Tag Archives: germany

Herman and Linda

by

We listened to the stream all night and slept pretty well in our sky perch at the Labe Hotel. In the morning, we organized for our final push into Dresden, about fifty five kilometers or so. We had breakfast, got our things down the four or five flights of stairs, and found someone in reception to open the bicycle gate. The Asian souvenir shops were just starting to stir, and a little sun had found its way to the entrance to the canyon. We mounted our bikes, and I thought about how much it looked like a border town, like Tijuana or Nogales, with ceramics and baskets and bric-à-brac blobs of stuff spreading into the street.

We did not cross the river, but just followed the road toward a spa town, Bad Schandau, and soon we picked up a path again. There was a lot of activity around the thermals, but we cruised on through town and noticing that the route seemed a little less well marked. Our path continued, turned a street, and then went up a steep hill for a bit. I stopped to try to check the route, but my German SIM wasn't working properly, and I was getting odd messages in German that I couldn't understand. So, I went on, with Lynette a bit behind, and that is how I met Herman.

Herman had ridden by me earlier at a fast pace up the hill, and his wife (who turned out to be a very strong rider but walked steep hills because of her knees) was walking her bike up the hill. I passed her and stopped at the top of the hill where Herman had paused and gotten off his bike. I said hello, and his reply led me to think he understood English, so I asked him if he spoke German.

“Oh, no. Not a word,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye.

I laughed. We had a conversation and a lot of laughs. He reminded me of Victor Borge, the Danish comedian, both in his manner and wit. His wife, Linda, showed me her map, and I mentioned that there was a ferry to take ahead, and she agreed. We all mounted bikes again, and we rejoined at the ferry, continuing our conversation, and then riding together for the rest of the day.

Herman, who is just a few weeks younger than I am, is some kind of editor and publisher, and Linda is a psychiatrist for troubled youth. Now, I won't go into detailed facts about Herman because he was quite to tease with outlandish statements, but he did seem to have a strong interest in German politics and history, and underneath the sarcastic comments about the Führer's nature trails and neo-Nazi Pensions, I could tell that he was versed the history of the region, the devastation of Dresden in WW II, the impact of Soviet occupation and governance, and the current refugee crisis. He also said that he was starting a Trump fan club in Saxony, figuring that Trump would just fix all the problems and speculation on whether Poles are lazier than Mexicans (total sarcasm here!).

The conversation during the riding was distracting, and at some point we reached another ferry spot. We pulled off for a coffee, next to a minature train attraction. Linda explained that there was a castle site on top of some rocks across the river and that it would be interesting to see. They were going to do it. I expressed interest, but concern about our bikes and gear. Herman went up to the train attraction, and arranged to pay for bike parking behind the facility. And so, we parked and locked our gear, took some stuff, and walked to the ferry.

The ferry was much like the first one we had taken, but larger. A cable went up river, and the captain simply untied from the dock, pointed the rudder in the opposite direction, and the current of the river swing the ferry like a pendulum to the other side, banging into the dock and then settling in. We walked through town, a pretty area with souvenir shops and found the trail to the castle area. Part way up the trail, which in civilized Europe had plenty of steps, there was a man with a hat out for money singing German lieder. Herman put a coin in the hat, and then Linda said something to him which made him laugh. “Linda wanted to know if I gave him money to stop,” he chuckled.

The settlement area at the top was interesting. There was no castle, but instead a picturesque stone bridge built in the 19th century, and exhibits of the the nature and extent of the fifteenth century fortress. We walked the bridges and paths, and eventually the stone bridge, admiring both the view and the historical significance. At the very top, once again, we found a very upscale hotel and a place to eat lunch. Herman was happy to direct our choices for lunch, and Lynette and I shared a Ukranian soup and a brat with curry powder, all new and different. But the day was passing and we headed back to get the bikes.

The route back was down the steps, through the town, and across the ferry. We loaded up the bikes and continued on to Dresden. One of the towns near Dresden was the scene of a recent clash between neo-Nazis and police, but we saw nothing unusual. Herman mentioned a Biergarten, and we finally stopped at a little place that he said had great onion cake (quiche). It was fabulous. I also tried a sampler of German beer, all good. Herman and Linda treated us to the refreshment. We exchanged information, showed a few photos, and mounted up for the ride into town.

Herman and Linda were staying north of the river, and although they offered to meet for dinner, we declined because of time and fatigue. Unfinished business. We wandered off. To find our hotel, through an old square, and into a very modern shopping area. The hotel is fine, modern, near the train station, and we found a market to by some snacks and a bottle of wine, with the intention of calling it a day.

And that is just what we did.

 

Herman and Linda

by

We listened to the stream all night and slept pretty well in our sky perch at the Labe Hotel. In the morning, we organized for our final push into Dresden, about fifty five kilometers or so. We had breakfast, got our things down the four or five flights of stairs, and found someone in reception to open the bicycle gate. The Asian souvenir shops were just starting to stir, and a little sun had found its way to the entrance to the canyon. We mounted our bikes, and I thought about how much it looked like a border town, like Tijuana or Nogales, with ceramics and baskets and bric-à-brac blobs of stuff spreading into the street.

We did not cross the river, but just followed the road toward a spa town, Bad Schandau, and soon we picked up a path again. There was a lot of activity around the thermals, but we cruised on through town and noticing that the route seemed a little less well marked. Our path continued, turned a street, and then went up a steep hill for a bit. I stopped to try to check the route, but my German SIM wasn't working properly, and I was getting odd messages in German that I couldn't understand. So, I went on, with Lynette a bit behind, and that is how I met Herman.

