4 June 2007

Haslach, Austria to Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

The sun was out this morning as we woke up in the luxury of the indoors. The hotel manager had a nice "help yourself style" breakfast laid out for us and he made us each an egg. We've learned that if you order an egg and don't say how you want it cooked, it will come soft boiled which is really quite tasty.
John successfully navigated us out of town and directly to a 5 km climb to start the day. We climbed and descended the Austrian hills just like yesterday as the sun came and went. After 15 very slow kms we made it to the border of the Czech Republic and were let in with no questions asked.
The terrain seemed to change right away. We commented on how your brains immediately feel a difference once we've crossed a border. It just feels different even though you could be just one km from the previous country. Anyway, the countryside was forested with some open fields but not much agriculture. The hills became shorter, steeper and more rolling. At one point we stopped to look at an animal that we think was a fox but weren't sure even after looking with the binoculars. And while looking at it a deer came walking up right behind it. What a banner wildlife spotting day!
We had a forced lunch stop at the shore of the Noldaustausee (a lake) where we had to wait 45 minutes for a ferry. The sky was now cloudy and threatening and it was quite cool. We were joined by a group of 5 from Austria on bikes taking a short ride who were very intrigued by John's trailer, so he gave them the demonstration on how it attatches to his bike.
After the 2 minute boat ride we were in Frymburk where we went to a Bankomat (ATM) and got our first Krone and spent a few right away at the grocery store. We sat and ate part two of our lunch while the sun came out. Off we went for the remaining 23 kms into Ceske Krumlov, our destination for the day. On the way we went down quite a few amazingly steep and fairly long hills that would have been real buggers had we been going the other way.
Once in Ceske Krumlov we did our best to find the Centrum (city center) and the tourist info office where our Aussie friends told us to stop to get bike route maps. Then we went to the internet cafe to find where our new friends in Prague live. We found them on the warm showers list (a place for cyclists to find other cyclists who are willing to let you stay with them while touring in their area).
Next it was on to some sightseeing. This town is best described as sort of a fairytale land. Being here is like stepping back into the time of castles and knights and all that stuff. It's touristy as the narrow, cobblestone streets are lined with shops, restaurants and pensions, but it was enjoyable to stroll around. We had an interesting treat (didn't get the name). It was sweet bread rolled in either nuts or cinammon and shaped like a 4 inch long bracelet. Very tasty.
After seeing the sights we enjoyed a nice dinner and marveled at the low price compared to everything in Austria. Even in this touristy area the prices were quite reasonable.
At 7:00 we rode back 2.5 kms to the campground we had passed on the way in. There was a large group of middle and high school aged kids camped there and it looked like a tent city. This probably won't be a very quiet night, but we're pretty pooped so hopefully it won't matter. If you get bored with our website you can visit wwww.where2pedalto.com and check out our friends from Perth, Australia who have just started riding from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

Kms 47.83
Time 3:35:44
Avg 13.2
Max ?
Totl 1226.6