Vienna at Last!

We set off from Mistelbach with only 50km or so to go to Vienna. The terrain was rolling farmland, occasionally fairly steep, as we rejoined the Prague-Vienna Greenway route after our "shortcut". Most of the day consisted of riding on narrow farm roads that resembled the paved bike paths back in America (barely wide enough for a car or tractor to pass). It was very hot and there was little shade, so we both suffered a bit from the heat.

The part of Austria we were riding through is very windy and so they have capitalized by building arrays of huge windmills throughout the farmlands. It was cool riding beneath the mammoth structures while hearing the slow "woosh" of the blades and seeing the shadows from them sweep across the fields. I don't know why some envrironmentalists in America have to fight against such wind farms when they seem so superior to me to any other kind of energy-producing method we are constructing. They may not look "natural" on the land but I, for one, think they're rather peaceful and beautiful.

We were on track to make it to Vienna on Monday until we hit a thunderstorm maybe 10 miles out. After first taking refuge under a gas station awning (& then discovering that they had a bar inside) we decided to stay the night in the "suburb" of Wolkersdorf instead of getting further drenched. It was a good thing we did so since the next day it took way longer than expected to navigate into Vienna, due to the before-mentioned lack of bicycle signage.

The official beginning/end of the Prague-Vienna route is supposed to be in the suburb of Stammersdorf but we never could find it and none of the locals we asked had heard of it. It was a bit of a disappointment not to find it but we set our sites on the Danube River, in the heart of Vienna, as our official ending point. I forgot to mention that, ever since we entered Austria, we didn't have much of a map except for a printout from the Greenway website. There was supposed to be a bike route all the way to the river but it was impossible to follow and so we just randomly tried to head in that direction taking whatever streets looks good. There were many bike lanes, etc., in Vienna but, once again, little signage. After blindly following street after street and getting frustrated we took a turn through a park-looking place and magically ended up on an old highway overpass (now a bike trail) that took us right to the river!

After obligatory congratulations and pictures we headed in the direction of the largest buildings in search of "downtown", or somewhere we could find a place to stay. After another frustrating couple of hours of navigating through the city (and eventually finding a cheap map) we were able to find the tourist district and located a charming (but expensive) pension overlooking the heart of the shopping district. Our one night in Vienna was spent getting a very brief look at a few of the nearby sites (some very impressive) and getting some much needed sleep. A proper tour of Vienna will have to wait for another trip.

After the long flight over the pond we're now safe & sound in the USA and recovering nicely from our trip. I'll get some pictures posted asap and we'll try to write up some more thoughts soon. It was a fabulous trip!

From Old to New

As usual we had a hard time breaking loose of Znojmo and moving on to the next town. After a rest day on Friday we were planning on heading out on Saturday for points east but got a little delayed because....well...we decided to get tattoos at a cool little shop in town. It took a little longer than expected (especially mine...ouch) and it was too late to set out for Mikulov, so we spent another day in town checking out a Neolithic pottery exhibit, drinking coffee in an underground medieval cellar, and enjoying ourselves.

Sunday it was back on the bikes (and hard on the back...for Bird, whose fresh tattoo was being aggravated by the backpack). Our plane was to leave on Wednesday from Vienna and time was running short so when we reached the town of Hevlin we decided to head south into Austria a day early and take a "shortcut" via the Krakow-Vienna Greenway route. It was sad leaving the Czech Republic, which we had grown very fond of, and we said our goodbyes as we peddled south into the wind the 90 degree heat.

Once across the border there was a subtle but noticeable change in culture. People seemed more affluent and were definitely in love with their motorized toys (cars, motorcycles, etc.). While it still seemed like an "old" land there was much more of a modern feel to the cities. The towns are more spread out and there was little in the way of restaurants and stores in many of the smaller hamlets we rode through. I hate to sound so negative about Austria, because it is still a beautiful place, but the Czech Republic just seemed to exist on much more human of a scale. The towns and countryside were laid out in a walkable, user-friendly sort of way instead of with primarily the automobile in mind.