Herman had ridden by me earlier at a fast pace up the hill, and his wife (who turned out to be a very strong rider but walked steep hills because of her knees) was walking her bike up the hill. I passed her and stopped at the top of the hill where Herman had paused and gotten off his bike. I said hello, and his reply led me to think he understood English, so I asked him if he spoke German.

“Oh, no. Not a word,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye.

I laughed. We had a conversation and a lot of laughs. He reminded me of Victor Borge, the Danish comedian, both in his manner and wit. His wife, Linda, showed me her map, and I mentioned that there was a ferry to take ahead, and she agreed. We all mounted bikes again, and we rejoined at the ferry, continuing our conversation, and then riding together for the rest of the day.

Herman, who is just a few weeks younger than I am, is some kind of editor and publisher, and Linda is a psychiatrist for troubled youth. Now, I won't go into detailed facts about Herman because he was quite to tease with outlandish statements, but he did seem to have a strong interest in German politics and history, and underneath the sarcastic comments about the Führer's nature trails and neo-Nazi Pensions, I could tell that he was versed the history of the region, the devastation of Dresden in WW II, the impact of Soviet occupation and governance, and the current refugee crisis. He also said that he was starting a Trump fan club in Saxony, figuring that Trump would just fix all the problems and speculation on whether Poles are lazier than Mexicans (total sarcasm here!).

The conversation during the riding was distracting, and at some point we reached another ferry spot. We pulled off for a coffee, next to a minature train attraction. Linda explained that there was a castle site on top of some rocks across the river and that it would be interesting to see. They were going to do it. I expressed interest, but concern about our bikes and gear. Herman went up to the train attraction, and arranged to pay for bike parking behind the facility. And so, we parked and locked our gear, took some stuff, and walked to the ferry.

The ferry was much like the first one we had taken, but larger. A cable went up river, and the captain simply untied from the dock, pointed the rudder in the opposite direction, and the current of the river swing the ferry like a pendulum to the other side, banging into the dock and then settling in. We walked through town, a pretty area with souvenir shops and found the trail to the castle area. Part way up the trail, which in civilized Europe had plenty of steps, there was a man with a hat out for money singing German lieder. Herman put a coin in the hat, and then Linda said something to him which made him laugh. “Linda wanted to know if I gave him money to stop,” he chuckled.

The settlement area at the top was interesting. There was no castle, but instead a picturesque stone bridge built in the 19th century, and exhibits of the the nature and extent of the fifteenth century fortress. We walked the bridges and paths, and eventually the stone bridge, admiring both the view and the historical significance. At the very top, once again, we found a very upscale hotel and a place to eat lunch. Herman was happy to direct our choices for lunch, and Lynette and I shared a Ukranian soup and a brat with curry powder, all new and different. But the day was passing and we headed back to get the bikes.

The route back was down the steps, through the town, and across the ferry. We loaded up the bikes and continued on to Dresden. One of the towns near Dresden was the scene of a recent clash between neo-Nazis and police, but we saw nothing unusual. Herman mentioned a Biergarten, and we finally stopped at a little place that he said had great onion cake (quiche). It was fabulous. I also tried a sampler of German beer, all good. Herman and Linda treated us to the refreshment. We exchanged information, showed a few photos, and mounted up for the ride into town.

Herman and Linda were staying north of the river, and although they offered to meet for dinner, we declined because of time and fatigue. Unfinished business. We wandered off. To find our hotel, through an old square, and into a very modern shopping area. The hotel is fine, modern, near the train station, and we found a market to by some snacks and a bottle of wine, with the intention of calling it a day.

And that is just what we did.

 

Bike and Hike

by

I’m getting really good at crushing my stuff into the panniers-really good. Somehow, I seem to be acquiring more space the longer we ride.

We woke in Decim to a better looking day. The clouds were patchy and infrequent, and the sun had taken over the skies. Our attitude was good because today was supposed to be short day. We thought we might hang out in cafes and write in blog and journal, sipping cappuccino and enjoying the sun. I have my blog, of course, and Lynette keeps smaller books with notes on the trip, or business cards pasted in, little stuff, artifacts from the trip. Sometimes her little notes are useful for remembering how we solved the particulars on one part of the journey. It’s that whole thing about not respecting history, and then being doomed to repeat it. But, that is only a warning to the negative experiences. Often, I am encouraged to repeat history.

The German side of the Elbe heading north

Big ferry activity

Breakfast was good. Orange juice hits the spot in the morning. It was a very typical breakfast of meats and cheeses and breads and sausage and yoghurt and coffee and no pancake machines. Goodstuff. I studied the Elbe book and wondered about some of the things Oleh had marked in the book while we were at the Italian restaurant the night before we left. He had said something about hiking in this area. I figured it would become clear as we neared the destination.

We set off through town, finding a bridge to the other side of the river, and a wonderful, deserted path on the far side. We didn’t see anyone for the longest time. And the far side was best because the sun was shining on it, the east bank destined for shadow for some time. We cruised along. I did an Instagram video at one point, and reading the route signs it was clear that we would have to cross by ferry. I hoped it would be in Hrensko, a direct crossing to the vicinity of our hotel.

The riding distance was short, and it wasn’t long before we were across the river from Hrensko, and there appeared to be a ferry dock. We walked down with our gear, and soon the ferry made the short trip from the other side, we paid five euro and were taken neatly across the river where we struggled to get our bikes and gear up two flights of stairs. Huffing and puffing, we looked at the entrance to the canyon and the town.

Hřensko

Hřensko is immensely picturesque. A clear stream winds down the canyon, joining the Elbe in a “T” intersection. Town buildings line the two sides of the stream as it continues up the canyon, and shops make reference to tax-free purchases. I should have mentioned that the west side of the Elbe is Germany, the east the Czech; I have no idea where we crossed the boundary on our ride.

