Part 2 of Slovakia and Part 1 of Czech (a really long post)

 After the long hike we decided that we needed a way to cool down. The weather was going to hit 34 degrees today and we were already melting so we headed to a little place called Llavsky Rybnik where there was a lake we could swim and paddleboard in. We spent the rest of the day playing on the lake, until Rich crash landed on me as he tried to chuck me off the paddleboard and hurt my leg, and relaxing in the sun.

The next morning we headed out to a local town called Trencin where we parked up at the stadium and after we assured ourselves that it was safe, despite the weird man looking into a couple of cars – who then walked off – we headed off to see the town and the castle. First we headed to get a good view of the castle which was perched on top of the hill in the town and then we walked around the town before tackling the hill to get to the castle. We didn’t go into the castle but we got some good views of the castle and the surrounding town. After a short visit we headed back to Jeff, who was still safe, and headed on down to Bratislava which is the capital. We parked up about 8km out of the city but there were great bike routes, and I think probably the best bike lane system we have use, and before we knew it we were in the city. We parked up the bikes and wandered around the old town finding many of the quirky buildings and statues, like the town hall which still has a canon ball stuck in its wall and Cumil the sewer worker statue in the ground.

While this is a capital city it is small and compact and we managed to walk around the city fairly quickly and it felt really safe and more like a town rather than a city. It was made to feel more like a town as we kept bumping into the same tour group of Jewish boys time and time again. After a couple of hours walking we headed up to the castle, which again is on a hill, and wandered around its huge gardens to get lovely views over the city and good views of the castle which was already closed for the day. As it was still a roasting hot day we decided it was time for a cold beer so we headed down to the city where the bars was really starting to liven up. We chose a beer garden and got a couple of pints of beer which were a relief from the heat of the day before we headed to get some really good vegan sushi for dinner. We then had to hightail it back to Jeff fairly quickly as we realised we didn’t have lights on the bikes and it was already 8pm.

The next day we got up and as it was again boiling hot we headed into the city but to an airconditioned gym which I had found online. We have free day passes so we headed in and did a work out before we hit the sauna and the showers. Afterwards we headed to a nearby restaurant for some vegan French toast before we did a little shopping and then finally we headed back to Jeff and we were ready to get back behind the wheel and behind the aircon!

We decided to drive north for a bit and headed just over the border to Austria for the evening at a camper stop there. Well it was a weird one! The park up was in the park in a tiny village which really had nothing there, no shops and 1 little restaurant which wasn’t open. The only other people we saw were three people who were camping on the park and we couldn’t work out if they were homeless or travellers but they didn’t seem to have a car. As it was late and fairly warm we decided not to continue and spent the evening there waiting for the rain which was due but never really came.

The following morning we headed north and crossed the border to the Czech Republic and first headed to the supermarket as we were pretty much out of food again before we headed to a town called Mikulov where we parked up near the old town and first tackled the church on a hill (holy hill). The church and tower weren’t open but the views were great and it was nice to see the church and its outbuildings and it was a popular place as many people were hiking up the hill or relaxing at the top. After a short time up there we headed into the town and walked around it. It’s a busy little town as it’s a key stop on the wine route for this area and lots of people cycle to the different villages to try the wines of the region. We walked up to the castle and around the gardens before we headed back to the town and back to Jeff. We drove not far away to Pasohlavky where we could park up and get on the river on the paddleboard to cool down. We paddled down the river a little way and past the many packed campsites, including a naturist one. After about 1.5km we turned around (before we got too close to the damn) and headed back towards the van finally a little cooler. We then drove to just outside Brno where we planned to explore tomorrow and we found a little park up not far away. However what I failed to realise is it was close to the airport so we had to walk to the airport when a couple of planes were coming in for Rich to watch (along with a Czech family) and once back at the van we decided we had enough time to get some laundry done this evening, rather than waiting till the morning as planned, so we headed out and got that done at the nearby laundrette (this should be the last time we have to do it as hopefully now we have enough clean clothes to last us until we get back).

 

The next morning we got up and headed to a service point so we could fill the van with water (as we have had to have lots of showers in this heat) and headed into Brno where we walked around seeing more sights and statues. Brno is the second city of Czech and is a reasonable size but we were still able to see a lot of it in a couple of hours. We found several statues and peeked into several churches but there were some things that we were considering seeing that were closed due to it being a Sunday. After a couple of hours strolling around we headed to get some chips (that we had seen earlier that looked good) and some vegan ice cream (as yes its still really hot) before we headed back to Jeff.  