There were several bike routes and trails in Austria but the signage wasn't nearly as good as in the Czech Republic and we had a hard time staying on-route. The first day in we ended up riding on the highway in order to get to our stop at Mistelbach, where we found lodging above a good Chinese food restaurant.

Better a Living Brewery than a Dead Castle!

That's the slogan of the town we're currently in, Znojmo, where they've turned the town's medeival fortress into a brewery for the local Hostan beer.

To catch everyone up, we've now been following more or less the "official" Prague-Vienna Greenway route since we left Tábor and are steadily making progress towards our goal of Vienna. The first couple of days out of Tábor were exceedingly beautiful but also very taxing on the legs since we were traversing Czech Canada, a region of forests and hills that is very popular with cyclists. We alternated cycling and rest days to give our bodies a chance to recuperate and so spent a day each in Jindichuv Hradec and Slavonice, both charming and historic towns. We stayed in a nice penzion right next to the main museum in Jindichuv Hradec and a hotel on the main square in Slavonice. The latter town is quite an artistic hub with many galleries and "do-it-yourself" pottery and craft shops. In a couple of towns we have seen these portable movie theaters present, where they park a trailer with projecters right in town, raise a portable screen and show movies to the locals for a small charge (and also sell beer). We were very lucky to catch an ENGLISH screening (with Czech subtitles) of the new Indiana Jones movie in Slavonice. This is the first English language media we've seen in quite some time and was very welcome. It was especially interesting seeing it here because of the Russian/communist plot of the movie.

Since Slavonice the terrain has flattened out a bit into more rolling farmland and so we are able to make a little better time. It is very hot, though, so we have to pace ourselves. Luckily, the Czechs long ago planted trees along the rural roads, presumably to provide shade to people like ourselves while in transit. We next reached a stunning village of Vranov nad Djie, which has an impressive castle perched high on the cliffs above town. Unfortunately my camera batteries died just as we reached the castle and my Czech replacements didn't work at all. I later located some new batteries and got one shot of the castle as we left town. The route from Vranov to Znojmo was fairly short and flat, other than the initial climb out of the river gorge. We elected to take a "shortcut" through the national forest, which proved to be a brutally steep mountain bike trail up out of the gorge. Even though we walked up it we were feeling the pain. Don't forget that we each have probably 30-40 lbs on our back.

We've been biking every day now since leaving Slavonice and intend to still try to reach Vienna under our own power. We should only have 2-1/2 to 3 biking days left to get there which leaves us a couple of days extra to reach Vienna by Tuesday or so (we fly out on Wednesday).

-Mike

Tábor...One Snazzy Medeival Town

from Bird:

We are in Jindřichův Hradec, about thirty miles or fifty kilometers from Tábor. We rode here yesterday and found a great Pension near the main square. Today is July 27, 2008 and it has been days since our last posting. After our escape from Benešov by plasticky bike into Votice we took a train the next day to Tábor. I will never forget the feeling of getting off the train after a long cold rainy day and the sun coming out on the main street in Tábor with its winding cobblestone streets and modern artsy wares. Tábor was originally an effective fortress established by the Hussites, a Christian sect started by Jan Hus. Later it was renovated into a town with amazing architecture but the underground tunnels and individualistic flare remain.