Our hotel at the entrance to Hřensko

We took the stairs, discovering a ramp on the other side!

The other thing about Hřensko is that it seems to be an outlet for Asian products: purses, shoes, clothing, souvenirs, you name it. It was far too early to check into the hotel, so we cruised the town and were stunned to see shop after shop, all with Asian shopkeepers, threading all the way through the town. Lynette thought that there were some individuals who seemed to be orchestrating shop setups (clipboards and walking past multiple shops taking to the folks setting up the booths). But, who knows?

,

Hotel Labe

Duty free shops

As we continued, we realized that tour busses and walking individuals were headed up the canyon, with the goals of seeing some kind of natural arch of stone or something. We rode on, faster than the walkers, but geared down until we came to a trail that people were walking onto. We started with the bikes, but there was a clear sign that said no bikes. However, there was a small sign that indicated a bike shed four kilometers (2.5 miles) up the road, and there was indication of a restaurant up there, so we continued on.

The road through the forest was beautiful, and when we finally reached the summit, we had to poke around to find the storage shed. A young Czech girl in the information office charged us thirty crowns each to park the bikes in a locked facility, sold us a couple of waters, mumbled something incomprehensible about the distance to the bridge (arch), and we were off. As it turned out, the hike was six kilometers (3+ miles) to the arch, a little farther than I wanted to go, especially on a rest day, but we plodded on, carrying gear and water in fabric shopping bags. The trail was scenic and beautiful, and when we finally got to the arch we were surprised.

Trail to the arch

Scenic hiking

The arch is beautiful, naturally. But much to our delight, this being Europe and civilized and all, there was a Shangri-la structure built in the canyon next to the arch, a fantasy structure reminding one of the cinema, and one that served beer and goulash. We paid to enter the area, poked around, took pictures, used toilets, and sampled the food. It was excellent. We hung around a while longer and then hit the six km trail back to the bikes.

Arch and lunch

The arch

Pub on the veranda

View from the top

Happy hikers

View from the veranda

Not the sierras

Waiting for food

Civilized hiking

Goulash

Spectacular views

Shangri-La

Trail hiking is pretty funny here. The Czechs always say, “Dobre Den,” when you pass them on the trail, a “Good Day” phrase that is automatic. We heard a few hellos, but I think that was mostly a German greeting. At one point, we passed a group of women, hiking ahead of a matching group of men. The women were in a line, and the dobre dens were spread over a number of yards. The men were bunched up. When Lynette said dobre den to the men, there was an automatic, comical DOBRE DEN, a men’s chorus reply so unified that even the men were chuckling. I laughed thinking about the baritone section of the dobre den singers.

Eventually, with all this good trail cheer and greeting, I hit an English speaker, a couple from Cambridge. His name was Brian, but I didn’t catch his wife’s name. Lynette had walked ahead, Brian’s wife fell a bit behind, and we chatted for a way on the trail. I invited him to use a room at our house in Santa Barbara, and he memorized my blog address, so if I hear from him I will give him better information. We chatted about a lot of things, one of them being the tour group experience. I was critical of it, describing its “bubble like” characteristics. “Who wants to be in a forced social bubble like that?” I said. “We’ve been married 39 years, and I just enjoyed travels with Lynette.

“Yes,” noted Brian. “Smaller bubble.” We laughed.

We separated and eventually I caught up with Lynette and we arrived back at the bikes. The young woman unlocked the shed, we re-organized, and hit the long glide back into town and our hotel. By the time we glided back, most of the shops were closing up. We made our way to the hotel Labe, and I attempted to check in. The woman at the desk spoke no English, and we had a humorous exchange, as she tapped her chin and studied the book in front of her. It seemed to be a major inquiry. Eventually, she called the cook out from the back to assist.

Oleh had told me that there was one hotel that I had to pay directly, but I couldn’t remember which one. The cook and the receptionist, pondered the book, eventually pointing to the number 33 and abruptly asking me for my passports, standard procedure in Europe. The cook pointed to the relevant data, birthdays and passport numbers, and the woman wrote the information onto the form. Finally, she gave me some keys, and the cook showed us where to store our bikes and park our car. I pointed out that we had no car, but he was giving me a key for it anyway.

Look, this is all adventure. I have no complaints about any of it. The hotel was right at the entrance to the canyon, a superb location, with early morning sun. If I were to complain, it would be about my legs and the four flights of stairs up to our room, a bit worn room, but with a great view and afternoon sun that felt good as we sat on the couch, our stuff strewn everywhere.

Better view of the lunch veranda

We showered and left, walking into town until we found a place to our liking, sitting by the stream, ordering soup, always good soup, and a salad and some salmon. We felt good about the day, the nineteen miles of biking, the seven miles of hiking, and we forgave ourselves for not having an easy day. Remember, it is all adventure.

Rain and Gear

by

At the risk of embarrassing myself with confessions of poor personal hygiene, I am pleased with my routine for this ride. If not a stellar record for cleanliness, it has at least been efficient. As the ride has gone on, I have been able to pack more and more stuff into a pannier that I just don’t open on the ride. That leaves the other pannier with space, and clothing layers go either in it, on my body, or under a bungee net on the back rack. I have a set of cycling clothing: shirt, shorts, socks, gloves, helmet, and padded underwear (commando style) that are the bread and butter of my gear. I have a wind shirt layer, a neon construction vest, a rain jacket, and leggings that I used for the first time in all my riding on this day. I have other stuff I can pull out: rain pants, thermal arm sleeves, and a sturdy Patagonia nano jacket. I have been using my Merrill hiking shoes for biking-they dry fine when wet.

