6 Accident - Abbreviation - Bears

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Route: Vltava Cycle Path (Jenisov - Cesky Krumov)

Kilometers: 77

Altitude: 1040 meters

Weather: cloudy with sun

8:19 AM (Alex)

Breakfast time. The others are telling me what to write, but I'm not really excited about any idea. Max got stung, Julle says he should spit on it, but Nico was faster and finally got to spit on Max.

Somehow it's funny that we cope better with German here than with English. But the borders are not far away.

The other three girls are having problems with their black tea because Julle doesn't want to put any milk in it as a matter of principle... We are now waiting a while for our food.

1:16 PM (Nico)

First real break for today at our stopover in Vyssi Brod after about 40km. Everyone seems to be full except for Max. Today we cycled along a really beautiful path along the Vltava river. But first we had to get back to the right bank from Jenisov. After about 15km we finally made it. But we just missed the ferry. Fortunately, the next one came after just a quarter of an hour, so it didn't actually endanger our schedule. On the ferry, we chatted with two Austrians who were on their way to Salzburg. When we were on the other side, Julle's map matched our way of riding again.

The path was really nice: on paved cycle paths in the shade through the woods. Very relaxing. It continued like this until we reached the nuclear power plant, uh, hydroelectric power plant in Lipno.

We rode a nice long downhill path until we had to cross the railway tracks for the umpteenth time. And bang, Julle fell off her bike. And there she lay, passing the post with her head and with her knee scraped. But Julle is tough, of course. After a short first aid, we continued.

After the accident, we continued in the woods. This time on a very narrow gravel path with a lot of ups and downs. A really cool mountain bike trail. But the coolest part was the surroundings. On the left, a beautiful forest with huge rocks. On the right, a wooden railway track and next to it a "raging" river between many more rocks. We stayed on it for about 5-10km and crossed the railway tracks at least 10 times.

Shortly after we left the woods, we were back on the Vltava again, crossing the railway tracks a few more times until we arrived in the beautiful town of Vissy Brod. We are currently sitting here and having lunch.

The place has a really cool church, a monastery, and a boat rental with a funny name, something with Kunigunde or so. Krissi, Julle, and Max are quickly going down to the water to cool off their feet. And when they come back, we will continue. (Krissi should still be thrown into the water.)

3:38 PM (Julle)

Break, the first since noon. We are currently on a meadow at the edge of Rozmittal and listening to après-ski hits from the local youth. The place is really nice, there is a big village street with a COOP supermarket, the first one here. The place before was called Rozemberk, it was really beautiful! With a castle or palace, the Vltava river was flowing through the middle, there were a few shops and stalls (very cute), and an old church. From the bridge, teenagers were jumping into the water. We rode through it and looked at the life and the old houses.

Then Max found a "shortcut" that was so steep that we all had to push our bikes. Max managed it with ease, but the rest of us struggled. And then Max came back and helped Alex, Nico, and me to push our bikes up. That's why Max is our hero of the day today!

After that, it went uphill and downhill again, just like before the town. More uphill. I actually found it quite meditative. Alex was annoyed and repeatedly expressed that she wasn't having fun. Krissi's buttocks hurt, Max is currently repairing all the bikes, and Nico is generously distributing food. Tuc biscuits and snakes.

Now we have 18km left to Cesky Krumlov, where we will spend the night. But until then, we still have some more altitude meters to conquer.

6:00 PM (Krissi)

So, we finally arrived. Max, Julle, and Nico kindly went to the reception because it's a bit far away. Alex and I, on the other hand, were approached about our big "Tour de France". Apparently, we look like we're still fit enough to do such a bike tour - of course! ;)

Well, you have to admit, the part of Cesky Krumlov that we have seen so far is really, really beautiful. We are currently standing in front of our accommodation in a not-so-nice alley. But it doesn't matter.

The path there was hilly, but I found it scenically really great. Luckily not too sunny. But the most beautiful part was along the Vltava before our lunch break, before Julle had her accident.

So now I just hope that we will soon be able to take a shower and then explore this beautiful old town a bit more.

8:00 PM (Julle)

We are sitting in the restaurant and waiting for our food. We already have our drinks, except for Nico, we are all drinking homemade, very tasty lemonade. The atmosphere here is great: very close to the Vltava, on a terrace, three musicians are playing damn awesome music. One has a double bass, one has a clarinet, and the last one has a dulcimer, and surprisingly many people are passing by or dancing. Directly behind the river, there is a beautiful church and the castle, and we are all happy.

When Krissi wrote the last entry, Nico, Max, and I were walking through the town looking for the reception. And the woman there was sooo cool! She even told jokes and told us stories from her life, really funny! And on our search, we have already seen a lot of the town, really beautiful.

Right now, the others are talking about Corona. Here we don't need masks or anything, everything is completely normal here, and that's really nice for a change.

Afterwards, we want to enjoy the wine we just bought at the Vltava riverbank and celebrate our last evening together.

9:35 PM (Krissi)

We just had ice cream and looked at the town. It's a really beautiful place. The ice cream was satisfying too. Now we are sitting on the balcony and drinking wine. It was really difficult to open the wine, but now it's working slowly. We can drink now. And we're chatting with a French woman passing through.

Afterthought (Max)

Hello! There are bears in the castle moat. Actually, there are only two, but you shouldn't feed them. But they are probably still hungry. Krissi is not satisfied with their species-appropriate keeping.