Cesky Krumlov and Hluboka Castle

Almost a month after we returned from our journey to the Check Republic I'm finally finding the time to go through the hundreds (thousands?) of pictures we took there and select a few for the blog. One of the most interesting days of our trip was the excursion to Cesky Krumlov - a medieval fortress and town to the south, near the border with Austria and to Hluboka castle, one of the most beautiful castles in the country.
The thing I like most about organized journeys is that one not only goes around sightseeing, but due to the lectures of the professional guides one gets to experience personally the geography and the history of the place.
I loved Cesky Krumlov - the castle, the towers, the narrow cobbled streets and the beautiful houses. We were in luck - there was a medieval festival held in the central square of the town and we were able to look at (and buy) articles of artisan crafts and taste traditional meals, sweets and of course, beer. You haven't been to the Check republic if you haven't drank lots of local beer :))

After visiting Krumlov, we traveled to Hluboka castle - a Gothic castle, built in the 13th century, later extended and reconstructed throughout the centuries into Renaissance and Baroque styles. It's truly magnificent and worth visiting.

Nis, Serbia

And the second of the Serbian towns we visited - Nis, the third largest town in Serbia, built on the Nisava river.

First we went to the famous Skull Tower - after the defeat of one of Serbians revolts against the Ottoman rule, the Turks decapitated the dead Serbians and made a tower out of the skulls to give a lesson to the other conquered lands. A truly sad story, which resonates with us Bulgarians, as we too were five centuries under the same Barbaric rule and have similar monuments of the Ottoman cruelty.

And downtown

The central square of Nis

The Nisava river

The park cleverly incorporates the ruins of the old Roman fortress and later historical buildings

The University of Nis

Along the central commercial street

A famous sculpture of a Serbian writer and his most well-known character - a hunter and his dog