We then headed north to a town called Kromeriz where we walked to see the Archbishops palace as I wanted to see the extensive ornate gardens. We got to the gates into the gardens but they said closed due to bad weather (its glorious sunshine with no wind) which was confusing so we headed to the main entrance of the palace to see if we could get in another way but again it said the same thing. It appears there was a storm here yesterday and it has blown down some tree branches so they are clearing them up and its closed for today. Annoyed we headed back to the van and decided to carry on to Olomouc where we are parking up for the night before we explore it tomorrow.  We parked up near a lake to start with but the bugs were out in force so we headed into the town for the night and found a little space near a river just outside the centre which was nice and quiet.

The next morning we got up and headed out for a run which turned out to be a muddy run, as it had rained last night, but we managed a decent run before we showered and headed out into the town. Olomouc is a cute little place and when we got to the town square there were around 30 firefighters hanging around. We think they were setting up for a festival coming up but there wasn’t that much going on but they were nice to look at. The town square is also home to the Holy Trinity Column (undergoing renovations and therefore covered) and the Astronomical clock which is nicknamed the Communist clock which shows good communists such as labourers, farmers and factory workers and highlights significant dates in the communist calendar. We continued around the town and through the park exploring what else the town had to offer (not a huge amount more) before we headed back to the van and off to Kunta Hora. This is a very small town but has one significant tourist attraction called Sedlec Ossuary which is a chapel with the bones of 40,000 to 70,000 people. The history is that the abbot went to the holy land and returned with some earth from there and sprinkled it over the cemetery and therefore people from all around Europe wanted to be buried there and in the 1400s a church was built in the cemetery as an ossuary and many skeletons were exhumed to be displayed there. The bones are displayed in a coat of arms, a chandelier and large vessels. They cover the inside of the church and you cant look anywhere without seeing them. Technically they banned photography a few years ago but we did sneak (as did pretty much every person we saw) a couple of photos. As part of the ticket you also go into the local cathedral which is was barer than some of the others we have seen but we did get to go up into the eves of the cathedral where there was an art exhibition. Unfortunately there wasn’t a tower to climb but it was an interesting place to wander around for a little bit.

 We headed back to the van and continued our drive north to the woods this time and parked up in the middle of nowhere for the night which was lovely and quiet. The next morning we got up and drove a short distance down the road for the start of a hike we had planned up Czech’s tallest mountain Snezka. While there is a cable car all the way to the top we headed up the mountain from our car park walking through meadows, farms and forests to get to the top which also happens to be half in Czech and half in Poland so we happily crossed the border and stepped into Poland on the top. However up the top (because its so accessible with the cable car) it was really busy people everywhere and not the quiet mountain we had expected so after a short time and some food we headed back down the 1,000 meter climb to the van. We headed next to Jinolice where we parked up for the night next to a camper which looked abandoned (but people were in it the next day) and chilled next to the lake for the night.

 The next morning it was raining first thing and we were unsure if we should head out for the walk as planned but we decided a little rain wasn’t going to stop up and it was due to clear up so we got some tea in thermoses and headed out to Cesky Raj National park which contains huge sandstone pinnacles and cliffs. You felt dwarfed walking through the valleys between the cliffs and when standing on them. There was still a lot of mist in the air during the most part of the walk which gave the feeling of being in the jungle and a moody effect to the area. To get around all the cliffs and gorges we had to climb up and down lots of stairs including through some narrow staircases some how carved into the rocks. It was a really interesting and beautiful walk and after several hours we headed back to the van for breakfast.

Next up we headed in the van across the country to yet another national park, this was was called Bohemian Switzerland national park, despite not being in Switzerland. Here we parked up about 2km outside of the nearest town and start of many hikes because it’s a small town and campers are charged about 20 euros for a couple of hours parking. We walked into the town  and towards the hikes, suddenly realising we could have cycled all the way to the start of the hike which would have saved us about 1 hour. We started up the path finally after several kms into the park and up to our final destination, Pravcicka Brana (which is a large sandstone archway). We had considered a longer hike than just to the archway and back but because of a huge fire in 2021 much of the path is closed meaning you have to walk back the same way to get onto a different part of the path. Given that even with this shorter hike we have walked just under 50km today and yesterday we decided the slightly shorter walk was the way to go. The archway was impressive and we entered into the paid part of the park to get some better view points of the park and the archway itself and the extensive summerhouse which was built next to it by an Austrian Prince.  Once we had wandered around the area enough we headed back down the path and the long way back to the van. It had been a long day so we found a park up not too far away to head to but Waze took us some weird way meaning it took longer as we didn’t think Jeff could swim across the river (there was a small river boat but I'm not sure Jeff would have fitted). Once we reached the planned park up we found it was no longer suitable so we had to continue to another park up which we really didn’t want to do given how tired we were. However we got the next one and it was much nicer as it was next to a nice lake where people were swimming and out on paddleboards (although most were now coming in as it was 8pm.

