Olomouc: Hills and floods

September 13, 2014

I was really thinking that I didn't like Czech food very much at all. That was until last night when I had a really delicious meal, probably the best of the trip. I had trout with bacon and herbed butter (I know that because there was an English translation on the menu) and a side order of potatoes and vegetables. Everything was perfectly cooked and with it I had half a litre of Czech beer and it was all elegantly served. Total cost for the two of us 350Kr that is NZ$20 or 12E.

Our route today was through the Drahan Hills and it was a relentless climb as we had expected and at times too steep for us too ride, we were however spared mud as we were on smallish roads most of the time. Some of it was in forest and some beside farming areas. We had left late and by 10am had only done 7km. After 18km we had a lovely surprise we had reached the highest point and the small rivers were going in the opposite direction. We had had nothing but uphill since we left Brno on Friday morning. Now for a wild headlong ride straight downhill to about the height we had been two days ago. First through a small village and then into the Moravian Greenway. This is an amazing paved path with a perfect surface that takes you at break neck speed through thick rather spooky forest beside a raging torrent. There was one other couple toiling their way up in the opposite direction and we heard chain saws working high up in the forest at one point and saw log hauling equipment. We were freezing by the time we were spat out at the other end. We felt like the Tour de France on a long downhill stage!

After this it was just a matter of picking our way to Olomouc mostly on roads but sometimes on tracks however we gave this up in the end when twice we had to turn back because of flooding after all the rain we have had. Olomouc is a beautiful city that they describe as the little Prague. I had booked accommodation at a hotel near the soaring St Wenceslas Cathedral. Arriving late there was really not much time to have a good look around which was a bit of a shame. Our room is amazing, very modern, very big and has frig, pots and pans etc and a hot plate so we headed back to the Billa and bought stuff to cook ourselves a meal.

These churches are typical of the small towns we pass through

NO I haven't taken to drinking beer instead of water when I ride. Ken bought it at the Co-op and it was so warm this seemed the best way to cool it

Here is a question for an expert. What is it? It has 2 cylinders and has a crank start

What is a European Saturday without a wedding?

Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 2,286 km (1,420 miles)

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