At the end of a ride, after the shower, I have a set of clothing for dinner and sleeping. I swap clothes, and do my best to air out and dry my biking stuff, and I suppose I could wash them out if needed, but they seem to be holding up for this trip fine. I have unused stuff that I have not touched, underwear and so on, but the activity after riding is pretty casual, and no one around me is complaining in any language I understand, so I am going to call it good.

We do a lot of charging of electronics in the evening, and the Vodaphone share-point box has worked fine, better than the hotel wireless setups. I have been using Strava to track mileage and path. It matches up well to Lynette’s Garmin, and we haven’t been able to download the Garmin information because I bought the model before the Bluetooth feature. I’ll try to post the maps from the Strava Website. We are pretty much doing about 34 miles a day, but tomorrow is supposed to be very short.

Breakfast at the Roosevelt Hotel was very good, the room a little creaky, and the shower narrow. I have had these before, where dropping your soap requires a massive effort of agility to retrieve it without bursting the walls of the shower. Still, mysterious Ophelia at the front desk was delighted when I praised the restaurant she had delivered us, and the quality of the breakfast and the view from the window. It’s not hard to be nice to people, even when they have a Shakespearean cast of subtle tragedy.

Ever-different bike paths

We retrieved our bicycles from the storage room, loaded up, and made our way down to the Eurovelo route we had been following. The route was interesting, and the fierce headwinds from the previous day were gone. However, the skies were overcast, and eventually, we started adding layers, and finally, it started to rain. I had made one major change in the morning. For the first time, I pulled out on some thermal leggings that I have carried everywhere but never used. I had some trouble keeping them up, eventually twisting them into my shorts, but over the course of the day, they were wonderful. They were warm, the water didn’t seem to fact their warmth, and I was glad I had them.

Brick bike paths

Bridge over the train tracks

I put a trash bag over my handlebar bag because I knew it was not waterproof. So, with the rain jacket, my biking shorts that take water and dry quickly, the thermals I described, and my Merrill shoes that would dry out later, I was good to go. We hit one bad patch of rain, but were able to continue on with light, occasional showers of most of the ride. Bathrooms became an issue. The little places along the way were not open because of weather and the time of year, and the bike path avoided the cities. So, late in the afternoon, we were desperately searching for a bathroom (or private spot to stop), and with no physical options for “waiting it out,” we had to ride through a pretty strong downpour. Rain ends, though. We found our town, found a restaurant, had some soup and salad, and all was well.

Asphalt bike paths

A ferry on the river

Sometimes following the signs is not wise

A nice way to wait out the rain

I think the rain is like skiing. Get good gear, and enjoy the ride. Hey, stuff dries. I need something to keep my hands warm, but that should be easy. At least we are not sweltering in heat.

The hotel, Hotel Koruna, was great. They had an elevator to the third floor, our home, but no inside door to the lift. The trick was not to get scraped away by the floors as they passed. Still, it was a fast, efficient elevator, and in Europe, the third floor is the fourth floor, added elevation that is not fun while carrying gear. We put our shoe soles into the window with our gloves, and we aired our biking gear and discussed who got the best side of the room, all standard stuff.

For dinner, I looked on TripAdvisor and the number one choice was a mile away. I asked the lady at the desk about it and she said it was too far. We walked there anyway, and it was wonderful. The name of the restaurant was Tunel. Apparently, there is a tunnel there. We didn’t see it, but the food was wonderful. And under thirty dollars. Everything here is good and reasonable. We enjoyed our walk back, and the hotel was great…..best shower ever, hot, strong, lasting.

Dinner at Tunel

Delicious

More delicious

Tomorrow is a rest day. Ten miles of biking.

Headwinds

by

Wonderful Penzion Hana

Penzion Hana was a gem, a jewel. The room was as comfortable as it gets, probably the best of our hotel stays the whole trip. We had pulled in so tired, for whatever reason, and the glass of wine and the glorious shower led to such a complete nap crash as I have had here. We were out sleeping solid. Maybe it was the sunlight in the room, our bike clothes hanging about getting some air, and maybe too, it was just because we were off by ourselves again. And that is certainly NO criticism of our wonderful friends, it is just a fact that Lynette and I get along pretty well, we understand each other, a loving team that has already put in a lot of effort on relationship and needs, and it is less effort to keep bumbling along in adventure when it is just the two of us.

We very much enjoyed the hospitality of Penzion Hana, and we were delighted at breakfast to realize that the majority of people in the dining room were cyclists, German primarily, but also a couple from Belgium. The breakfast room was small, the tables large, and a genial guy from Dresden approached and asked if he could share our table. We talked for a very long time. His name is Holger, and he regularly travels to Prague to visit with his son, ten years old, who lives with Holger’s ex wife. Holger is an engineer with a company that is developing warehouse equipment that performs tasks surprisingly like last year’s robotics game for the DP Engineering Academy. We exchanged information, and it was enjoyable.

And then, everyone started to leave. Two older German guys with marginal English were out the door first with a stiff but friendly, “Good Ride,” and I couldn’t tell if it was well wishing or a question. Holger was still eating, and Lynette and I got our bikes out of the storage room, loaded up, and took off. We made our way out of town, and almost immediately we ran into one of the Germans adding clothing layers. It was cold. I noticed also that one of his panniers was carried on his back, not the bicycle. He was friendly though, and reminded me of our pal Igor in June Lake. We rode on, eventually passing his friend, and for the rest of the morning, there was a lot of contact with these two riders.

