Hiking and Cycling in the Czech Republic

V-Day:

Thursday May 8 was a holiday in the Czech Republic – Day of Liberation/ Victory – commemorating Hitler’s surrender and the end of WWII.  It wasn’t a holiday in Austria, but when walking to school that day, I saw that they were preparing to celebrate it with a free outdoor Vienna Symphony Orchestra concert that evening.

By 8:45pm, after Laurence Caruana’s fascinating talk on the Gnostic Worldview (more on that another day), there were 12,000 people on the grounds of the Hofburg – Vienna’s Imperial Palace. At least that’s what I understood them reporting on stage in German, according to police calculations.  I stayed for a song and to witness the speech of a Jewish concentration camp survivor, but then headed home as I had to be out the door by 5am the next morning for a weekend trip to the Czech Republic.

Love Public Transportation Here:

I had to take an easy 3-subway ride to the bus station behind Stadion shopping centre, but I still preferred being early. Of course, I was the first one there.  Soon, however, a big crowd had gathered for the 6:40am Student Agency bus to Brno (only $13 for a 2-hour drive). On board, I multitasked, watching a movie and keeping an eye on the gorgeous scenery outdoors: bright yellow canola fields, castles, and beautiful villages with those red tiled roofs that pull at my heart strings.  Once in Brno, I took a train to Blansko (half an hour for $1.86).  I used to do the Brno-Adamov  route (one stop before Blansko) often when I lived there in the 90s and have always enjoyed it.

Veselice Tower:

Because Thursday was a holiday, many Czechs also took Friday off, but Soňa, a school teacher in Adamov, had an official day off.  After going through some of my Bali pictures with her and wearing out both my Czech vocabulary and my voice (I’ll have to start talking more not to lose my voice when I start teaching again this summer), we decided to go for a nature walk through neighbouring fields, forests, and villages.

After 8.5 km, we reached the 32 m iron observation tower in Veselice for a beautiful view of the surroundings.

Our friend Milan met us there and drove us back to Blansko, where he later joined the Karasek family and I for a delicious pizza dinner that unfortunately took more than an hour to make it to our table. We were starved! I did discover, however, that cumin chicken and sauerkraut make a great combination on pizza.

After partaking in a few famous Czech beers, however, Tonda asked his daughter Iva to pack his parachute for his jump the next day – a wise decision.  I was asleep on the couch before they all left Iva’s living room.

Cycling in Lednice & Valtice:

Since Saturday’s weather forecast called for sunny and warm and Sunday’s cold and rainy, we changed our bike trip plans to Saturday. This unfortunately meant that Antonin and Honza wouldn’t be joining us.  Tonda was supervising a group of students’ first parachute jump further north and Honza was joining friends to photograph rare orchids in the forest near Brno. Iva had a big university exam on Monday, so her whole weekend was spent studying.  Soňa and I, however, packed our gear and met Milan, his wife Julia and son Adam as well as his friend’s family for fantastic day of cycling in Lednice, a village near the Austrian border. I had been looking forward to this since they talked about it last time I was in the Czech Republic. The area around Lednice has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site because of its palace and 200km² park filled with architectural gems.

It was amazing!  Thanks to the Karasek family, I was completely geared up: cycling pants & t-shirt, helmet, light wind-breaker (but my Kaliyana anti-suit jacket was enough) and mountain bike.  The gear system on this bike was so easy and effective compared to the one on the men’s 10-speed bike that I sold in 2013 after 30 years of riding it … I think my next bike will be a mountain bike.  I may even get cycling pants.  Although quite self-conscious at first walking around in Soňa’s pants that felt like diapers (or what I imagine diapers might feel like – it had been decades since I last wore any after all), I soon became very grateful for the extra padding. I figure cycling is like walking barefoot for the first time after a long winter of wearing shoes/boots. It takes a while for both our soles and our butts to toughen up. Even after adjusting the angle of the men’s sports saddle I was riding on, it was quite painful.  After making a few jokes about it, Adam happily switched saddles with me – he had wanted a sports saddle for a while and I was much relieved for a wider, more comfortable resting area for my sensitive tush.  I was still very aware of it for the rest of the day, but it certainly didn’t take away from our heavenly experience.

Known for its flatness, this area is hugely popular for its cycling trails.  The parking lots were already overflowing when we got there, but the crowds only added to the atmosphere. With over 100 km of trails, I even found myself alone with the birds at times (speaking of which, I saw a heron, storks, geese, swan, ducks, and I could swear it was a bald eagle, but they aren’t native to the Czech Republic, even if there’s an eagle on their coat of arms.  … Wait, I just found photos on the Internet that someone took in Lednice at a birds of prey establishment, including that of a bald eagle in flight.  I do believe I was right!  I don’t always need to be right – I often prefer to be happy – but right and happy together make a wonderful combination) .

We cycled along country lanes, through forests, fields and villages, and next to fish ponds and vineyards. One of the delights of this UNESCO heritage site is the integration of ruins in nature. OK, so they were replicas – but when replicas were made in the early 1800s, that’s very old for a Canadian!  The effect of this combination was quite magical!

After 21 kms, we arrived in the village of Valtice, another World Heritage site. We had lunch at an outdoor terrace and followed that up with ice cream next door. I could have spent a whole day just walking around this village with my camera.  I actually didn’t bring my good camera. What you see here is a mix of photos from other people’s phones and small digital cameras – I borrowed Soňa’s 5MP school digital camera – fine for the Internet. The group would have had to wait even longer for me had I brought my good gear, but I plan to do so next time.  I  loved our day so much, we’re planning on going back in late June before I return to Canada.  Trips like this, however, are making me think it might be a good idea to have a lightweight high quality point and shoot – my iPhone just isn’t cutting it these days.  I’ll add a pro-worthy Nikon point-and-shoot to my manifestation list – that and I’m still looking for a perfect place to live when I return to St. John’s in July.  For now, thank you to Soňa and Milan for adding your photos to this post.

By the end of the day, we had done 35 kilometers and had had another stop at a palace for raspberry crepes. Ah, life is good!

I learned this weekend that in this country long famous for its beer, even non-alcoholic versions are super popular – especially with drivers, athletes and children.

Once back in Lednice, Soňa and I said goodbye to the group so we could walk through the palace grounds. Looking at a map, I discovered there was a whole area with water behind the palace that we hadn’t explored. That’s when I decided it would be a good idea to come back.

Accidentally, yet happily, our GPS directed us away from the highway and back to Blansko on a very scenic route – caramel coloured fields and lush valleys in shades of green and canola yellow.  Of course, lots of red tiled roof clusters I love so much.  What a gorgeous drive.  After a quick shower, Antonin, Soňa, and I headed to the village of Rájec for a delicious BBQ with our cycling friends. Jirka, who usually cycles 100km every weekend, had found our pace a tad frustrating, and so on his way home, got dropped off in Brno with Milan’s son Adam and cycled another 30km home from there.  They still made it to the BBQ before us.  Hey, did you know that a foil-wrapped cheese like a Camembert on the BBQ is a great thing?!  It is.  BBQ’d Hermalín, a type of Czech cheese similar to Camembert, was a nice surprise during this feast. Having yet another meal outdoors with friends was indeed a great way to end the day. By the end of the evening, however, the rain came in strong and my Czech comprehension dropped to about 5%.  It was time for another good night’s sleep.