9/21/06 - Melnik-Litomerice-Decin (65mi)
It was almost a shame to leave our huge apartment this morning as 6:30am came real quick. The frigid air at that hour cut right through our jackets.
The route in the AM was nice, flat, and easy. We travelled thru some real small villages including Vlineves and Dolni Berkovice. We saw a lot of pipe bridges today. Pipes containing water, oil, hey..maybe even beer extended across and over entire rivers. Rode past the main electric plan for the Melnik region which seemed exciting only to an engineer.
It was a straight shot to Litomerice (pronounced Lit-tim-erich). About 22.4 km into our ride our route sheets read "Entering a little wood." What can I say...I was excited.
Litomerice was a quick pit stop. My attempt to order a sandwich and a Coke sounded like a dysfuntional child. One word ever 3 seconds and pointing and smiling.
We took a side trip of about 2 miles to Terrazin. This was once a transfer point for thousands of Jews during the Holocaust to the death camps. There were so many that ended up dying here that they built a Crematorium to handle the dead. The cemetary and surrounding memorials were quite moving. They had rooms where actual autopsys were performed. Incredible this happened only 60 or so years ago.
The 2nd half of our trip to Decin (pronounced Dech-in), took place across miles of dirt and asphalt bike paths along the River Labe. Just after Castle Streckov, we found an acutal beach bar along the river called Vlak Beach Bar. A nice small bar with a hollowed out ship for a dance floor and a kitty litter size patch of sand along the river's edge. The Krusovice beer was cold and well worth the stop. No food except for the bag of peanuts we bought.
In Decin, we stayed at the Ceska Koruna hotel. Really nice place. After a much needed "Coca-Cola light at the nearby market, we had dinner a local spot near the hotel. Our waitress spoke Czech, Italian, and Spanish but no English. Nonetheless we prevailed in our food choices and are still in disbelief that one can get full on a great meal with drinks for under $12.
In Germany tomorrow, back to the damn Euro.
It was almost a shame to leave our huge apartment this morning as 6:30am came real quick. The frigid air at that hour cut right through our jackets.
The route in the AM was nice, flat, and easy. We travelled thru some real small villages including Vlineves and Dolni Berkovice. We saw a lot of pipe bridges today. Pipes containing water, oil, hey..maybe even beer extended across and over entire rivers. Rode past the main electric plan for the Melnik region which seemed exciting only to an engineer.
It was a straight shot to Litomerice (pronounced Lit-tim-erich). About 22.4 km into our ride our route sheets read "Entering a little wood." What can I say...I was excited.
Litomerice was a quick pit stop. My attempt to order a sandwich and a Coke sounded like a dysfuntional child. One word ever 3 seconds and pointing and smiling.
We took a side trip of about 2 miles to Terrazin. This was once a transfer point for thousands of Jews during the Holocaust to the death camps. There were so many that ended up dying here that they built a Crematorium to handle the dead. The cemetary and surrounding memorials were quite moving. They had rooms where actual autopsys were performed. Incredible this happened only 60 or so years ago.
The 2nd half of our trip to Decin (pronounced Dech-in), took place across miles of dirt and asphalt bike paths along the River Labe. Just after Castle Streckov, we found an acutal beach bar along the river called Vlak Beach Bar. A nice small bar with a hollowed out ship for a dance floor and a kitty litter size patch of sand along the river's edge. The Krusovice beer was cold and well worth the stop. No food except for the bag of peanuts we bought.
In Decin, we stayed at the Ceska Koruna hotel. Really nice place. After a much needed "Coca-Cola light at the nearby market, we had dinner a local spot near the hotel. Our waitress spoke Czech, Italian, and Spanish but no English. Nonetheless we prevailed in our food choices and are still in disbelief that one can get full on a great meal with drinks for under $12.
In Germany tomorrow, back to the damn Euro.
posted by skatzer at 12:57 PM
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