Path along the Elbe

Flat and fun

The weather report indicated some winds coming up by eleven, but they actually started almost immediately. Indeed, although we only went 35 miles for the day, most of it was into fierce, cold headwinds that made gearing down necessary. Gradually over the course of the day, I added clothing, and by the time the day ended, I wished that I had my leggings out of the panniers and handy, rather than buried and unretrievable. I resolved to keep layering clothing handy for the rest of the trip, outside the panniers, and accessible on the back of the bike.

Following Germans through the woods

Actually, this is where we met Fabian and Lynn on the way back

At one point I got confused by some of the marks Oleh had made on my map. I knew that there was a concentration camp site from WWII on the route, and we mistakenly crossed the river in a town to look for it. Once over, we realized the mistake and crossed back. As I was getting back onto EuroVelo Route 6, clearly marked of course, the two German guys showed up. We had a brief, confused conversation, after which they headed off on an unmarked road. Almost immediately, Holger flew by, on the same unmarked path. It didn’t make sense to me, and just as we got going again, they all came out of the path and rejoined Route 6 with us, Holger laughing about the mistake and the other two Germans riding stoically ahead, only to be passed quickly by Holger, a young, strong rider.

The wind was bad, and I rode for a while with the German who looked like Igor, and I said, “I don’t like the wind, it makes this hard.” He said flatly, “Of course.” I’m not sure about what his fun factor is, but he was certainly a serious, friendly guy. I had wished I had gotten a photo shot of Holger, and as luck would have it, he got stopped at a train crossing, we made one last contact, and I snapped a photo. He encouraged us to look him up in Dresden.

Friendly Holger

We continued on, and at some point the two German cyclists held up to consult a map, and we never saw them again. The headwinds continued. We got a respite as we rode around, behind a forested hill for a while. At one place, we were struggling into the wind on a farmer road (a better bike path than anything in the States), and we saw a car approaching. About fifty meters before we got to it, an Asian man got out. He smiled as we passed, and brought a big camera up to snap a quick photo, one for each of us. I just hope we are famous.

The bike route went around to the right, by the river, but we were fatigued, so I cut through town on the left, and headed toward Terezin, an historic fortress town that was used during WW II as a Jewish ghetto, and a prison for political prisoners, a concentration camp. We rode in, on the heels of a large bike touring group from a school. The whole front of the smaller fortress, an SS Police structure, was filled with graves and roses to the folks that lost their lives AFTER liberation. A typhus outbreak was an issue.

Graves outside the SS compound

There is no need to go into detail. We arrived at 1:30. We signed in to an English tour at 2. The experience was profound. It is difficult, of course, to comprehend the group mentality that fed the abuse of human beings. I will make no effort to explain it, because I can’t. It was a hard visit, but worth doing. A point of interest, Princip, the guy that started WW I was held here because he was too young to be executed, and he died of tuberculosis in a solitary cell. Sigmund Freud’s sister also died here. Horrible stories about power and prejudice,

A cell block

On tour

Prisoner bunk beds

Interior of a cell block

Fuzzy photo of showers

We finished the tour, and headed off to town, to our hotel, passing a golf course and a bridge that was being rebuilt. We found our hotel, checked in with the ethereal hostess, an Ophelia in her own right. She guided us to bike storage and we found a comfortable room, plastic for the most part, with a view of the city steeple. It was fine. Our mysterious hostess, made some recommendations for dinner, and I understood little of what she said, but she wrote down two names for restaurants, and we gave the first, Dobrá Bastá, a try.

Fried cheese?

More awesome food

Beautiful food porn

We walked down to the restaurant and had a great experience. The food was much like the food at the hunting lodge on our three day trip. Lynette ordered a chicken breast stuffed, and I had boar ribs, and it was the best meal ever. Gourmet dinners for about 36 bucks with a couple of drinks. The Czech continues to be very reasonable. It will be interesting to see how things change as we approach Dresden.

The city at night

Striking views

A beautiful walk back to the hotel

We walked back to the town square and the hotel, admiring the evening sky, and the atmosphere. Again, we slept well. Two days of 35 miles, another tomorrow. All good.

Rebound and Out

by

We had a wonderful recovery day in Prague. Vinuta prepared a light breakfast for us, and we hit the streets with errands in mind.

Our first stop was the Avis rental place. I spent the early morning trying to pay bills back home and reviewing expenses, and I saw two charges for the rental car, which was running about $200 a week. It was a good car by the way, a Toyota Auris; I think I filled it less than three times over three weeks of travel. I also wanted to make sure that I had returned it properly. It was returned on a Sunday, there were no forms to fill out, and I wanted to make sure that it was checked in. Lynette and I found the office again, and a very nice lad went over things with me and reassured me that the first charge was a temporary pre-agreement and would be dropped later. He reprinted the bill for me and and I went on my merry way,

We wandered into town, just enjoying Prague, stopping at crystal and chocolate shops just because they have a sympathetic nature of indulgence and clarity. Truth. I can’t remember what I was doing in the wandering, probably social media, but Lynette was stopping at all of the crystal shops. I am having a much harder time this trip doing this blog, just because there has been so much people contact. So, we look for afternoon places to get some soup and sit and write and try to memorialize whatever it is that we are doing.  And that was on our list of things to do.

Our next stop was to go to the Prague Patagonia Store and exchange a vest we had purchased for Big Alena. We had dropped by before, and we had arranged for it to be special ordered. It was there and everything worked out fine. I made a point of telling them that we came from Ventura. It seemed to impress them.

