Czech 2005	25 july – 5 august	340 km / 11 days
		Brno-Moravsky kras-Blansko-Rajec-Namest nad Oslavu-Jaromerice-Telc-Jindrihov Hradec-Trebon-Cesky Krumlov-Ceske Budjevice/Praha (see map)

Naked impressions from a bicycle premiereа

author Polina Kotzovska

So, it is my pleasure – the newest – emotional member of the club, “non-expirienced in the bicycle tours”, to throw some light on this interesting travel. We were a group of three enthusiasts: me – Poli, my brother – Plamen and his girlfriend – Ina. Our preliminary idea was to visit the Meteor (Greece), but 1-2 weeks before starting the summer holiday Plamen stated “Czech” and that was it. He had decided this because of several reasons:

- the landschaft is very suitable for beginners – slightly hilly and pleasant

- people there are nice, helpful and there is no practical language barrier

- Czech Republic is full of castles and palaces and this is the perfect way to take some extra lessons in “Styles in the Interior” so that to take successfully this exam in September

Of course each of us were busy with important job and whatever other activities so that we had no time for taking the pleasure of expecting the adventure. The three of us used the last minutes to sew saddlebags, collect the equipment and pack. Our “leader” Plamen was to go for the third time in Czech, the navigator Ina – for the second time and me – for God’s sake, that would be the first bike travel that I had dreamt of. The key of the success was that we had good background – the old good Emo. We relied on him knowing that he would make the perfect route for 10 days excursion in Moravia and South Bohemia. Well,…we had no time to study it before staring. We got on the bus of “Racic” on Monday, provided with sandwiches and expecting good weather and adventures. Our friends accompanied us to the station, they were somehow more excited than us (we almost hadn’t slept the last few nights).

The travel took 24 hours. Passing the customs was boring. You have to take into account that it is useful to have a blowing pillow to sleep, sandwiches, some book for reading, or some other fun. Otherwise one can die from boredom. Our bus left us on the bus station in Brno. The first moment was a bit shocking – all was new and strange, people were smiling, polite (we left them in Sofia gloomy), there were flowers all around, all was tidy and in order. One realises that this was how it should be in life and asks “why, the heck, it is not like that in Sofia, It is so good!!!?” I had not ridden a bike in a large town before. This is an absurd in Sofia. So I felt unsure, I had a starting fever while we were arranging the bikes. Plamen ran me to make circles round the parking to train balancing with the full saddlebags. And after that what? The street was waiting for me as well as another 300-400 kilometres along the Czech roads.

I will use the chance to mention the drivers in Czech – very, very tolerant to the bikers. It came out to be that each second person there used to cycle so the drivers were very attentive. For the whole two weeks there none of them was nervous, cursing at us or something like this. On the contrary, very often the cars were slowing down or even stopping to give us way.

Brno is a nice town but according to me I wanted to run away from civilisation looking for some piece. The brightest memory from there was the fortress that I was impatient to visit. It came out, however, to be a former prison, non-corresponding to my romantic ideas for a knights’ Middle Ages castle. But the view from there was beautiful. (picture).

I left Brno with relief. No matter how nice it was, the outskirts were more beautiful – some little, good looking chalets along the river of Svitava. The direction was to the town of Adamov. Snug, little, blooming gardens with meadows in the back yards and some stairs to the river – an idyll. The first night was a hardship as the town’s outskirts are full with chalets and it is hard to find a wild place for camping. We went on to Adamov, Rudice, Jedovnice. The landschaft was pleasant, semi-mountaneous, with much strawberries and raspberries around and many slopes down.

In Rudice – a little village, not far from Jedovnice there was a windmill  (picture), which drew our attention. The exposition was not worthy – the local attractions and an old equipment for climbers.

