9 New Friend - Prague - Thunderstorm

Friday, 14.8.2020

Route: Kamyk nad Vltavou - Prague

Kilometers: approx. 85

Elevation: approx. 500

Weather: initially cloudy, later sunny, then thunderstorm and rain

8:22 am (Julle)

We're having breakfast. I'm already finished, but Max is still not. Last night we finished a bottle of wine - Nico and I were not sober anymore. But we're surprisingly fine. Nico accidentally salts her cake and even claims it's good. It will probably rain today. That's why we may need to repack and put the rain gear on top. On the other hand, the frozen pasta salad should be in the middle. It must never get wet!

1:02 pm (Nico)

We are currently on a small bridge over a stream in the forest, having lunch after about 43km. Today we are again 4 people. We multiplied overnight because of the two bottles of wine :D. Just kidding. We already saw another cyclist at the accommodation, but he had already left before us. After about 15km, we caught up with him and have been cycling together towards Prague since then. He is from Hanover and his name is Thorsten. He's really nice and now Max finally has someone who can keep up with his uphill pace.

The place where we are sitting is really beautiful. It's a small campsite with horses and everything. So cute. On our way, we also passed a horse ranch. It looked just like in the movies. Today we have already crossed 3 small water spots. We even had our feet in the water, which was clear and not as cold as the Vltava.

Okay, our pasta salad is now gone, which means we will continue soon. We have about 35km left. Maybe we will bypass the last difficult uphill sections and ride along the road next to the Vltava. We'll see if the path is suitable for that or not. But for now, we all quickly go to the toilet, have another drink, and then continue riding!

5:32 pm (Julle)

It's pouring rain. But we don't mind! Because we are already in Prague, even in the colorful hostel and showered. Awesome! The lights even flickered because there's a thunderstorm outside. The thunder is really loud. It makes the room even more cozy. We are all lying on the beds, listening to music, and enjoying the feeling of a school trip, supported by the bunk beds. But now, let's start from the beginning:

Nico has probably already talked about our lunch break. We were at a small stream and sat on a metal bridge. Thorsten told us about his cycling tours through Europe. It was not only interesting, but also natural that he belonged to our group. He seemed comfortable with us (and we with him), he had a similar speed and understanding of breaks, and at no time did he annoy us (at least not me). We devoured the pasta salad, it was incredibly delicious! Then we continued riding. From here, it was about 40km mostly downhill or flat, except for one huge mountain.

First, we rode - despite the thunderstorm and rain warning and increasing sunshine - along a small stream lined with individual houses with gardens and mainly beige rocks. It looked very pretty! Then the little stream flowed into the Vltava and we rode about 5km on a busy road, flat and directly next to the Vltava. The traffic wasn't that bad and the view was amazing! On the opposite side of the Vltava, cliffs steeply descended into the water and the river itself meandered through the hills.

Then the path led away from the main road and the Vltava and steeply uphill. And there were only two of us in our group: Max and Thorsten rode the uphill meters, and Nico and I decided to continue following the main road. As planned, our route was just as great as before, and because a lot of construction was happening on our side of the road, we had to wait at several traffic lights. The advantage was that there were usually no cars behind us that could overtake us because we let them all pass at the short green light.

At a bridge, about 12km before the center of Prague, we met again, and through suburbs and well-developed bike paths along the waterfront and front gardens, we reached the beautiful Vltava riverside of Prague. There we said goodbye to Thorsten, who wanted to find accommodation.

We pushed ahead, past a man with an owl, the dancing houses, the Charles Bridge, and through the huge square with a church and town hall, whose name I can't remember right now. On the way to our hostel, we wanted to treat ourselves to ice cream, but off the beaten path, we found something even more amazing: lovingly decorated donuts filled with ice cream. Very delicious. But so calorie-rich that I couldn't finish mine entirely. But why do we have Max?

Shortly after, we found our somewhat hidden, super cute hostel. Everything is pink and turquoise, and the receptionist is very friendly. Now we're just chilling a bit until the rain stops, then we'll continue exploring Prague, especially in terms of culinary experiences.

8:42 pm (Max)

We are in Prague, we have showered, and Nico unpacked very neatly, visible to everyone. We also went out to dinner, we had goulash.

We are currently in a bar in Prague and have had beer. And now we switched to various other soft drinks like spirits, and my nachos were eaten. And the bar is amazing, that's why the others just got up to inspect the bar.

Tomorrow we will continue exploring Prague before taking the train home at noon. I'm curious if we will actually arrive there.