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27/07/07We left Germany under beautiful clear blue skies and temps getting up to 31 degrees. Emily had us turn right at Dresden and from there until about 90kms on we were travelling on a single lane road (both directions) into the Czech Republic before we hit another motorway! A really backward road but the only one in from here. Bikes do not have to pay to use the motorway system although cars do. We were stopped at the border and had our passports stamped – out of Germany and into Czech Republic. I always feel worried and guilty at borders or customs control because the officers are so serious and stern. Ingel said, in response to his question, that we were NZers so I handed over both NZ passports and they really searched his to find his Dover stamp. I had one in my passport but not Ingel. We then clicked and gave them his Dutch passport with the Dover stamp in it. Not sure they were too impressed. Just over the border we changed money from € to Koruna - €270 gave us 7100K!The countryside was very dry with pale insipid grass after Germany’s lush green. Lots of maize and wheat growing and very old and dilapidated, empty buildings. There were also many kind ladies on the sides of the roads waiting to give men a helping hand (?). A couple waved out to Ingel but he kept on riding. We had fun (?) finding the camp as two were not where their coordinates said they were to be. In the end after almost an hour we just followed some signs on the roadside and ended up at Camp Sunny. Very clean, quiet and quite small but in the middle of tall apartment buildings! A strange place for a campsite. There is lots of new development in the area with new supermarkets, subway nearby and industrial sites. Everything here is sooooooo cheap. The roads in the entire centre of the city and part way beyond are all paved with cobblestones which played havoc with the bike and trailer as we bumped over them.We tubed into the centre of Praha this morning. What a beautiful city. It is stunning. Very old and beautifully maintained. It survived both world wars basically untouched. There is a mixture of Gothic, Romanesque and Baroque style buildings and it feels as if time has stood still and you are back in the 17/18th century. The Old Town Hall is in the old town square but the New Town Hall is in a different square. One is the Old because it was built in 14th century and the ‘new’ one was built in 17th century. The Karlủv most (Charles Bridge) is adorned with 30 statues dating from the 18th century. Under the clock tower of the Old Town Hall is an astronomical clock built in 1410. We joined the crowds and waited until the top of the hour when a skeleton rang the bell and two windows opened and ceramic (?) apostles paraded by. Quite fascinating and a great piece of engineering. The statue of St Wenceslas looks down Václavské, a very wide avenue about 1 1/2kms long. I, of course had to sing the song. We also had to go to a place mentioned in the Lonely Planet book. It is a travel company organising tours to various parts of the world and selling maps and is called Kiwi Adventura! We had a 20 minute tour around the town in a 1923 Skoda convertible. It was fun and the driver was a real character. Our driver told us the city is very expensive for rents so on one street there are only 2 businesses owned by Czechs…… the rest are all foreigners. In fact down the Václavské (the long main street down from Wenceslas’ statue) we saw Marks & Spencer, C&A, Debenhams, H&M – all British stores. We climbed the 340 steps up to the castle on the hill where the President still has his official residence. Tourists abound and souvenir shops are everywhere but they are not gaudy stalls jutting out on the streets, they are in proper shops and sell arts and crafts of the country rather than tacky unrelated things. There are many art galleries and exhibition shops to purchase from, displaying art works from local people and also Bohemian crystal shops by the dozen. Oh, if only we had the space in our trailer. We both thought Praha was beautiful as everyone we have met has said so. Nikalas loved it as well and now we can see why. 28/07/07Well, I have had motor bike racer husband, hero husband and today - criminal husband! We set off today to ride through the countryside to see Karlštejn Castle. The sign pointed straight ahead to the village and the castle but Emily told us to turn right which, obedient to her wishes that he is, Ingel obeyed. We travelled along little tree lined lanes which were very pretty and eventually came into the castle area. We could not find a carpark so Ingel told me to wait while he went down the road a wee way. I sat and watched people walking up to the castle and heard the bike go back the way we had come. Ahah, thought I, he is going back to the signpost. Forty-five minutes later he climbed up the hill to where I was sitting. I was laughing thinking he had had a long walk when he asked had I seen what had happened. His story is as follows:Going down the lane, he was stopped by a policeman in a car“nflk;kjsesgfne,m”“Sorry, I only speak English.”“What’s this?”“I’m looking for a car park.”“Yes, but what is this?” Indicating Ingel and the bike.Ingel, getting a little cross because he had ascertained the man spoke English very well, replied “A motorbike!”“Oh, oh.”“Now can you help me and tell me where the carpark is?”“It is down in the village.”“Can I go this way?” (straight ahead)“No, you must turn around and go back.”“Well can I collect my wife?”“No, just GO!” and with that he escorted my law-breaking husband up passed the castle and back to the main road.After Ingel had recovered from walking the climb for 2.5kms we continued on to look at the castle. It is high on a ridge and built in the 14th century. When we had finished we walked back down to the village and passed little souvenir shops all along the way. Some selling rubbishy junk and others selling Bohemian crystal.Sunday dawned very grey looking but we took a ride to Kutná Hora, a city east of Praha. Nearby, Sedlec began as a Cistercian monastery in about the 11 century then large silver deposits were found under it and it developed into Bohemia’s 2nd most important city. In the plague of 1318, 30 000 people lost their lives and were buried in the monastery cemetery. Bones were piled up around the chapel and in 1511 a half-blind monk began piling them into pyramids. In the 18th century the chapel was redesigned and this included designs for decorations using the bones. In 1784 the ruler Josef II abolished the monastery and it was bought by a local family who had it rebuilt in its present form. A local wood carver began making the decorations that are seen today. Well what can I say about it? It is believed to house the bones of 40 000 people forming such works of art (?) as chalices, chandelier, candelabras, coat of arms and pyramids. In the pyramids the bones are all just placed on top of each other in their patterns without any binding at all. The chandelier is said to contain at least one of all 206 bones in the human body and the coat of arms of the owning family has the skull of a Turk someone in the family killed during a battle in 1598 when they ousted the Turks. The skull has a bird pecking at the eye socket and the bird is all human bone as well. The wing is the hand bones and the beak is a ball and socket joint bone. Look closely at the right hand side of the coat of arms to see the bird (if you want to). The pyramids are topped by wooden crowns and the whole thing is to remind people of the limits of human life and the fact of death and to respect life and be aware of their responsibility to God. The whole thing was quite macabre but a once in a lifetime visit. Whew!
