Rafting the Vltava in Southern Bohemia

For our last weekend away from Prague, we went rafting down the Vltava River in southern Bohemia with a bunch of the Fulbrights. Our friend, Christina, expertly organized the trip for thirteen of us and did an incredible job making this wonderful weekend happen. It ended up being a perfect way to spend our last weekend trip with friends who have been part of our lives for the past year.

We took a train down to České Budějovice, a small city about 3 hours south of Prague. We joined Christina and our friends, the Rockwells, and took a tour of the Budvar Brewery. Interestingly, Budvar is the only state owned brewery left in the Czech Republic. Since the Czechs take beer very seriously, it was quite impressive to learn about the making of the beer and see the large scale production. And of course, we ended the tour by sampling the Budvar lager. Delicious.

The rest of our friends arrived in České Budějovice in the late afternoon, and we spent the evening at a fantastic Czech restaurant. Now, I've spent some time complaining about the lack of variety in Czech food, but this place really was excellent because it took roasted meat to the next level. In addition, the Euro Cup football games were on TV at the bar. We ended up sitting at a table with a view of both the games and the restaurant's "firepit" grill. Front row seats for football and roasting meats including pork knee, pork ribs, chicken, beef, and pork chops? A brewery tour, soccer, and a meat-stravaganza in one day? I love the CZ!

On Saturday morning we traveled to a campsite in the town of Větřní. Thirteen of us started floating down the Vltava River with three rafts, thirteen paddles, one dog (Speky, Christina's adorable companion) snacks, and beers. We planned to stay the night in Zlatá Koruna, and end our tour on Sunday in Boršov nad Vltavou. The total distance we had to cover was about 25-30km over both days. Now, this was no white water rafting trip. The Vltava River is quite calm, very shallow, and required a fair amount of paddling to keep us moving. One major bonus was how clean the water was - impressive when I think about the James River near Charlottesville that isn't nearly as clear or clean. In any case, the landscape was also beautiful with dense pine forests all around. You really felt worlds away from Prague in this part of the Czech Republic.

Our major issue during the weekend was weather. When we originally planned the weekend, we thought we'd be rafting in 80 degree, sunny weather. Oh, how wrong we were. It was COLD. Didn't anyone tell the CZ that highs of 60 degrees in June is just wrong? We had moments of sun, but really, it was cloudy and chilly for most of the day. Luckily, we all had brought appropriate clothes, but man, it was not warm.

We had a nice long stop in České Krumlov, a quaint medieval town we visited in February with our dear friends Mike and Rebecca. The highlight of the České Krumlov stop was definitely Moat Bears. What, might you ask, are Moat Bears? Well, in a few of the castles outside of Prague, brown bears live in what used to be the moat. Seriously. In our previous visits to České Krumlov and Konopiště, Phil was crushed that there were no bears. I'm only exaggerating slightly when I say that we've discussed this regularly for months. So finally at long last, Phil got to see the three bears, Vok, Maria Terezie, and Kateřina. Our time in the Czech Republic is now complete, according to Phil...

The river was packed with people, as this is a pretty popular weekend activity. We were probably the only foreigners on the river, as we were the only people we encountered not speaking Czech. One thing that struck me as was the ratio of men:women on the river was skewed heavily to men. I can't tell you how many canoes and rafts we saw full of large groups of rowdy men. Phil and I have done our fair share of camping/hiking/rafting in the US, and we have never noticed such a skewed demographic. Where were all the women? I've still not figured this one out. Regardless, the river provided excellent people watching including my favorite rafts of the day: guys dressed up in matching sailor suits and white hats. They resembled the Village People. So funny!

I could not have imagined a better way to "get out of the city" for the last time. I have concluded that a bunch of friends, southern Bohemia, the Vltava River, a couple of rafts, views of castle ruins, crazy Czech rafters, lots of Czech food, and Czech beer = Good Times.