And the rest was wandering, We had taken a food tour the previous trip, and I wanted to find one of the places to have lunch and write. But I failed. We walked over to the Castle area, and checked out a place, but it was wrong. So, we just picked an outdoor cafe and stopped, to write, to eat, to enjoy sparkling wine and pivo. It was awesome. I sat and wrote, and Lynette worked in her journals, and tour groups walked through the restaurant (odd things, tour groups), and we finished our lunch and headed back over the Charles Bridge.  We sauntered by the jewelry stands and random sideshow guys with boa constrictors to hang on your neck for a photo and a tip, and we headed back to the Palladium shopping area for another bathroom stop and a trip to the open market that is there on Saturdays.

I hit the streets with some familiarity. Near the Paladium, which is a huge multi-story shopping center which features free, clean bathrooms on the third floor, there is a street with lots of banks on it. I like the banks that have bankomats inside the building. They are less susceptible to fraud. I used a German bank with my one percent credit union card, and pulled 7000 crowns, three hundred dollars roughly, from the bank for use. After, we headed to the Paladium for bathrooms. On the way, we could see that the square was roped off for some kind of filming event. We took a quick look, bathrooms being more important, and moved on to do do business. After the bathroom, and with further investigation, we realized that the filming was for Legends, a TNT show, with Sean Bean (Boromir, Ned Stark). He was close.

We went over to the open air market to buy a bottle of wine, and when we came back, they were rolling a few scenes. Honestly, it looked like a lot of work for a few seconds of material. I tried to get in a scene, but they moved me along. Indeed, a lot of Czechs were oblivious to the action. The whole thing was fascinating. Eventually, we took our bottle of wine home, connected with Vinuta, and talked about important things while we waited for Oleh and dinner at an Italian place. The wine was good. Pálava. Not too dry. Good white wine. We met Oleh and had a fine dinner of mussels and seafood with pasta in a garden restaurant. Excellent.

Bed was fast and efficient. In the morning, Vinuta made a fine frittata, and Oleh let us know he would come with us on the ride for a while, to the first big turn, before a half mile hill. Vinuta, a recent convert to massive exercise, came to entertain us with her laugh and good cheer. We pulled our stuff down three flights of stairs and sent the panniers down the small elevator. We loaded up the bikes and hit the cobbled streets of Prague.

Food Fair at a Zameck

The cobble stones on the streets are something we have talked about a bit. They are punishing for bikes. Oleh uses bikes with front suspension that are super heavy and sturdy, but the streets take their toll. We have also laughed about the children of Prague, tucked into strollers and then bounced mercilessly through town. These are hardy children that seem to be able to sleep, even with their heads bouncing like yo-yos on the back of the stroller. Vinuta noted that she had seen mothers park their babies in the strollers outside coffee shops while they went in for a cappuccino. I can only imagine that the babies take full advantage of the respite from punishment and get some real rest.

We weaved through the streets, and I was relieved of route finding for the first part of the trip. However, I must say that bike routes are clearly marked here. This place is really civilized. Routes are easy to follow. More on that later. We happened upon a Prague Harley Davidson event, just getting started. I gave them a wave and a wink, cause, after all, we are all bikers. Cruising past that, we made our way through the park, over a bridge, and pulled up in front of a Zameck, estate, where a big food thing was going on. The previous night, Honza, small Alena’s husband, had told me that he would see us there. He wanted to eat gourmet bugs or something. I figured that I didn’t even know where it was, and that things would be to complicated to meet.

So, we walked our bikes into the estate, and Oleh showed us around the garden labyrinth. The food booths looked good, but they were not open because it was too early. We decided to go out the back gate of the Zameck, and much to our surprise, there was Honza, Alena, and Klarka at the gate. Hugs and talk followed. Honza promised to eat bugs, and that is good because he is a confused semi-vegetarian who eats in streaks. We said our goodbyes, planned a dinner date before we leave, and we took off.

The front of the estate

Alena, Klarka, Honza

The path along the Vltava River was flat and awesome. We enjoyed it so much. Vinuta was scoping the route for a future trip with friends. Eventually, we came to parting ways. The path turned up a substantial hill, Oleh had to be back to the bike shop, and we said goodbye to Vinuta, who will be on another trip when we return.

Along the Vltava

A stretch of dirt path along the Vltava

A stop where we ate apples from local trees

Another Zameck

Statuary on the Zameck

Train Ventilation Tunnel

The hill was substantial, and we continued on the high route to avoid some dirt by the river. As always, the fields and scenery are beautiful, and we dropped back down to the river, crossing sides to follow a dirt path through a gladed bank. We crossed back over, and at a specific point we opted to take a ferry across the river for a buck each, so that we could avoid carrying our stuff up the stairs on a bridge with a gas pipe and pedestrian path. It was a good choice. The ferry man had a boat, a cable strung across the river, and a blade. When his boat was loaded, he simply put the blade on one side of the bow or the other, and the current moved the ferry to the opposite side. He looked happy. Collect his fare, chat with folk, move the blade. Great career.

On The Ferry

Avoiding Stairs

We stopped along the way at a small place for a beer and a bowl of special goulash. Hey, it is all you need. I am probably going to have meat withdrawals when I return.

Essentials

We also happened upon a lock that was lowering some oarsmen. Fascinating to watch.

Crews in the locks

The Locks

Shells coming out of the locks

Watching the shells head toward town

We arrived in Melnic, our destination, about three, and checked into the Penzion Hana. This place was fabulous. The room was very, very comfy. I got a bottle of wine at the desk, and we showered luxuriously. And then, we crashed for naps that were so hard, I didn’t think I could get up again. But, we did. We wandered into town and found sunset views of the meeting of the Vltava and the Elbe rivers. The light was amazing. We went to the Czech restaurant recommended by the Penzion, and the food was wonderful.

