No river should know its own destiny. The Danube and Vlatva course for a stretch along roughly parallel paths through the enchanting forestland of their common source. That region sprawls throughout the hilly borderlands of Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Yet these rivers never meet.

While the majestic Danube flows through or alongside 10 countries before emptying into the Black Sea, across from the shore of the Middle East, the much shorter Vlatva flows through the Czech Republic alone.

Careening with an intensity just shy of leaving behind oxbow lakes, this river – named for “wild water” – creates two particularly beautifully arched, rounded bends, inspiring the homage “crooked meadow”, a perception reflected in the name of the picturesque town along them – Cesky Krumlov.

Two dramatic twists in the Vlatva (“Wild Water”) River give shape to Cesky Krumlov.

Exquisitely framed by part of Central Europe’s largest contiguous area of wilderness, where the Bohemian and Bavarian forests intermingle and fly along mountain ridges that soon encounter the Carpathians, this charmingly medieval town is best beheld from Rozmberk Castle.

The second-largest fortress in the land after Prague Castle is topped with a crenelated neo-gothic tower visible from all around. Peering down on this gem sparkling to life along cobblestone lanes surrounded by gently rolling countryside, the fairytale nature of Cesky Krumlov is unavoidable.

The red and black roofs of storied old buildings across town fade into greenness on the distant horizon, which is punctuated only by the ethereal steeple of St Vitus Cathedral, named for a national hero and the town’s patron saint.

According to legend, the aristocratic antecedents destined to indelibly mark Cesky Krumlov hastily took one of them after the Visigoth invasion of the Eternal City in 546 AD. After a few centuries, some of their descendents in time crossed the Danube, disrupted the rule of local rulers, and in the mid-13th century began erecting Rozmberk Castle.

Holding the town allowed the Rozmberks to rule nearby lands until modern times.

Refined curiosities of the royal past reveal themselves on a walk through the Castle Museum, through medieval, gothic and baroque and Renaissance detailing, and highlighted in the Hall of the Lords of the Rose, where embroidery, glassware and other fineries reflect the Rozenberks’ Catholic mores.

Making occasional appearances is the family coat of arms, which, besides a rose, features the severed head of a Turk, one of his eyes being eaten by a crow.

The most disturbing threat these days isn’t the possibility of a Turkish invasion, the bane of southeastern Europe for several centuries. Rather it comes from the tourists taking up Unesco’s “call to cameras”.

Cesky Krumlov is touted as “an outstanding example of a small central European medieval town whose architectural heritage has remained intact thanks to its peaceful evolution over more than five centuries”.

Off-season and off-hours, however, easily affords moments of solitude away from the hordes.

Although plagues devastated the town on and off in the mediaeval period, the lack of the effects of warfare sets the town apart.

Between the Thirty Years War (1618-48) and the 44 years when the Iron Curtain separated Czechoslovakia from natural trade routes into Germany and Austria, the lucky town avoided the worst of war and revolution, allowing its charms to slowly marinate in the Vlatva’s embrace.

Cesky Krumlov’s ability to dodge the dung heap of history has come with the same profoundly good fortune that delivered representatives of the pope to the surprising conclusion of the Second Defenestration of Prague.

The human waste into which the papal emissaries were flung from a window of Prague Castle – by the Protestants with whom they’d come to negotiate – may have saved their lives. But the affront led to eight million deaths and unimaginable suffering throughout Europe in the Thirty Years War.

The small town’s historic streets are ideal for wandering, especially during offpeak hours.

Cesky Krumlov’s peaceful persona is eloquent proof that grace happens, at least sometimes.

The town is most charming in its primary public space, Svornosti Square, the peripheral of which is ringed by folksy venues ideal for hearty conversations, dining and drinking.

Above a water fountain at the centre of the square, a Marian column stands silent sentinel to the tragic consequences of the plagues that haunted Europe and indicate the often short and brutish nature of life on earth.

Good-natured conversation flows here with the beer the town has produced for centuries. Riverside, in similar settings, quaffers ogle canoeists returning the favour as they cruise by on the gurgling water that’s never far from anywhere in town.

Lazy, blissed-out moments predominate in this Goldilocks-sized, iconic town, replete with narrow lanes, roguish locals, nearby nature and a skyline dramatically defined by a castle tower and a church steeple.

The Vlatva seems to have fulfilled its destiny just by having been graceful enough to inspire the setting for so magical a place as Cesky Krumlov.