We found a wonderful Pension near the main square with a Native American motif and for three mornings after our breakfast of bread, cheese and ham we would ask to rent our room for another night. On our first day in Tábor I bought a phone card and called my parents for the first time. It was two in the afternoon here and they were diligently getting ready for work at eight in the morning. They almost did not pick up because of the weird number but it was a fun ten minute call that cost a little over a dollar a minute. After this we went to a restaurancé on the square, The Havana Club, and met Mía and Charlie. They are friends who were both born in Czech. Mía and her husband (a cinematographer who died several years ago) lived in L.A. for 30 years while he taught at UCLA and she worked with the international students. Charlie traveled around living in different countries and came back after the Soviet period of "impotence" to open a lovely jazz bar called, of course, Charlie´s Jazz Club, down an alley from the main square. Mía invited us to her cottage the next day located in a village about six miles from Tábor. We were delighted by the invitation but got lost during our half-hearted attempt to bike there and so ended up taking the flowers we bought for her to Charlie´s Jazz Club. Charlie was very happy to see us and some others joined us at our table so that in the end we were a table of "global citizens." Charlie and Michael jammed a bit and Charlie told us stories about all of the famous musicians he has met. We had lively discussions as all present spoke at least a little English and there was another American present from California. We were all able to agree on one thing ... the music program in the square was "bullshit." After several hours and rounds of mad dog shots we became "galactic citizens" and Charlie told us he was really "a negro," because he has jazz in his blood. We left Charlie´s and somehow ended up paying for the all of the citizens at our table ... maybe they will make a statue for us in the town square.

We planned to leave the morning after Charlie´s and had only stayed because of the rain that day but in the morning curiosity and a strange sense of duty got the better of us and we took a round trip to Pišec to see the Bohemian Bluegrass Festival. It was poorly attended and expensive but worth the trip for the brief video clip we got of our favorite band.

That brings us back to Jindřchúv Hradec, where we are in need of lunch. The most amazing thing here to me are the Storks in a giant nest on a very tall chimney in the center of town. I am off to continue my search for a post card of the Storks as our camera will not focus that far.

Tomorrow we bike again!

Escape from Benešov!

All of the shops and businesses in Czech shut down at about noon on Saturday and don't reopen until Monday. Everyone goes out to enjoy the weekend in the countryside. We set out on Saturday in the direction of Tabor (the next big town). We made it to our planned stop of Bystřice, which is just a "one-horse" town, and ran into our usual problem...where to stay for the night. There is a hotel there, which was full (the usual), and a penzion (guest house), at which we couldn't find anyone there. We were getting very discouraged as it seems that our entire trip plans were in jeopardy. We can only manage about 10 trail miles or so a day, which doesn't get us far and requires us to find a place to stay in all sorts of small villages and towns. At this time of the year it is really tough to find accomodation without advance reservations, which are hard to make if you can't speak the language.

As I said, we were feeling pretty "down" and looking around for some other option when Bird flagged down a car and asked for any other hotels. They didn't know of any but suggested Benešov, from where we just came, and offered us a ride there since they were on their way. We took them up on the offer, since everthing was closed for the next two days anyway and we needed to figure out another strategy. After a brief 5-minute or so car drive they dropped us off at the same cheesy motor-lodge that we had passed on foot several hours before...oh, well. It was overpriced, since it was next to a major tourist attraction (the Konopiště chateau), but we got a room anyway. We spent Sunday playing tourists on the chateau grounds and waited for Monday, when we could check out some other options.

We thought about simply taking a bus or train from major town to major town and then dayhiking in the area (like most tourists do), since lodging is a little easier to find in the larger cities. We also considered buying a tent (should have brought mine) so we could "stealth camp" in the woods somewhere if we couldn't find accomodation. Another option we came up with was buying cheap bicycles, since we had seen some in the local department store, and continuing on the Prague to Vienna route on two wheels, since we could cover more ground and bypass some of the smaller towns. After some deliberation we decided to look into the bicycle idea.

There is a good bicycle shop in Benešov but the cheapest bike they have is about $400 US, which is a decent investment for a 2-week trip. We could bring the bikes home by plane but that would cost even more money and be a hassle. The department store (supermarket type) had a couple of bikes that would work at $200 US each (we can just abandon them when we are done with them) , as well as helmets, pump, and other needed accessories. With our budget shrinking even more, we made the leap and bought "el cheapo" Czech department store bikes and set back out, leaving Benešov yet again.

