DOES THE DOWNHILL EVER START?!?!!

September 5th, 2012 Wednesday

We left well after our Kiwi friend, yet still before 11am (stunned? as am I). It took a while to get into the groove of riding because we had to take the cycle path through the city\town of Tabor, but as the signage was not as great, we thought it best to follow the map. Alex decided to play some music from the speakers in his backpack to get us in the riding groove. We started out with some Bad Brains and New York Dolls and almost Bad Brains again when I asked to have a music change. Not even guiltily, I asked for ABBA, because it was in my head and it made Alex blush. Most of the way I couldn´t even hear it because he was riding quite ahead of me. We ended up in the next town over with his backpack blaring ABBA right next to a restaurant where a hunting club was having lunch. With a deep blush in his cheeks, I managed to convice Alex that we should eat there (all ABBA embarrassment aside). The food was excellent, maybe too much so, because all we wanted to do was nap.

Chateu something-something

We hit the road yet again, only to come to another hiccup. We made a right into a nice walking area that was around a lake where people were boating right next to a beautiful Chateu. After admiring it, we realized we did not know which way to go, yet we saw some sign markings along trees and rocks that the Greenways website told us that we would encounter.We walked along this narrow narrow path right next to the lake until it turned into a narrow bridge less than a foot wide, and leading into an uphill of rocks for about a meter or two. Needless to say, this was NOT the way to go on bikes. We turned around, asked for help and found the correct road.

the long and winding road that leads to more uphill

We probably would have been more excited about getting back on the right road if we had not realized how much of an incline our travel would be for the rest of the day. Though not several steep hills upwards, it was a slow grade that didn´t let up on our legs one bit. At least all of that workout kept us at a pace where we could enjoy the utter silence of the woods. No cars around. No commecial chatter. Trees and leaves and maybe a slight wind. Quite beautiful.

Nice tree color gradient

Enjoying the silence

Alex was also having a time with his backpack strapped to the back of his bike. Our bungees were wearing out and kept slipping, and thus he constantly needed to stop and adjust. At one point, in the silent woods, he took a moment to fix his bag and then... Al Green comes on- Let´s Stay Together. It was a nice refresher to the somewhat stressful energy of our afternoon of traveling. We kept the music going with some Beach Boys and Zeppelin to carry us the rest of the way. We spotted a sheep house, some horses grazing, and a beautiful sunset in the town just before the campgrounds.

sheeps in da house

the sun fades over the green hills of Czech

When we got into town we ran into our Kiwi friend who gave us the proper directions to find the campground. We set up just before dark, but there was no one at the reception to give us the lowdown on the bathrooms or anything. We cooked up some beans, gnocci, and instant soup with the last of our water. Fortunately our Kiwi friend- we finally learned that her name was Beth- returned from town to tell us that there were keys to the bathroom right next to them under slats of paving stone. We spoke for a little about our travels- turns out she also biked in Germany, and it was also her first cycling trip- and what we did when not traveling- she lives in London and traverses the opposite laned streets with her bike. We also discussed the cycling route for the rest of the way into Vienna, and she pointed out a camping place once in Austria that was not listed on the map (which was helpful since there would otherwise be no place to camp for the next 100 km before Vienna). We said good night, filled up our water bottles, and went to sleep.

The road less traveled takes you up a really big hill

September 4th, 2012 Tuesday

We awoke at a decent hour (at least earlier than when biking in Germany) and set out to find food since our supplies were limitied. While packing up we noticed another cyclist who was camping (the only other tent) and who set off much earlier that we did. I was in a pretty grumbly mood from not having eaten yet, but when we finally did get food, it was quite cheap and very delicious.

lush green hills, overcast light

towns with old stuff in the center (an old well i think)

We kept on biking, noting the overcast ambiance of our trip (probably better than roasting in the sun), as well as the lush green hills that we passed constantly. Before embarking in the wrong direction yet again, we stopped at another restaurant where the food wasn´t as good as the first, the service was crappy, and the Bavarian Budweiser was even worse on tap than normal Budweiser (pretty bad considering we´ve been consuming very good beer). The good thing about the restaurant is that we discovered Czech often has various styles of potatoes (yum) including potato pancakes.


We set out yet again on the right path after asking the info center near by, and got onto the wrong path right after. The good news: We knew what road we were on, it was a car road with minimal traffic, and it was shorter than the cycle route. The bad news: uphill. Like way up hill. Like all the time, seriously is this not stopping, how is this possibly one hill, hill. But at least we knew the bad news would have to end with, yes, you guessed it, a DOWNHILL. Those are pretty excellent and refreshing and we enjoyed it, into minimal rolling hills all the way to our next camping location outside of Tabor.

railway bridge just outside of our camping place

The woman running the reception spoke to me in German, which made me feel right at home-ish, since at least my German comprehension is better than my Czech. Alex befriended some folks eating and drinking at the bar, and promised to hang out with them as soon as we set up our tent. I took my time getting everything set up and showering, then met them for a kielbasa and beer. Alex was already a beer and some shots deep with his new friends, who turned out to be the husband of the woman at the reception, his brother, and a guy from Greece. The guy from Greece left soon after, and we were left to converse with the owners and family. Though our Czech non-existent, the husbands English minimal, and the brothers English only mesured in the random screen tee about Hip Hop that he was wearing, we all seemed to get along famously. (That may have mostly been the alcohol talking). We did spend a bit of time naming classic bands that we all enjoyed and high fiving about it. We tried to teach them the trick of watching someones elbow as you high five so you never miss, and learned that in Czech you keep eye contact as you high five so as not to insult the other person. With the kitchen closed, and everyone a bit tired, we said our farewells and headed off to bed.
When headed back to our tent, we realized that the tent next to ours was the same tent from the last camping spot. We spoke with the woman briefly (as it was late), found out that she was doing the same path as us (duh) and was from New Zealand. We figured to see her at the next camping location seeing as how she woke up much earlier than we did to set off.
At last, bed time.

