Day10

Rural Central Europe at its best.

Austria-Czech Republic

Getting out of bed in time and meeting each other on the stairway down to the exit. It looked as if Alina and also Raphael had already left the place. So, we silently left. Riding through Austria‘s Waldviertel gave us a totally peaceful impression. Everyone was still asleep, some fog was still hanging deep down in the small valleys and it was obvious to see that the rolling hills from the day before will become smaller and smaller. As we reached Zwettl, we had to ask some early birds for a bakery that we could find after some turns, but definitely never ever without asking. We had sandwiches, coffee and some sweet pastry. The clock was ticking, a small breakfast paired with some conversation was really time consuming, if you plan to make some distance. The day consisted of constant climbs and descends, lots of road works on behind the Czech border and a good portion of sun. For lunch, we decided to stopp in Pelhrimov. First we found a canteen by looking at the beer delivery guy on the road. Ivan was not really happy about the selection, we moved on, a bad thing if it was only about refueling. Today, things were more relaxed as we had company. We rode into the old city center and found a billboard listing some dish options. We stopped again and went inside to see when was going on. A very simple but quick dish appeared on the table. Pork, rice and some dark sauce, I loved it. On the way out, Ivan still needed to have some business conversation and myself demanded for an espresso. Nico needed a rest so all of us had something more to do. I spotted a lovely small café when arriving, so I guided us to that place and we stopped for another 30mins before filling up our stocks at a supermarket.

NICO: This café was so nicely made, in the middle of Czech Republic! I must confess, I was surprised.

Not an efficient day but a lovely one. From there we cycled up to Kutna Hora where we had dinner together with Ivan. He left for Prague from here and we planned to ride a little longer again to make it to the bottom of cp3. We had some intermediate rest on two benches in the middle of a tiny village very close to the border. Around 0200 in the morning we reached Vrchlabi, app. 10kms away from the Polish border. During the night we tried to figure out a good place to rest, the outskirts did not seem to be attractive for a rest. On the map a rather large park showed up in the heart of the village, directly next to our path. As we entered the park, I was hoping for some comfy wooden benches or tables but what we found was a decent wooden house with a warm wooden floor. Perfect shelter for this night! Again we covered quite a long distance even though we were not really rushing. Tomorrows parcours is going to be painfully steep but short.

 

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