This time we made it to Votice, where I now sit, in about 4 hours, which would have taken 2 full days of hiking to acheive. We stuck to a paved bike route, of which there are many and which is just a back road, but with little traffic and with signage to direct us. The bikes are very "plasticky" but otherwise okay, other than the shifting which doesn't work very well at all. We pretty much stayed in one or two gears, and ended up walking up the hills towards the end of the day since there are indeed many hills. At least we can coast down them now, which helps a lot.

Upon reaching Votice, we were again turned away of the first penzion but managed to get a room at the second (and last) one we tried. I called Tabor the other day and made reservations at a penzion there so we should be okay when we reach there. Not being sure we can make that in one day from here (we are not seasoned cyclists and are riding what are basically single-speeds -- and with full backpacks on), and not thrilled about the prospects of lodging in between, we might take a bus, with the bikes, to somewhere in between and then bike the rest of the way in. This is a main bus hub so that should be no trouble.

I was asked a few questions in an email so will answer them here:

What time is it over there? Czech is 6 hours ahead of eastern time.

Are you meeting other tourists/are locals used to seeing tourists? There are plenty of people "on holiday" around here but they are mostly Czechs or Germans (hardly ever any Americans). While we have seen some bicyclists on the tourist trails we never did run across anyone else backpacking like we were. For the most part we were alone on the trails. Even when walking through small towns or settlements there was not much activity (probably weekend retreats). Locals hardly ever make eye contact or speak to you. They seem kind of cold but a few that we have actually talked to were friendly. I don't think they care much for foreign tourists, though.

What is the terrain like? The terrain is hilly now and we are entering more farmland than before, when we were in the outskirts of the Prague area and there were many weekend cabins, etc. A lot of the trails were narrow roads, sometimes used for house access, or dirt roads across fields, etc. There were some sections that were actual singletrack trails through forest and along beautiful creeks. It gets cloudy and rains about every evening so it's almost always a bit muddy. Although most "hiking" trails would also be perfectly fine on a mountain bike, they are not the shortest way to get around since they meander quite a bit, and we are on hybrid-type bikes, so I think we'll stick to the marked bike trails more, being mostly back roads. We are also still trying to make it to Vienna, which will neccessitate a somewhat direct route.

What is the lodging like? The place we stayed in Benešov was sort of a rooming house for mostly locals - road workers, etc., but was fine for us and very cheap. We shared a bathroom and kitchen with the others and it was "off the beaten path" -- on the outskirts of town and we had to walk across an open field to get to town. The place before that was a "privat", which is basically a bed and breakfast. We've stayed in a couple of real "hotels", which aren't much different but more expensive. "Penzions" are the usual thing to look for, basically being cheaper hotels for travellers, etc. They are just as nice but about half the price. They can be above resteraunts, stand alone....whatever. In some you probably have to share some facilities but the one we're in now has a private bath (and is only a block or so from the center of town).

Enough for now....

Perservering on the Trail...

Today's post written by Bird because I have had enough of Czech computers!:

Hello loved ones, Today we are laying over in a city called Benešov 40 miles from Prague. I am very happy you all speak such good English. To review our journey so far, so I don't forget... we walked 10 miles to Pruhonice Monday 7/14 our first day out of Prague. Pruhonice is a very wealthy beautiful small town with a famous Brewery we stayed above. It was the best beer I have ever had and two glasses is all we could take before stumbling around town taking pictures and then going to bed ... but not before having one more regular strength beer at Cow Cow Boogie. Thankfully the waiter and host at the Brewery spoke some English ... the room was expensive but it was the only accomodation we found with a vacancy and a big delicious breakfast was included.

On Tueday 7/15 we set off to Velké Popovice, a small town. The red, yellow, and green trails we are following are so beautiful. They take us through forests, gardens, and almost right through people's back yards. It has mostly been drizzling and cool with very little sun. We don't mind because it keeps the bugs to a minimum and is more comfortable when hiking. (I did find myself covered in Czech ticks yesterday) We were welcomed by many free range chickens as we entered the town of Velké Popovice and walked past a big Kovél (brand of beer) factory and restaurant to stay at a very 80's style Hotel for the night. We ate and wrote post cards at the restaurant next door and the next morning posted them and ate at the bakery that I e-mailed you from last.

