Land of Budvar...
Day 9:
0 km ín bike terms
Due to torrential downpours and worsening weather forecasts, we decided to put our heads together and come up with a new plan. We deliberated in the morning, and around noon we found ourselves on a train from Muenchen to Wien. We booked a hostel in Wien while still in Muenchen. When we arrived in Wien we couldnt remember the name of the hostel...only that it was a 3 minute walk from the station. So we spent some time looking but found it at last. We desperately missed the bikes at night and felt a swelling sense of restlessness, but in all it was probably good to have a complete bike-free day.
Day 10:
64,55km
We used the morning to explore Wien by bike, to find maps of our new route, and to taste the delicacies of the Viennese cafes. We found the Greenways bike route, Wien to Prag. Around noon we headed out along the Donau en route to our final route to Prague. The Donau was extremely full of water due to the rains, and we were advised to stick to the left bank because the right bank route might be gone at points! The lanscape changed and the friendly country people reemerged.
We ended up in Ernstbrunn, a little town perched on a hill still in Austria. There were no campgrounds, but some friendly people at the grocery store told us it might be possible to camp behind the church. We then inquired into shower possibilities and were told to try a pension. We rang the bell and she told us her rooms were taken but she could call her sister. To make a long story short, we ended up at a hotel, where the barkeeper had already been informed of our needs and was more than willing to let us use his shower facilities for no charge. We were more than thrilled. Feeling clean and slightly buzzed, we headed up the church to set up camp. As were doing this, a car pulled up. The woman, Ingrid, invited us to come camp in her motherś garden. We accepted this invitation and were overwhelmed at how beautiful this place was...apples trees...green soft grass....and last but not least, her husband Hermann came by later with a bottle of red wine for us and asked what kind of bread rolls we would like to have in the morning!
PEOPLE ARE JUST SO NICE. We decided to come up with a new adjective and noun, Ernstbrunn. i.e. just be more ernstbrunn.
Day 11:
82,52km
This was a long day. We crossed the border into Czech republic around noon. We were all surprised by the extreme differences after crossing this invisible line. We had entered another era...older houses, older cars, just different. Our destination was Znojmo...we still dont really know how to pronounce it...We struggled trying to find the biking route into the town, but once we did man oh man were we impressed and glad. Who would have thought this pearl would exist? We found a hotel and were very impressed by the prices ...we will avoid making prices a big issue, but it has to be said once and for all, itś just so cheap...
We ate dinner at a castle and had a private tour of an amazing double storyed church built on an ossuary with perfect acoustics. We made some attempts to sing and can attest to the existence of perfect echoes. wow.
Day 12:
48,09km
We started the day with a walk around Znojmo and went on a tour of the underground passages started in the 12 hundreds. It ended with us being let loose in a labyrinth where the tourguide turned off the lights. The final wine tasting calmed our nerves again.
The bike ride continued through a national park which was beautiful and challenging. We even saw a snake and loads of czech bikers.
We ended up in Podhrhdi n. Dyji. We were going to go further but we were pooped and saw there was a big hill ahead. It was the right decision because we ended up in a fancy hotel with a huge bathtub and beautiful gurgling water out back.
Day 13:
57 km
We biked 700 meters uphill. Tough but satisfying. We took a detour to Jemnice where we saw one of the oldest preserved Jewish ghettos in bohemian lands. We ended up at a campground by Nova Bystrice where we did our laundry in Romo "washing machines"...a hand wash with electricity.
Day 14:
82,67km
At the beginning of the day we were really tired and aching and cranky. But the bike ride did us good and before we knew it we had biked great lengths. Gentle ups and downs with beautiful views, including visiting a church built in the middle of a pond surrounded by English gardens. We ended up in Tabor, another gorgeous city overlooking a river. We stayed at a pension in the old part of the city where we went out for Italian food and Czech beers.
We are planning on arriving in Praha tomorrow night...itś only 100 km away!
We are finding ourselves in the fairy tale land of Robin hood or Ronja the robbers daughter. We didnt know what to expect from this part of the trip and are surprised by all that we experience. Its a non-commercial, laid-back, and cool country. Up until Tabor, we have communicated in German, here its changing a bit to English.
By the way, we have booked plane tickets to Copenhagen on Sept. 5th.
We will check in again in a few days when we arrive in Praha. Till then!