It was more pleasant in Jedovnice, there was a nice lake for bathing. I should mention that one of the most exciting things in the bike travels is that wherever you see a puddle you can splushshshs in and cool yourself, then go on feeling fresh in the heat. And in Czech there was no lack of such places. Almost every settlement has its pool or at least a local puddle where people take sunbathes in the hot days. It was Jedovnice where we ate the most delicious fruits and vegetables during our route in Czech. We slept in the near maze fields. Sleeping in the fields we don’t light fires so we don’t make damages on the crops.

The next day was dedicated to the first attraction along the route – the famous Moravski Kras with the chasm of Macoha  (picture) and the caves of Punkenvni, Katerzinzka…

There are some nature phenomena that cannot be described; they just have to be seen. A very beautiful and well-organised place. An exciting thing was sloping down along the alley for bikers from the tableland of Macoha towards the caves of Punkevni and Katerzinska. A narrow gorge, gorgeous verdancy, humidity like in a jungle, cool air and a constant slope that accelerates you and makes you shout with pleasure. Among the variety of tourists around me I met a colleague of mine by chance and called him. On our request to give us some more information about the region he was so helpful. As a result we got a perfect atlas of the bicycle alleys and routes in whole Czech. The combination of a detailed road map of the country and this atlas was the best we could have. It would be better only if we could have “local” friend with us for a guide.

Well, it was not still late for this. In the town of Blansko a young man who was riding a strange bike attracted our attention. It seemed that he was also curious about us so that soon we were in contact.

So, Fillip, our new Czech friend came out to be cute and he gave us some precious advises (really useful) about our time in Czech with great enthusiasm. We introduced him to our route and plans and he drew our attention to the most interesting places and those that can be skipped as well as some particularities for the country as a whole. Plamen stroke it the most lucky from this meeting, he got some lessons on riding the strange Fillip’s bicycle. (picture)

A piece of advice: try to make friends with someone really cute who can give you useful information at first hand. As you know advertisement is just advertisement, one cannot simply believe it. In the evening at our camp near to the town or Rajec-Jestrebi we treated Fillip to Shopska Salad. He was not impressed because they also had such salad. He was impressed by the banitza made by Ina. (picture)

Following Fillip’s advice we directed through Cerna Hora towards Tisnov. In Crna Hora, a little lovely town, we took our bath portion in the local public pool with mineral water and we visited the local brewery. Unfortunately, we had no luck with it – the brewery was famous with being more than 500 years old and the attraction was watching the technological process of making beer while drinking the same drink. Well, it was necessary to make a preliminary 15-20 days reservation. But at least we enjoyed Czech kitchen and we tried hops lemonade (the assortment included a dozen of types). The way to Tisnov was pleasant, mostly woody, going up till Rohozec. After that it is sloping down. From Tisnov to Zverunka the road is not crowded and it passes through a woody area. There is a nice place suitable for camping near the road after Velka Bites, but the mosquitoes there are as big as sparrows.

The next goal was Namest nad Oslavou – the first palace in our program. The palace was situated in the beginning of the town after a looong sloping down and one has to be careful not to pass by it. We left the bicycles at the place designed for them but what to do with the luggage? We asked where we could leave the saddlebags and the cashier was polite enough to let us leave them at her place. Afterwards wherever we went in the castles we used the same tactic and we were always pointed a place suitable for the luggage. The palace fascinated us as it happens with anyone who sees something for the first time. The palace offered 3 routes and we took into consideration two of them.

	All palaces, fortresses and castles in Czech offered several routes, thematically defined (for example, “interior 18-19 century”, “basement”, “kitchen”, etc.). Each route is paid separately and there is a particular place and hour for its start. The gardens in the palaces are used as town’s parks but they are locked at the end of the day. It was the same with the Baroque palace’s garden in Jaromerice. (picture)
	The old part of the town of Telc is a pedestrian zone and it is full of tourists. The square itself is very beautiful – with houses each painted in a different way. (picture)
	Unfortunately, we couldn’t look at the next palace, the one in Jindrisihuv Hradec  (picture) , ) – it was Monday. Nevertheless the yard and the garden were open and the afternoon rest in the heat was more than pleasant. Only the “Black tower” was open for visitors, it was evidence that once the palace had been a castle.
	There were another objects in the garden which drew my attention – a well, which had an enormous fence, and a round pink pavilion  (picture), whose purpose remained secret for us.

