Our first day in the Czech Republic

September 13, 2018

Litomerice

We were down early for breakfast as were all the Wanderweggers ready for another day in the mountains. They are easily recognised with their two walking pools, heavy boots, calf length pants, a small back pack and a very German looking hat. They look exactly the same as the ones we saw in the Black Forest a few years ago

Our hotel last night was decorated with begonias these are for my friend Dianna

Rather than wait for the ferry we decided to go back and go over the bridge. The day was not nearly as brilliant as yesterday but considerably cooler. Onto the perfect track and we were off. We were cycling along in a deep gorge which makes for spectacular scenery and a change from the plains we have been going through for such a long time. No farming here but you get the feel that in this beautiful and dramatic place so close to Dresden they are doing a very good job of farming tourists. Crossing into the Czech Republic was a non event - the sign just told us that we were crossing into Czechoslovakia- rather out of date.

All along the way are ferries taking you from one side of the river to the other

Like so any of the river boats in Europe at the moment it can't go anywhere while the water is so low

The first town of any size we came to was Decin. Over the flower decorated bridge and the first thing we came across was an ATM. When you get money out in the Czech Republic you feel like a millionaire as there are around 25K to the Euro. Next we saw the information down by the river and a place to get a cappuccino for only the equivalent of about 1E. The signs to our route were obvious and were to reamain so all day even when we were doing many strange twists and turns. I had forgotten how well marked the routes are here - we are following route 2 which is also the EV 7 which leads all the way to the Adriatic. One of the things that I really like in this area is that they haven't been able to resist putting an impressive looking building on every peak. I suppose these were for defence. Rather similar is the string of bunkers which are positioned at regular intervals beside the river for about 20kn after Decin. These had been put there by the Czech Army in an effort to halt the advancing Germans in WW2. I cant see these bunkers without being transported back to my early childhood. I must have been about 3. Mum and I were sitting on the beach in Napier leaning against one (Dad was 'away at the war') and a soldier posted a bar of chocolate to me out the slit of one of them - about 76years ago !

To repulse the approaching Germans about 80years ago

Living in one of these would feel like being a battery hen

The first 50km were very easy, the track was perfect, there were few hills and we had a very unaccustomed tail wind. Usti is a very large town, we stopped by the river for our picnic and along came a German couple from Meissen doing their annual cycle trip, they had taken the train to Prague and were riding home. It is interesting that before you get to the Czech Republic there are lots of pairs of German cyclists on this Radweg but very few of them seem to venture further than the German Tourist towns near the border. Today however we did see two very large groups clearly on an organised tour with their minder behind them.

After this however things changed, at time the track was very uneven and it seemed to be delighting in taking us up and down hills which were at times very steep

Ken took this exact same photo 9 years ago

At the end of the day Ken found this Polish UrsusTractor

This evening we will walk into the centre of Litomerice and find the good restaurant that has been recommended to us by the lady in reception.

Today's ride: 79 km (49 miles)
Total: 1,354 km (841 miles)

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