On the road again... kind of

September 3rd, 2012 Monday

We decided to embark on our journey through the Czech Republic on Monday mostly because we still needed the essential map that detailed the pathways to take. Most stores close early on Saturdays and aren't open on Sundays, so Monday it was. We got our things together, had a big brunch (I cooked while Alex fixed a broken spoke on the non-drive side) and headed out to leave... almost. Turns out my loose spoke was a broken one also on the non-drive side (the side where the chain rings and cassette are not). Since it is more likely that we would have broken spokes on the drive side, it seemed that maybe the way our bikes were strapped in on the train had something to do with it.

Karbos and Alice see us off!

After fixing the spoke, we said our goodbyes to Karbos and Alice and made them promise to visit us in LA. After all, just seeing Tennessee as an exchange student still doesn't give the full scope of the United States.
We were off!... to catch the metro to the edge of Prague 13. Riding in the city is so difficult what with cobble stone everywhere that it made the most sense to catch the bike path from there. The metro was downstairs and thus we expected some sort of elevator, at least for those in a wheelchair, but not at this stop. Alex carried the bikes down the stairs, we got our tickets, and sped away from the center. When we left the metro, it took us a while to connect with the bike route but we finally found it! It was already the late afternoon and we had to make it to the closest campsite about 35km away.

wrong path, right place

I-I follow, I follow you through deep green baby...

With that we hit the trail... And lost it soon after. There are several biking ways in the Czech Republic, but we found that most of the accidental detours we made led us back to the correct path. We were about 12 or so km away following the yellow arrowed signs when we noticed other trail markings that we recognized from online info. We turned on this path to find broken pavement uphills, gravel downhills, and paths in deep grass meant for mountain bikes. Man, this path was terrible, but the view was great. We eventually found that we were on an offshoot of the main path, and quickly rejoined it.

ooh look! old stuff!

We arrived into the small town with camping as it was getting dark (no maximum daylight like northern Germany summertime). We found some round about way to the camping green, set up our tent (we saw only one other tent), made some beans with gnocchi and promptly fell asleep.

Czech us out! Prague edition

August 29th- September 2nd 2012

We are great appreciators of life's adventure mostly due to our spontaneous nature and our inability to get anywhere on time. This holds true for the train part of our travel as well. We get to the station in Berlin with maybe 5 minutes to spare and have to take our bikes down to platform 1. We go to the first underground level only to find the platform 1 signs pointing to an escalator. We handle our bikes down it, and shout excuse me! in German to the closest attendant. She is impatient (with good reason) and we find that we are standing right next to the car that we put our bikes in. As soon as our bodies and bikes are in... the train pulls away. Phew.
Some hours later we arrive in Prague. It dawns on us that our German will be of no use, and we have yet to learn any Czech. Luckily my fathers cousin Donald connected us with a student from Prague that he had hosted in Tennessee. Jiri or Karbos and his girlfriend Alice picked us up from the train station right as it started to rain (it does this a lot in Prague) though we were lucky enough to see a rainbow. After a shower and a nap, they took us to a restaurant below his building with some traditional Czech dishes and they both helped us begin to learn a few key phrases in Czech.

Karbos and Alice (Thanks so much!)

We found Prague to be beautiful thanks to the full walking, less touristy (though surrounded by tourists) tour that Karbos gave us of the main district of the city. Praha 1 is where all the sights and tourists are, though we also had the chance to see down into the city from the outer edges that were higher up. Each place we went to we could see where we were headed to next and where we had just come from.

And Prague is all like ¨I heard you like great views of the city...¨

¨....so I got you this¨

Oldest working astronomical clock

this is what happens when cobblestone gets a facelift

We even wandered through the narrow streets to the old center in time to see the astronomical clock start to move at the hour. Prague is definitely not a city to bike in, but we appreciated the opportunity to see it at a walking pace (our feet and legs may have felt differently).

drinkin´and churchin´

gotta love a man in uniform

Did we mention the beer is great? And still cheap! We also tried a traditional Czech drink that is a moonshine equivalent (made in besements) made out of plums I believe. Europe just wouldn't let me rest (beer drinking really) and I eventually needed to take a break (not Alex). All this city living (and partying) got me ready to be back in the bike saddle once again.

this is my party face

Speaking of partying- we got to hang out with luca (who we met in hamburg) and his friend beny (partied with them both in Berlin) in Prague! We went to some club that had three levels- one above ground, two below, with different music going. We were there till late (or early) and may have stayed longer if all the indoor cigarette smoke hadnt been bothering me so much.

Beny, Luca, and Xray equals party time!

We got to spend some good time with Karbos, eating food, drinking, watching movies, and playing this dice game that he knows. We were completely hooked and he was kind enough to give us a set to take with us. They are being well used and if anyone reading this sees us in person any time soon, we will probably teach it to you.

stained glass at the church

peace of square

We stayed in Prague a few days and got the maps we needed to continue on to the next leg of our bike tour to Vienna.

My Jerusalem, Mecca, Graceland...the Ramones Museum

Good thing we stayed in Berlin so long, cuz on our last night there I saw some girl with a bag that said Ramones Museum. I did a double take, asked her where she got it, and she told me the Museum was about 20 min away from where we were. I made it clear that I would do just about anything to be able to make it to the museum, pushed back our dinner plans with Martin, and rushed Hanako over there. We got there about 2 hours before it closed and could have spent all day. It was beautiful. Absolutely amazing. I was extremely glad to share this experience with Hanako. I can't even begin to explain how amazing this was for me, so I won't even try.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so enjoy.