0 km ín bike terms
Due to torrential downpours and worsening weather forecasts, we decided to put our heads together and come up with a new plan. We deliberated in the morning, and around noon we found ourselves on a train from Muenchen to Wien. We booked a hostel in Wien while still in Muenchen. When we arrived in Wien we couldnt remember the name of the hostel...only that it was a 3 minute walk from the station. So we spent some time looking but found it at last. We desperately missed the bikes at night and felt a swelling sense of restlessness, but in all it was probably good to have a complete bike-free day.
Day 10:
64,55km
We used the morning to explore Wien by bike, to find maps of our new route, and to taste the delicacies of the Viennese cafes. We found the Greenways bike route, Wien to Prag. Around noon we headed out along the Donau en route to our final route to Prague. The Donau was extremely full of water due to the rains, and we were advised to stick to the left bank because the right bank route might be gone at points! The lanscape changed and the friendly country people reemerged.
We ended up in Ernstbrunn, a little town perched on a hill still in Austria. There were no campgrounds, but some friendly people at the grocery store told us it might be possible to camp behind the church. We then inquired into shower possibilities and were told to try a pension. We rang the bell and she told us her rooms were taken but she could call her sister. To make a long story short, we ended up at a hotel, where the barkeeper had already been informed of our needs and was more than willing to let us use his shower facilities for no charge. We were more than thrilled. Feeling clean and slightly buzzed, we headed up the church to set up camp. As were doing this, a car pulled up. The woman, Ingrid, invited us to come camp in her motherś garden. We accepted this invitation and were overwhelmed at how beautiful this place was...apples trees...green soft grass....and last but not least, her husband Hermann came by later with a bottle of red wine for us and asked what kind of bread rolls we would like to have in the morning!
PEOPLE ARE JUST SO NICE. We decided to come up with a new adjective and noun, Ernstbrunn. i.e. just be more ernstbrunn.
Day 11:
82,52km
This was a long day. We crossed the border into Czech republic around noon. We were all surprised by the extreme differences after crossing this invisible line. We had entered another era...older houses, older cars, just different. Our destination was Znojmo...we still dont really know how to pronounce it...We struggled trying to find the biking route into the town, but once we did man oh man were we impressed and glad. Who would have thought this pearl would exist? We found a hotel and were very impressed by the prices ...we will avoid making prices a big issue, but it has to be said once and for all, itś just so cheap...
We ate dinner at a castle and had a private tour of an amazing double storyed church built on an ossuary with perfect acoustics. We made some attempts to sing and can attest to the existence of perfect echoes. wow.
Day 12:
48,09km
We started the day with a walk around Znojmo and went on a tour of the underground passages started in the 12 hundreds. It ended with us being let loose in a labyrinth where the tourguide turned off the lights. The final wine tasting calmed our nerves again.
The bike ride continued through a national park which was beautiful and challenging. We even saw a snake and loads of czech bikers.
We ended up in Podhrhdi n. Dyji. We were going to go further but we were pooped and saw there was a big hill ahead. It was the right decision because we ended up in a fancy hotel with a huge bathtub and beautiful gurgling water out back.
Day 13:
57 km
We biked 700 meters uphill. Tough but satisfying. We took a detour to Jemnice where we saw one of the oldest preserved Jewish ghettos in bohemian lands. We ended up at a campground by Nova Bystrice where we did our laundry in Romo "washing machines"...a hand wash with electricity.
Day 14:
82,67km
At the beginning of the day we were really tired and aching and cranky. But the bike ride did us good and before we knew it we had biked great lengths. Gentle ups and downs with beautiful views, including visiting a church built in the middle of a pond surrounded by English gardens. We ended up in Tabor, another gorgeous city overlooking a river. We stayed at a pension in the old part of the city where we went out for Italian food and Czech beers.
We are planning on arriving in Praha tomorrow night...itś only 100 km away!
We are finding ourselves in the fairy tale land of Robin hood or Ronja the robbers daughter. We didnt know what to expect from this part of the trip and are surprised by all that we experience. Its a non-commercial, laid-back, and cool country. Up until Tabor, we have communicated in German, here its changing a bit to English.
By the way, we have booked plane tickets to Copenhagen on Sept. 5th.
We will check in again in a few days when we arrive in Praha. Till then!
posted by elin @ 8:48 AM
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