ALICE'S HERITAGE TOUR - THE CZECH REPUBLIC (Sept 17-23)

Another rainy day started off this portion of our trip. We took a train from Wels to Vyssi Brod, right on the Austrian-Czech border. We left our comfortable Austria train and transferred to a Czech train that was to take us to Cesky Budejovice, a UNESCO heritage site. The train ride was the beginning of our understanding that the Czech Republic was very different from any other country we had visited so far. The train was a relic of the 60s, dirty, slow, and very little room for us or our bikes.

We arrived in Cesky Budejovice (also known as Budweis - home of the ORIGINAL Budweiser beer) in pouring rain. The train, rain, and the dismal state of the train station reminded Peter of his 'impression' of a communist state. However, hopefully we made our way into town and enjoyed a nice local hotel and a wander around the main square. The next thing we noticed was how shockingly inexpensive things cost were. If Switzerland cost 30-50% more than the other countries in the are, the Czech Republic cost 30-50% less than anywhere else.

Cesky Budejovice

The next day, with better weather, we started out equipped with our Czech bicycle route maps, towards Pilsen, where we were to meet up with relatives of Alice.

Evidence of the all the rain in the past few days...

We had a couple of days of good riding, except for yet another of Peter's tire going flat. This event had riding riding back to the largest village in the area to attempt to find a better pump, with some success. Though the rides were good, sometimes on the road and occasionally on a bike path, it was impossible not to notice that the charm of the small villages and rural areas we had seen in the other countries in which we rode, was not present here. Eroded infrastructure, crumbling buildings, and dusty people seemed to abound. It was an extreme contrast to the rest of our Europe experience. It was also noticeable that there did not seem to be gasthauses (or a Czech equivalent) along the routes we were taking. Thanks goodness Alice speaks Czech as it was also clear that no one spoke a word of English, French, or even much German. Peter was quiet, maybe for the first time ever...

Also, we felt like we had to make bigger cities a final destination of each day so as to ensure that we had a place to sleep. Luckily we came upon a great inn in Strackonice, Hotel Splavek, which seemed to us like an oasis in an otherwise gray, dreary city.

The one nice building in Strakonice

The riding terrain in this part of the Czech republic was quite nice, replete with many bigger rolling hills, decent roads, and accommodating drivers. Nice!

Pilsen was a stop we were both looking forward to (not just for the beer!), but to meet and hang out with Alice's grandmother, aunt and cousin. We opted to stay at the Hotel Slovan, once a grand hotel where Alice's mother took dance lessons and had her high school prom. In its heyday the Slovan must have been magnificent. Now despite the faded gold leaf paint, worn wooden banisters, threadbare carpets, and high-ceiling large rooms, the Slovan was a fine and historic place to stay.

Spending time with Alice's extended family was a great experience for many reasons, including the fact that Alice had not been there herself for 7 years, and Peter had a chance to meet them.We hung out at Alice's grandmother's house; went to the pub with Aunt Jitka and Cousin Oldrich. They were lovely hosts and made our stay enjoyable. Spending time with Alice's grandmother was of particular interest to Peter. Though he could not understand what they were saying, it was clear Alice's grandmother really wanted Alice to know her and her life, showing pictures, artifacts, and things around the house, from her everyday routine to the historical and familial. She talked and talked and talked, admitted to talking and talking and talking. It seemed like she was trying to fit in a lifetime of relationship in 2 days. Lovely but a bit sad as well.

Thankfully, Jitka and Oldri spoke English beautifully, thus including Peter in the conversations that took place. Oldri's intense interest in military planes was obvious, and Jitka's love and support of Oldri was equally so. Great tour guides, Jitka joined us for a tour of the Pilsener Urquell brewery and later, took us on a car tour of the entire city, allowing us to see the local 'make-out point', where we took in a great vista of the city (and got to smell the local pot variety). We also visited Oldri's school, where he is completing his PhD in electrical engineering. Another academic in the family...

With mixed feelings (sad to leave the family but eager to get to Prague) we left Pilsen and took the train to the capital. We based ourselves in a great hotel/micro-brewery (is it all beer here in the Czech Republic?!) right in the heart of the Old Town area. Prague proved to be another glorious urban stop - Alice had been there many times before but for Peter this was his first experience.

Prague is as beautiful as ever, and despite the hoards of tourists, the gothic architecture and ornate buildings are overwhelmingly beautiful. Each has its own facade, gargoyle, fresco, or highlight that keeps one "looking up" while strolling the narrow, winding streets. Peter noted that more than anywhere else we had been that the statues and imagery were rather brutal, showing suffering and torture, as well as an interesting connection between the once large Jewish community and the clear orientation towards Christianity.

Of course, we had to take in an evening at Old Town Square - Alice's favorite restaurant being Staromesta Restaurace where we dined outside on roasted duck and goulash as the sun set. Followed by sipping Becherovca (a national digestif) while taking in a jazz band in a medieval, subterranean (seriously from the 1400s) jazz bar. During another evening, Alice took in a modern dance production at Magicka Lanterna, which proved less than impressive unfortunately, while Peter came in 7th at a poker tournament at a local casino. Peter has decided that this is where he will launch his poker career as the tournaments are so inexpensive relative to other countries with a decent pay-out... he may be back! During daylight hours, we managed to cover key areas of Prague Castle, the Jewish Quarter, and Charles Bridge, largely through wandering aimlessly about, which is so lovely to do in this city.

Leaving Prague by bicycle proved easy given the clearly marked bike paths along the Vltava River. Sadly, about 40km south of Prague the bike path simply ended and we were left confused and literally in the middle of nowhere (e.g. no bus, no train, few routes to choose from). It took us two hours trying desperately to cross the river to get to a main road; we were unsuccessful and gave up. So we rode to the nearest train station (which meant doubling-back, something we immensely dislike) and returning to our favorite Czech gasthaus, the Splavek in Strakonice where we re-grouped after bickering and arguing with one another out of pure frustration with our abandoned cycling day.

Tired of trying to "find our way along bike paths" we decided to take a train the next day to the Czech/German boarder so that we could hook up with the Danube route on the final leg of our adventure. We took a train to Lenora, in the middle of the Sumava Mountains in Southern Bohemia and started to ride towards Germany. We had a lovely day including a lunch stop at a clean, pleasant rest-stop and biking through beautiful vistas of this region. We both noted that it was actually a really nice way to leave the Czech Republic - picturesque landscapes, good roads, and a nice rest stop. We ended up finding ourselves another lovely gasthaus in the little town of Aicha vom Wald, about 10 kms from the Danube route, which will be the final route that leads back to Freiburg, the end of our bike trip.

We have decided not to grade this portion of the trip, as the contrasts were to great to average out. Visiting and making/renewing links with family; lovely cities like Pilsen and Prague; villages of rubble and dust; antiquated trains and little infrastructure for biking and rural tourism - all these left us with mixed feelings about the Czech Republic...and some wondering about what Alice's life might have been like had her parents not emigrated to Canada...