The supplies we brought with us are slowly running out, and it’s time to go shopping. From the map we studied together to see where we were going to spend this month, we know that there’s a Co-op on Latrán Street.

We were curious about what you could buy at a place located right across from the entrance to the castle, and we didn’t have high hopes. We were expecting ice cream bars, beer, and water at prices in line with those at the neighboring jewelry shops. But what a surprise! You can get basically everything you need (and a lot of goodies on top of that) at the Co-op, at a level of quality one would normally expect for this type of store.

In view of the warm weather, we purchased mostly fresh fruit and vegetables, plus dairy products, bread, and so on. At a quick glance, the prices didn’t seem to depart from the average. In other words, even in this lucrative place you can buy things at relatively decent prices without any unpleasant surprises. All of it fresh and in season (apricots, radishes, etc.), although we didn’t check the labels to see whether it was domestic or imported, since there was no other place within walking distance from our home.

Here in the city center, we have yet to come across a vegetable stand, bakery, butcher, or similar business, and there apparently aren’t any such shops anyway. But the same goes for many other city centers, so in this regard we can’t really criticize Krumlov specifically. The Co-op is probably used by the tourists (during our time there, more than one school field trip passed through, and we had wait in line at the checkout), but as temporary locals we truly appreciate it and it will probably remain one of our few sources of groceries during our time in Krumlov.

The next stop on our shopping trip was at the Teta drugstore, which is only twenty meters from our favorite table on Latrán. It’s a well-stocked drugstore with few customers, so the shopping was quick, pleasant, and simple. It’s great that we have such a store close to our home, at prices just like at other Teta stores (the lucrative location had no impact on the prices).

After shopping, it was necessary to recharge our batteries. Because the sun was beating down relentlessly on Latrán, we took advantage of the shady courtyard and joined the other families in turning our newly purchased goods in a “salad buffet.” Then we cooled off with wine while our kids took a dip in the Vltava.

Y.