Best room ever

A room for napping

Evening Light

Church near the view of the Elbe and the Vltava junction

My biking friend

Elbe and Vltava

Sleeping was no problem.

Salmon Salad

Sleeping With Pigeons

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The hotel was definitely a hunting lodge. The walls were covered with trophy skulls, and there was no Internet, a clear indicator if nothing else.
We met downstairs and had a light breakfast (pretty much all that was offered), and then we got the bikes out of the storage room and packed up. I compressed everything and got all my stuff into two panniers, with the exception of my extra pair of shoes and a water bottle. The shoes I wrapped in a plastic bag and secured between the panniers with an great bungee net that I got at REI- a very useful item. With travel comes efficiency in carrying your stuff.

Ready to ride

Checking out the lake and nature path

We rode out to the lake to check things out. There are woodlands all around, and we watched carp jump high out of the lake to catch insects, an effort that seemed ridiculous given the energy the fish must make to part the water. There were hiking paths through the forest and early morning walkers checking out nature. Signage was good, with informative signs about commercial activity in the area, mostly lumber, and the kinds of wildlife around.

A pause in the ride

Topping out on a hill (downhill after this)

Oleh promised us a bit of downhill this day, and he was not wrong. Oh sure, there were some hills to steep to ride, but they were short in comparison to the downhills and especially the flats. Eventually, we came to a big open space with a marvelous, long, downhill glide toward the third of the spa towns, Karlovy Vary, Marianske, and Františkovy. The weather had really turned, with much cooler temperatures, and we put on some layers to be comfortable. Some of the roads looked like experiments in concrete applications, with big blocks that were hooked together with metal rods, all separated by annoying bumps that made riding off seat, a bit nicer.

Beautiful bike routes

Experimental Concrete Road?

Scenic forested areas

Eventually, we got into a wonderful flat bike path, smooth and new and wonderful. We made great time, lots of kilometers, following a river and big views. This path was satisfying and grand. We arrived at Franškovy and looked for a restaurant. Oleh saw a sign for borscht, and we stopped there. As it turned out, he didn’t order it because it had beef in it, but Lynette and I did and it was delicious. We also shared a salad and a Swiss schnitzel, power for later. Lunch was satisfying, and then we took a tour of the spa area and the fountains. The water, which will cure everything except attitude, is somewhat brown in color, mineral laden, and has a slight sulphur odor. Still it is drinkable, and, if it does everything it promises, it is worth a faith-based sip or two.

Cruising

In front of the healing waters

Healing water

Exploring the town

Team Oleh and the water building

Coins by the fountain

Lunch. So good

Lynette and I shared this

Lovely salad

We left the spa town and headed toward Cheb. Our plan was to go beyond, but we weren’t sure that we could find a hotel. The route came to the River Orhe, apparently a significant river here, and we crossed at a dam and went through a beautiful park, eventually coming to the defensive wall of Castle Cheb. As I remarked before, this whole area must have been a “Game of Thrones” playground in history. The castle will have to be unfinished business for another trip, but it certainly looked interesting.

By the river

The castle

Castle wall

Towers of historic interest

Oleh had wanted to go a bit farther to find a hotel, but it was getting late, and so we decided to look for lodging in Cheb. Oleh went into the Hotel Monika, and found us a couple of rooms in the pigeon level, rooms with neat windows that opened up at the roof level. If you looked out, you could see the pigeons, the roof, and a view of the upper floors above the main street. It was really kinda cool. We had excellent ventilation, and we slept well. We knew we had 60 km to do today, and it was not all flat, so we went out for a Czech dinner, with Becharovka, pivo, and beef.
We went to bed, and figured that we would meet for breakfast at eight, and hit the road as early as possible.
We slept like pigeons. Secretly.

A sky room

The view from the skylight

Short video, password apple. This compares the Tunnel of Trees in Michigan with riding in the Czech.


Michigan vs The Czech from Jack Meyer on Vimeo.

Back to Prague

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It is good to be back in Prague again!

We awoke in Regensburg a little blurry eyed from all of the beer festival stimulation, but eager to make another trip into the city before we had to check out from the hotel. We showered and packed everything, and then we charged off again on a now familiar path to the old town. It is amazing to me how quickly we (me?) can find our way around a place. Really, we were only in town for forty-eight hours. Verena said that she thought we knew the town better than Dennis-it was a nice complement.

Anyway, we went toward the cafe that we had enjoyed breakfast in the previous day, but we discovered that it was not open. It was Sunday, and of course things did not start as early. We wandered over to the cathedral, and found an open hotel cafe right across from the massive facade of St. Peter’s Cathedral. It was still in the shade, and the day was going to warm, and we took a seat and ordered cappuccinos and a breakfast to share, with fruit and bread and eggs and quiche.

Breakfast in front of the cathedral

It was approaching ten, so we finished up and started our way back through the streets, so many narrow, winding, shop lined streets indeed. I saw one street that I thought we had not done in the area near the information center, and I was tempted to turn back and explore it, but we were a bit pressed for time, so we continued on. And, we have this philosophy-strategy about this anyway. It is a term we learned from my backcountry friend, John E. It is called “unfinished business.” John always used it in terms of mountain peaks he tried to climb, but had to delay for circumstance. And it is not a bad thing because it means that one has a reason to return, a logic to bring oneself to a place again, often a praise of the worthiness of a place to be seen and experienced. And so, that street in Regensburg will just have to remain unfinished business until the next trip.