On Wednesday 7/16 we then walked another 10 miles to get to Vysoká Lhota. We intended to stay in a town several miles before this but all accomodations were full and people were cold to us. We don't know what was going on in this small town but people were in their bathing suits wearing plastic flowers and ribbons indicating some traditional dress. It was clearly a private party so we walked on. We were weary when we got to Vysoká Lhota and found a house that rented rooms and a young woman who spoke fluent English (a rare find.) The two rooms were already rented by railroad workers but the hostesss (who spoke no English but talked our ears off anyway... with many gestures) squeezed us into a spare room on her and her husband's floor of the house. This woman who's name we never understood was the epitome of a grandmother. We have many stories to tell from this night and morning. The highlight was the evening Barbeque when Michael played the fiddle and guitaro and I tried out phrases from our Czech language book to get some laughs. Our comrada dug potatoes from her garden just for the event and the two railroad workers joined us with beer, vodka, laughs. It was a great party. In the morning we met our comrada's husband Vladamir and had a wonderful breakfast. After some pictures we headed off to Benešov.

On Thursday 7/17 we walked another ten miles to Benesov. Again when we arrived we had difficulty finding accomodations. We found a man that spoke English and helped us talk to his friend who owned several houses with acccomodations. His homes were also full of road workers. We are a mile outside of downtown ("off the beaten path") staying in the attic and sharing a kitchen and bathroom with the road workers. I came out of our room to go to the bathroom last evening to find a freshly washed man in his underwear frying potatoes and meat in the kitchen. They have been very polite although no one knows what the other is saying. Last night Michael and I walked across the field to the grocery store to buy a few items for the kitchen. We slept in today and then took our baths with a road man's soaking underwear and socks. At least now our accomodations are within our budget. Now we are down town and may go bowling later since we found a bowling alley!

Tomorrow we are starting out toward Tabor. It will take us several days walking. Michael is working on getting more pictures uploaded to the Blog but it is hard to figure out how to with the Czech Word program. We are taking many many pictures to show every one. Love to you all!!! Annie will you forward this to Angie's e-mail ... I forgot to bring her address. I hope you are all well ... we miss you ... kiss the children and animals for us!!!

Love, Michael & Bird

Third day out...

We left Prague 3 days ago taking the metro & bus to suburbs & immediately left the feel of the city behind, seeing mostly soviet-era tenements. No one speaks English anymore & we don't speak Czech. My little phrasebook is sorely lacking in the dictionary department. We got off the bus maybe one stop too early and were looking for the trail when we asked for help from some construction workers. After a minute trying unsuccessfully to communicate the foreman said something like "come with me" and motioned us to hop in his car. He drove us to the trail and dropped us off, with nary a word spoken between us other than dekuji (thank you).

We had a nice, suprisingly rural, walk to the trendy suburb of Pruhonice (Southwest of Prague). It was very nice there, bordering on a huge botanical garden, but the prices were really high. We had no choice but to get an expensive room but in the back of an awesome brew pub that, according to my guidebook, had some of the best beer in the country. We indeed tried their special brew, which is "high gravity" at 16 degrees (maybe 8%) and some of the best beer I've had.

The next day was the first hiking out in the real countryside and we started off on the red trail south (you can find it on the mapy.cz site). We took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up on the yellow trail and decided to keep following that one to Velke Popovice, where we are now, and where we found a more modest hotel. We're in a cukrarna (dessert shop/bakery) now drinking coffee and eating desserts for breakfast (all we could find). The normal coffee here is espresso, they don't serve filtered coffee, which suits me fine. Grocery stores are really cheap and we usually get some awesome bread & fruit in the mornings to make it through the day.

We're off to the south on the yellow trail today, probably headed for the Doly area for the night and eventually headed for the bigger town of Benesov and beyond.

Na shledanou (goodbye)