Saturday 27th September 2008 – Zell am Ziller, Tyrol, Austria

It's 'Grosser Almabtrieb mit Dorffest' in Zell am Ziller – in other words, it is a festival to celebrate the bringing down of the cows from the high pasture. This is a tradition in many Alpine areas and the cows wear elaborate headdresses as they parade through the town.
We had been told that the route of the cows took them past the campsite but the first herd, earlier than expected at 09:30 took another route. I wanted to photograph them on the outskirts of the town before they reached the crowded centre and so we walked a few hundred metres out of town from the campsite. Nothing happened and we couldn't find anyone who knew when the next herd would arrive. We walked into town and found the crowds of people from the many coaches, mainly German, that we had seen pouring in. Here a Zell am Ziller band of three brothers called Zellberg Buam was performing. Their 'Fanshop' was seething and middle-aged and older fans were buying CDs, stickers, T-shirts etc. and queuing to have them signed by the brothers. Given that most of the visitors were German and the band hadn't even started playing yet, we concluded that the band must be very well known outside the area and outside Austria. We resisted the temptation to buy any of their goods even though they were very good. It was the kind of music that sounded good in the country but we would not have played it when we got home. There were also a number of craft stalls to see such as a talented woodcarver, a basket maker and a still producing schnapps.
Just before midday I decided to walk up the road to the campsite and came across the next herd. Most of these herds come from the area of the Gerlos pass where there is access to the Summer pastures and this road is the obvious access to the town. In past times, the cows would have been decorated using fresh flowers but these days plastic flowers and tinsel predominate. We were both surprised at how religious the parade was – almost every cow had either a religious message or a painting of Jesus, Mary or one of the saints.
Having taken some photographs, I moved on to the bottom of the Gerlos road before it entered the tow. I had a short wait but then, announced by the Fire Station siren, a number of herds came down the road. I followed them into town to the crowded centre somewhat disturbed by the state of the roads and pavements. In such a tidy country as Austria, how could they allow the cows to cover the asphalt in cow-shit? And there was the aroma or should I say stink? The Austrians shouldn't allow it but then farming, and especially dairy farming, is so much part of life here.
We continued listening to Zellberg Buam and watched the dancers who were excellent. Herds of cows continued to pass through and after a beer and bratwurst with mustard, we followed one of the passing herds. They crossed the river and walked up beside the river. Here we came across another stage with a local band playing, although they were not as good as Zellberg Buam. We returned to the campsite but herds continued to pass until late in the afternoon.
Photos: The woodcarver producing a typical carving of a forest man; The cows didn't respect the fact that pavements are for pedestrians and it was often necessary to take avoiding action; The cowherds struggled to keep the cows in check on the hill – they had been doing this for the 17 kilometres from Gerlos; The cows round the bend before entering Zell am Ziller.

Friday 26th September 2008 – Zell am Ziller, Tyrol, Austria

The weather was definitely better this morning although it had rained during the night and we were unlikely to get away with a totally dry day. We decided that a visit to Mayrhofen, just a few kilometres up the valley, was in order. We wanted to go on the train but didn't know the train times so we took the five minute walk into the centre and discovered that the next normal train was in three quarters of an hour. There was also a steam train in half an hour but, being three times the price, we decided against that. However, we wanted to see the train so, after a further exploration of the town, we returned to the station at the appointed hour. It was late and, when it arrived, we were glad that we hadn't booked a seat. The train was very long and almost all of the coaches were reserved for groups. If we had travelled on it, we would have been right at the back and would not have really been aware that it was a steam loco.
It was a pretty journey to Mayrhofen and we then walked into the town. It is a large ski resort and is also popular with Summer coach trips. After the compactness and rural nature of Zell, it was a bit of a shock being full of hotels, restaurants and tourist shops. We were particularly impressed by the arty craft shop that was selling a dried cow pat for €29.90 (£24) – perhaps this a business opportunity when I return to Somerset as there is plenty of raw material there and it is available at a very reasonable cost. The scenery around was however spectacular and the large cable cars could be used to explore, or ski, high up in the surrounding mountains.
After an excellent cake and coffee looking and the mountains and one of the cable cars, we explored the outskirts of the town and then, with it starting to drizzle, headed back to the station.
In the evening we went to see the Zell am Ziller Town Band playing their final concert of the season. We arrived when they were playing the 'Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves', one of my favourite classical pieces. They were very good and one of the most interesting pieces that they played the Adagio from the Concerto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo. I had only ever heard this played on a Spanish guitar but it worked very well with a brass band.
Photos: The Ziller Valley steam train leaving Mayrhofen; The Zell am Ziller Town Band.