The “wild” river is etymologically linked as well to “aqua” and to the “water of life” that is “vodka”. While it still goes on to dutifully flowing beneath the Charles Bridge in Prague, it has nothing more to prove. Shortly after experiencing the Czech capital it reveals its true nature as a tributary for the mightier Elbe, the destiny of which lies in Germany and union with the North Sea.

Nine kilometres out of Cesky Krumlov, the intersection of humanity’s grandest intentions and nature’s often more eloquent plan combine profoundly at Divci Kamen, perched high above the Vlatva in forestland otherwise untouched.

“Girls’ Rock” Castle is named for the legend of a young Rozenberk who rounded a corner quickly here while hunting deer, and instead found a young lass to whom he lost his heart.

Although erected around the same time as Rozmberk Castle, it is in a state of disrepair, with no adjacent settlements to show what might have been.

Yet in its ruined state, exposed to the heavens, Divci Kamen takes on a sacred air of vulnerability, of a tributary contribution, reaching a confluence with greater currents known only to the heart.

The new Star Alliance Lounge is now welcoming eligible First and Business Class passengers and Star Alliance Gold Card holders as well as eligible paid lounge members of the Air Canada Maple Leaf Worldwide Club and United Club programmes.

Located airside in the Departures 2, Schengen Area on the Panorama terrace level, easy access is provided to the departure gates for Alliance member carrier flights to European destinations in the Schengen Zone.

Working with D-Dock, an Amsterdam-based architectural design firm, has allowed Star Alliance to infuse the local essence of Amsterdam into the new lounge. The elegant and contemporary design is inspired by the ever-changing Dutch skies and landscapes and features furniture creations and decoration pieces of original Dutch design.

Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the lounge, and a mix of standard and USB power outlets ensure that customers can recharge their electronic devices.

Facilities include a luggage storage area, individual work booths, communal work table, dining area, bar area, relaxation area and a wine bar. Amenities feature a serviced bar during afternoon hours, beer on tap, a complimentary buffet with hot and cold meal options, flight information, business services such as printing and scanning, complimentary reading material and personal care amenities upon request.

The lounge can accommodate up to 150 guests and will be open daily from 5.30am to 9.30pm, depending on the Star Alliance (Schengen) flight schedule.

“The new Amsterdam Lounge expands the network of Star Alliance branded lounges to eight and offers customers flying from ‘De Dam’ a state-of-the-art lounge experience,” says Christian Draeger, vice president customer experience.

At Schiphol, Star Alliance has partnered with Aspire Netherlands (A Swissport company) who also developed and operates the adjacent common use Aspire Lounge, and Royal Schiphol Group, in creating the first dedicated alliance lounge at the airport.

“Customers will be able to enjoy ASPIRE’s proclaimed hospitality and services. We believe that the combination of its intelligent design, comprehensive offering and local feel, the new StarAlliance Lounge will elevate customer experience to a whole new level,” says Menno Biersma, CEO of Swissport.

The lounge primarily serves eligible customers departing on flights operated by Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS, Swiss, and TAP Air Portugal. Customers departing on other Star Alliance member carrier flights are also welcome but must take note that the lounge is located in the Schengen departures area before passport control. In total, 16 Star Alliance member carriers serve Amsterdam, providing non-stop service to 23 destinations in 18 countries.

Star Alliance offers passengers travelling in First or Business Class on any of its 28 member carriers or those holding Star Alliance Gold status or Paid Lounge Membership from Air Canada Maple Leafe Worldwide or United Club access to more than 1,000 lounges across the entire global network. In addition to member airlines’ own lounges and those operated by third parties, Star Alliance now offers eight Star Alliance branded lounges around the world located at Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS), Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE), Los Angeles (LAX), Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Nagoya (NGO), Rio de Janeiro Galeao (GIG), Rome Fiumicino (FCO), and Sao Paulo Guarulhos (GRU).

Moreover, the existing Star Alliance branded lounge in Paris Charles-de-Gaulle Airport will be refurbished in the coming months. The renovation will deliver a fresh and relaxing atmosphere and further enhance the travel experience of customers travelling from the French capital.

A HUGE liner designed entirely for Chinese tourists around the ever-romantic theme of Venice sets sail from Italy this week hoping to consolidate Costa Cruises in the vast and burgeoning Chinese tourism market.

The Costa Venezia left the Fincantieri shipyard in northeastern Italy last week for neighbouring Trieste. From there, it will head for China where it will carry up to 5,260 Chinese tourists on cruises from Shanghai to Japan, along with a healthy dose of Venetian kitsch, gondolas and all.