A couple of other things I thought about while there. One often thinks of the German mentality as being efficient, with straight line thinking and no nonsense rule following. Our tour guide noted this when our group was divided at a crossing light. We waited for it to turn green before we became whole again. She said, “We never cross on a red here. We follow rules.” And the morning that Lynette and I cut through the park to the riverside, we were passed by a mature couple jogging, a man and a woman sporting bright colored shoes. They passed at a steady jog, side by side, but what struck me was that they were perfectly in sync. At the exact moment the man’s left foot hit the ground, the woman’s left foot hit the ground, in perfect rhythm, together exactly, for the hundred meters that I was able to observe them.

And yet, that beer festival was rowdy, raucous fun!

We made our way out of town and back onto the highway, heading back toward Plzen, enjoying the fast roads once again. We were supposed to meet Oleh, our friend and bike expert sometime after four. He had offered us a room to use before and after the biking. But the road was so fast, that we found ourselves heading to Prague too early. I saw a sign for a side trip to Castle Kozel, six miles off the road, and that is where we headed, off into the forest and farmland, and up a narrow, tree-lined road, a canopy of gorgeous forest. The Castle was a hunting lodge, with beautiful grounds. We wandered into the area, stopped for a Birell and a sausage at the cafe, and enjoyed a slight cooling breeze in the hot air while I wrote in the blog.

We walked from the cafe and found a cool spot with a breeze under a shade tree by the front of the courtyard castle structure. I worked on the blog, and various other visitors came by. Eventually, an older guy in motorcycle blacks came up and sat next to me. We had a conversation with hand signals and minimal language. I think he was from Plzen, liked photography, used to rock climb, and enjoyed motorcycles. But, heck he was friendly and positive and it was a good conversation.

We left the castle, made our way through the canopy forest, found the highway, and finished our drive into Prague. We made one wrong turn, which led to driving adventure, but eventually we found the street of Oleh’s apartment. Oleh came down and helped me park in an envelope sized space while we unloaded our luggage. We met Vinuta, his girlfriend from London (Mauritus descent), and got our stuff in his comfortable, large roomed apartment. We dropped the rental car off at the Avis office in Prague, and walked back to the apartment.

We discussed the bicycling and Vinuta cooked a delicious meal of Indian flavor with rice, vegetables, and meat with some wine from Lednice. Our plan is to do a three day bike trip with Oleh and Vinuta, return to Prague for a day, and then Lynette and I will start on our trip to Dresden. Oleh said that one can begin by the River Vltava, near his apartment, and go all the way. It’s flat. Errr, it is said to be flat. Nothing is ever really flat.

Oleh was going to take us for a walk in the park, but we were just exhausted. Indeed, we both slept like stones, not really moving till almost eight. Heck, that is almost a record. But it was a good sleep, a sound sleep, a long sleep, the kind of sleep that promises good adventure with good people on a new day.

Bavaria

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We drove to Regensburg, Germany to meet up with a friend of my cousin Tom. Verena and I communicated several times, and she encouraged us to come take a look at her city on the Danube. We booked a hotel and made arrangements to meet.

The drive from Plzen was super efficient. The German roads lived up to their reputation, pristine, fast, and smooth. There were pull-out rest stops quite often. Anyone driving under 120 km (70+ mph) was holding up traffic. We made one stop to switch to Euros and check a paper map (no German SIM) and we found ourselves rapidly in Regensburg. We got to the hotel, a three star next to a brewery, parked the car, and then went into old town to check things out. It was too early to check into the hotel.

Beer fest dresses

A famous hat shop that does hats for J. Depp

We stumbled into town and found an O2 mobile shop right away. I had one extra unlocked iPhone, so we put a SIM with a data plan on it and set it up to be a hotspot for the rest of our phones. Now, I think it is pretty reasonable, thirty five euro for a sim and a five GB plan. It works well, although the hotspot phone has to be woken from time to time to get the connections to work. We went on, found the Bismarck Platz where we would meet Verena and eventually headed back to the beer garden at the hotel.

Regensburg is a maze of streets lined with shops and cafes. My first impression was that it would be perfect for my friend Bonnie, a shopping advocate. The narrowest of streets could hold a shop or cafe or two. Bikes were everywhere. It seemed to be the most efficient way to move about the city. The variety of shops was amazing, too. By the way, we passed a Viking tour group, a bubble of people, and were glad we were exploring on our own.

Pretzel at the hotel we stayed at

German brats, ooooh so good!

Lynette got some spaetzle-goodstuff

We got back to the hotel and settled into the beer garden before checking in. The food was great. Brats and beer and schnitzel and spaetzle and pretzel. Too good. I discovered also that a large beer here is really large. A mature couple with panniers walked by and I asked them where they were cycling to. They said Vienna. We were impressed. We checked in the hotel after lunch and took a power nap before meeting Varenna and her boyfriend, Dennis.

Meeting Verena and Dennis

Verena works at Seimens, her father is a teacher, and Dennis is an emerging dentist. We chatted and got to know one another, and walked to the Gothic St Peter’s Cathedral, an amazing thing indeed, with high vaulted ceilings, stunning stained glass windows, and airy spires similar to conic cheese graters. Beyond the church we passed the hat maker shop that did Johnny Depp’s hat in Chocolat, and hats for many other Disney movies. We also passed the oldest brat shop in these parts, the WurstKuch(?), before settling down in a beer garden by the Danube to drink beer and Radlers (beer and lemonade) and talk about travel and culture.

Cheese grater spires

Vaulted ceilings and a hanging organ

We left Verena and Dennis after 10, and the city was alive. A moon was rising above the cathedral, and during our walk home we were treated to a fireworks show above the Danube. I should say the cafes were full, the air pleasant and cool, and the walk home was a treat.

Regensburg by night

This is a wonderful town.