The next morning, after a nice quiet night, we headed south to Prague and parked up about 8km outside the city. Now you know us normally we cycle in but today we got the metro and headed into the city (mostly because we have heard its not the best city to cycle in). Once in the city we wandered the old town and found the astronomical clock (which we saw chime on the hour), some interesting statues/art installations, the John Lennon wall, Vysehard fortress, walked over Charles Bridge, went into the 1942 museum (focusing on the assassination of a Nazi leader in the city), walked along the river, saw the dancing house, ate lots of vegan food and had some beer (very reasonably priced). It was a long but fun day and with the two days of walking beforehand our legs were done by the end of the day!

The next morning we got up and headed out in the van to a nearby gym where we managed to get a workout, sauna and a shower for free again. Afterwards we headed just south to a town called Pilsen. This is the town Pilsener was invented and is home to the Pilsner Urquell Brewery. We chilled for a little bit before we headed to the brewery for a tour and a tasting of unfiltered beer.   The tour was just under 2 hours and took us to the packing area, the brew house (both old and new) and the cellars. It was interesting to see the bottles and cans zooming around the plant and being filled and you could see the cans open with the beer inside them being moved along the production line before being sealed. The brew houses had the kettles where they heat the beer and mash the malt before adding the hops and the cellars were impressive as while we only saw a small section there were over 9kms worth of cellars which were kept cold to help the beer ferment (which we also saw in some open barrels) and is where we got a taste of the beer.  We ended up buying some beer before we headed back to the van for dinner and the beer!

 

The barrels in Pilsen brewery that a small amount is still brewed in

A small section of the 9km cellars at the brewery

Some of the copper kettles used to heat the ingredients to make beer

Some of the copper kettles used to heat the ingredients to make beer

Other things needed to heat the beer

The historic water tower at the brewery

The dancing house - Prague

A bar near the river in Prague

The grotto in Prague park

Chai latte and a Kraffin - it was very good

A creepy baby statue (one of three) in the park in Prague

The view across the river in Prague

Grumpy old man statue in Prague (should also be called Rich!)

Lennon wall in Prague 

Bohemian Switzerland national park

Bohemian Switzerland national park

Pravcicka Brana 

A burnt log in the Bohemian Switzerland national park

A misty morning walk in Cesky Raj National park 

The sandstone obelisks in Cesky Raj National park 

A close up of the sandstone 

The view from the mountain top - Snezka

The view across the meadows near the bottom of Snezka

The only Polish sign we could find at the top of Snezka

The cloud was coming in on the mountain top

We are in Czech again (after Poland) on Snezka

The bone church in Kunta Hora

A coat of arms made of different types of bones

A sand sculpture in Olomouc 

The archbishops chateau with the closed gardens - Kromeriz 

Vegan ice cream in Brno

The astronomical clock in Brno with people waiting at noon instead of 11am 

Our entry into Czech

Vegan sushi in Prague -  we had two plates of sushi and beer 

Beer brewing in open barrels in Pilsen

Pilsner brewery

Penguin statue in Prague which highlights climate change and the use of plastic

A beaver in the river in Prague

Astronomical clock in Olomouc 

Cathedral in Prague

Hanging man statue in Prague

A butterfly and plane combo on a building in Prague

More obelisks in Cesky Raj National park

Cesky Raj National park forest/gorge section

A view through into the gorges - Cesky Raj National park

A narrow staircase carved into the rocks - Cesky Raj National park 

A misty morning - Cesky Raj National park

The castle in Mikulov 

Holy Hill church in Mikulov 

A view from the castle in Bratislava - Slovakia

The UFO in Bratislava 

Cumil the sewer worker 

Slovakia National theatre Bratislava

Trencin castle