The Costa Venezia, a ship specially designed for Chinese tourists on the theme of Venice, leaves the port of the shipbuilding Italian company Fincantieri. /AFP

In a sign of the gap to be filled in the Chinese market, a sister ship will be launched next year by Italy’s Costa Cruises, part of the huge Carnival Corporation.

The launching of Costa Venezia “is a very important moment in the history of Costa in China,” says the company’s Asia president Mario Zanetti.

“This is the first ship we’re putting on the market, conceived since the start for Chinese tourists.”

Italy-based Costa was the first to offer cruises to the Chinese 13 years ago.

“It was really Costa Cruises that started this type of tourism in China, in 2006, and now the Chinese market has become the second in the world, after North America,” notes Giuliano Noci, lecturer in strategy at Milan Polytechnic business school.

The Canal Grande restaurant onboard the Costa Venezia cruise /AFP

“From 2013 to 2016, the Chinese cruise market grew by 70 per cent year-on-year, an impressive figure compared to Western markets,” Noci adds.

After a slight drop in 2017 when China cut South Korean cruise destinations because of tensions over the deployment of a US anti-missile system, numbers are set to take off again.

Over the last 10 years the Chinese market has reached 2.5 million cruise passengers while a total of around 140 million Chinese are travelling abroad, Zanetti says.

“Cruises represent only around two per cent of the Chinese going to foreign countries for their holidays. That shows you the potential for this market, which could become the world’s biggest,” he enthuses.

A Chinese waitress dresses as a Venetian Gondoliero. /AFP

But, warns Noci, “growth will also depend on what’s on offer, especially how they can attract tourists from central China with innovative marketing. Shanghai inhabitants alone currently account for 40 per cent of Chinese cruise ship customers.”

Companies will also have to target the wealthy 25-40 year-old age group “which doesn’t want just a cultural experience but a real adventure,” he points out.

Even as it cruises the high seas, the Costa Venezia takes passengers on a journey through Venice, via the central Saint Mark’s Square bar to original gondolas and waiting staff dressed as gondoliers.

The prow of the Costa Venezia /AFP

The ship also offers 11 karaoke rooms and plenty of gambling opportunities. Alongside Italian cuisine, the restaurants will serve authentic Chinese dishes to accommodate guests’ dietary requirements.

Costa Cruises is investing six billion euros (Bt240 billion) from 2018 to 2023 to buy seven ships, after which it will have a fleet of 34, including five cruise ships in Asia.

Costa’s owner Carnival is also working with Fincantieri and the China State Shipbuilding Corporation to build vessels in China, despite worries that technology transfers will enable Chinese shipbuilders to take over.

But Zanetti dismisses those concerns, saying they are working “in a spirit of partnership and in a market that has such a low penetration. The more cruise companies are present in the market, the more there are opportunities for growth.”

WITH THE idea of travelling with pets becoming the norm rather than the exception, South Korea’s travel-related industries are welcoming pet owners and their pets by launching related services.

The number of service animals on flights has increased significantly in recent years.

According to South Korea’s Ministry of Land and Transportation, in 2017, 41,343 pets were carried on planes, marking a 46.7 percent increase from 28,182 in 2015.

Jeju Air has joined hands with a pet hotel near the Incheon International Airport, providing accommodation services at a lower price.

Passengers of Korean Air can earn various benefits if they fly frequently with pets.

Korean Air offers its SkyPets service for customers who wish to board flights with their pets. Customers with pets earn stamps and depending on the number of collected stamps, they can receive various benefits, including discounts and free giveaways.

Also, more hotels are presenting themselves as pet-friendly, Daemyung Hotel & Resort recently announced plans to run more accommodation services related to pets. It is to launch a pet hotel, too.

L‘Escape is one of the petfriendly boutique hotels with 14 rooms designated for pet owners. (courtesy of L‘Escape)

L‘Escape, a boutique hotel run by Shinsegae, has 14 rooms designated for pet owners. The rooms do not have carpets, in consideration of health issues, and furry guests are allowed access to the hotel’s Chinese restaurant, which has a separate zone for man’s best friend.

Major brand hotels, such as the Four Seasons Hotel and Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam Hotel, are also pet-friendly hotels, allowing up to two pets per guest.

Pet-specialised travel service is a booming market. Specialised travel agency Pets Go Travel regularly presents trip deals for pet owners and their pets, providing car service and necessary accessories.