The most impressive castles on our way were three: in the town of Teclc, in Cesky Krumlov and Hluboka. As the last on resembles more a castle from a fairy-tale, the rest two are old objects, part from UNESCO heritage. It is hard for me to share my impressions. The only thing is to recommend you to visit them and leave AT LEAST one day for each of them.

I will share with you some, let’s say, organisational points which would make our trip easier if we had known about them before:

Telc:

1. there is an Information centre on the central square in Telc where one can get useful information as well as use Internet

2. you can leave your luggage in this Information centre paying just 15 Kc

Cesky Krumlov:

1. there is Information in the centre of the old town where you can easily leave your luggage.

2. it is ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN to enter the castle with bikes and luggage

Ceske Budejovice – Hluboka:

1. this is an outstanding and very beautiful palace, built in XIX c in New-English style. I lost my breath when I saw it closer.

2. the visitors are too many and it is possible not to be able to get tickets for the tours coming immediately but to have to wait for the later hours.

3. right next door to the palace there is a hotel where the Kc rate was much better than the ones in the town of Ceske Budejovice.

4. Hluboka is situated 12 km away form the town. It is very good to leave the bicycles in Ceske Budejovice and get the bus to the palace. At the town’s Information they will make you a detailed timetable of the buses in both directions. The price is low.

So time is saved that can be spared for more pleasant activities. May be you think that all the time we have been jumping from a castle to a palace and the opposite. This is almost like that. But there were also many days with no “cultural” activities. Such were the days when we passed through the Trebonsko preserve. We crossed it after Jindrjuhuv Hradec, across the town of Trebon on the way to Borovany. Crossing the preserve on a bike is the best one can do because the road is plain and it doesn’t take much effort to ride so that you have the chance just to enjoy the view.

All good things end quickly. So did our trip. We just got used to everything, we took our daily routine as a natural way of life and so the holiday was over and we had to go back to Bulgaria. Of course, we took our bus from Prague. This capital is one of the most beautiful in Europe but I will not talk about it – it is another story. I will only mention some useful, according to me, information:

1. the ticket for the metro costs 20 Kc and it is free for the bicycles. Riding them in the city is not pleasant.

2. there are lifts for invalids in the metro subway that can be used for the bikes.

3. the largest shop in Prague is Tesco in the quarter of Letnani. You can get there using Line C of the metro. The shop is 24 hours open. There are free and clean toilets and also big luggage cages, and the velo’s are tied on the stands in front while you are in…

And some more information instead of conclusions:

1. Bikes are transported with trains called “osobni”. The fare for them is 20 Kc. There is a discount for groups of 3 and more people. The bikes have to be entrained in the luggage van at the end or the beginning of the train, free from saddlebags. You have to inform the clerk there where they will be transported to.

2. The prices of the food are equal to those in Bulgaria. There is no sense to carry it from here. (The Euro Choco cream is cheaper!). The fruits and vegetables in the supermarkets are not delicious but it is the same in Bulgaria. You can find more delicious of them at the markets in the villages.

3. The prices of the sport goods are lower in orders than those in Bulgaria. An exception is the films for the photo cameras that come out to be about 10 lv per piece.

4. The prices of the tickets in the castles are lower if you chose a tour which is guided in Czech and not in English or some other language. In this case you can get written information in a chosen language (there is such a thing everywhere in English and German, more rare – in Russian)

5. It is better to get Crowns (Kc) from Bulgaria before going there

6. The shops as well as the change bureau’s (smenarna’s) are closed in Saturdays and Sundays.

7. It is good to prepare something like a dictionary of the most needed words like: water, bread, where is…, (is this) the way to… Well, this is all for now – some more – next year. I wish you interesting trips, with nice people, even we can meet somewhere along the world’s highways, riding bicycles…

Bye from me - Poli