fisherman cradles the historic...and wiggly...source of this town's wealth.
Centuries ago lake-builders of Třeboň employed ingenious techniques. They transformed what
was a flooding marshland into a clever and delightful combination of lakes....oak-lined
dikes... and fertile meadows. Rather than unprofitable soggy fields, the nobles wanted
ponds swarming with fish. Today - five centuries later - Třeboň remains the fish-raising
capital of the Czech Republic.
16th-century landscape architects struck an amazing balance between civilization and nature,
which today is a protected ecosystem. Nature enthusiasts visit to bird-watch, bike along
dikes held together by roots of centuries-old oaks, and of course, catch a few fish.
Třeboň's other claim to fame: its peat spa. Patients come - mostly on their doctors orders
and therefore covered by the national healthcare system - for weeklong stays. And gawky tourists
can line up for a soak too. With clinical efficiency...["Rick Steves"], I'm suddenly
part of the system - like it or not. Soaking in the black, smelly peat sludge is thought
to cure aching joints and spines. We'll see about that. The treatment continues with a
cursory hose-down. Its capper - a no-nonsense massage - gives a relaxing opportunity to
judge the power of peat.
Moving on, we enter the region of Bohemia. This part of the Czech Republic closest to
Germany, is much appreciated for its pastoral countryside. And floating a few hours down
the Vltava River through Bohemian forests and villages you see why. Families and gangs
of friends enjoy multi-day river trips. These guys aren't letting a little rain dampen their
spirits. Anyone passing through can rent a canoe and enjoy a paddle - short or long.
Float companies pick you up and drop you at convenient and scenic spots of your choice.
Going with the flow takes you to my favorite stop in the Czech countryside outside of Prague...
Český Krumlov.
The enchanting town of Cesky Krumlov - buried in the hills of Bohemia, lassoed by its river
and dominated by its castle - feels lost in a time warp. Its delightful Old Town of shops
and cobbled lanes, characteristic little restaurants, and easy going canoeing options, makes it
a favorite with tourists.
And there's no shortage of accommodations. Our home is the Castle View Apartments. Plush
and thoughtfully-equipped - my room is typical of the work locals are doing as even medieval
lofts are being renovated to meet the needs of the growing number of visitors. Open beams,
a handy kitchenette...and - as its name promises - a castle view, make this a fine temporary
home.
With the natural moat provided by the Vltava river, it's no wonder this place has been
a choice spot for ages. The 16th century was the town's Golden Age, when Český Krumlov
was a cultural power hosting artists, scientists, and alchemists from all over Europe.
The town's many tourists set their sights on the mighty castle of the Rožmberk family.
For three centuries - until about 1600 - the Rožmberks - Bohemia's top noble family - ran
the city from this perch. Its 16th-century Renaissance paint job is fancifully restored.
Visitors wait their appointed time for a tour in the castle courtyard. The interior gives
a glimpse of the ultimate in Bohemian noble living through the ages. Imagine being a guest
- back in the 16th century - of this man, Count Rozmberk. You'd enjoy the scenes frescoed
here which celebrate a Rozmberk family wedding. Then, riding his assembly line of fine living,
you'd dine here. Come back two centuries later, and you'd dine here and if the countess tired
of your company, she'd retire to her adjacent bedroom...but only after a servant lit the
candles on her Meissen porcelain chandelier.
And of course the party would go on...perhaps with a Venetian-style masquerade party in
the ballroom. For a little fresh air, you'd hike down this corridor, 150 yards, to the
count's formal garden. But don't forget...at 8pm, the candles would be lit...for a play
in the Baroque theater.
Europe once had several hundred fine Baroque theaters like this. Using candles and oil
lamps for light and pyrotechnics for special effects eventually most of them burned down.
Today only four survive that are in beautiful shape and open to the public like this one
here, at Krumlov Castle.
Baroque theater was all about melodrama - lighting, perspective, and sound effects were all melodramatic.
Even the weather was thrilling - with machines to make horrifying wind...a driving rain storm...and menacing thunder.
Even back then...it was all about special effects.
Tonight, the liveliest place in town is the local Gypsy Bar - good food and lively music.
The easiest way for a traveler to experience the traditional Gypsy or Roma culture is through
its music - always crowd pleasing and fiery.
Rick: How many Roma are there in Europe? Honza: There are 12 million Romas mainly in
central and Eastern Europe. Rick: 12 million!
Honza: That's more than the Czechs or Austrians. Rick: Where did they come from?
Honza: The Romas came to Europe in the middle ages from India, had long been persecuted.
Hitler targeted them just like the Jews. The communists put an end to their nomadic ways
and they tried to forceful assimilate them - it was catastrophic result to the Roma culture.
Rick: So where does that leave them today? Honza: Well the Roma culture is falling apart
- most of the people don't even speak the Roma language...and it's rare to find young
Roma musicians keeping on the traditions. It's a real test for our society to learn
to respect each other and live together. We have a long way to go.
And judging by the way music is bridging cultural barriers here tonight, there's reason for
hope.
Thanks for joining us. I hope you've enjoyed our look at the highlights - beyond its capital-
of the Czech Republic. I'm Rick Steves. Until next time...keep on traveling.
Credits:
[Laugh] There's a naked woman in there!
Hi, I'm Rick Steves back with more [laugh] of the best of Europe. This time we're soaking
up [laugh].