We spent our first weekend in the Czech Republic exploring Cesky Krumlov, a town of about 15 000 located roughly three hours south of Prague in the Czech countryside. The name literally means "Czech bend in the river" and is accurate—here the Vltava River takes a large, lazy horseshoe. The resulting natural moat has made Cesky Krumlov a strategic location for many centuries. A castle was constructed atop the hill above town perhaps as early as the 900s and was ruled by the Rozmberg family from 1303 to 1602. The area was too poor to see much change during communist times, and so now it is largely preserved and being quickly restored to accommodate a steady flow of tourists. We saw the castle, ate Czech food, drank Czech beer, took a hike, and strolled back and forth along the narrow cobblestone lanes. We stayed at Pension Lobo, a friendly and efficient little place Neels found.