Thursday 25th September 2008 – Zell am Ziller, Tyrol, Austria

The gentle rain during the night continued into the morning and, as per forecast, it looked as though we were in for a wet day. Jane did some washing and met another couple in the laundry area. A difficult conversation followed in broken German until they discovered that they all spoke English – they were American! I arrived and we ended up having a long chat in the laundry. Dave and Susan were a lovely couple and we invited them over for a drink this evening.
The whole day was spent in the van with gentle rain falling all day with an occasional lull. This gave plenty of time for reading and catching up with the blog. We are hoping that the weather forecast for tomorrow, showing somewhat drier weather, is correct.
Dave and Sue came around and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours with them. We found out that they were just a couple of years younger and married when she was 20 years old and he was 19, just the same as us! They live in Milwaukee but he travels widely in his job as an engineer. He is also very keen on photography and, like me, takes far too many photographs when on holiday.
Photos: The cloudy view down the valley this morning. Compare and contrast with yesterday's photograph!

Wednesday 24th September 2008 – Zell am Ziller, Tyrol, Austria

The weather forecast was much better for today and it was correct. We woke to find one of those lovely Alpine days – blue skies, wisps of clouds around the mountains and clear views of the peaks. It was definitely a day for walking.
The very helpful lady in the tourist information office and recommended two walks to us, both of which started from the town. We chose the one that went east in the direction of Gerlos, the way that we had travelled to Zell. A few hundred metres of road walking from the campsite brought us to the start of the footpaths and we were soon passing the site of gold mines from the 17th century. We walked up the steep path past evidence of opencast mining (removal of rock directly from the mountainside) and the remains of exploratory shafts. The boards informed us that 300,000 tonnes of rock were removed and 1 tonne of gold extracted before the mines closed. This being Austria, it is all very neat now with no scar on the landscape visible from afar. We passed a pretty pilgrimage church on the way up to the village of Dorfl. The views of the Ziller Valley on the way up, when we were out of the woods, and from the village were excellent. In Dorfl we found another example of excellent Austrian organisation – an attractive, purpose built public building that housed the school, kindergarten, public offices and even, in garages under the building, the fire station.
Dorfl was the highest part of the walk and soon after we started our descent towards the hamlet of Bichl, we found a seat in the sun and sat down to eat our sandwiches. The route down took us past a mixture of pasture and woodland including an area that had recently been felled. Unsurprisingly, the journey down was much quicker than the walk up and we were soon back at the campsite. The clouds were beginning to form and there were ominously black clouds hanging over the mountains in the east. As evening arrived, so did the rain, gentle but persistent.
Photos: The wonderfully sunny and clear views down the valley from the campsite; This cow came to greet us at the beginning of the walk; A view of Zell from the walk – the campsite is situated in the bottom of the valley on this side of the town, just above the second house from the left, in the middle of the picture; The local farmer was cutting grass, raking it together and loading it into this backpack basket.

Tuesday 23rd September 2008 – Zell am Ziller, Tyrol, Austria

The clouds clung around the mountainsides, obscuring the peaks and rain was threatening. Over breakfast we listened to the bells of the cows grazing in the field next to the campsite. Today was about exploring Zell am Ziller and, after doing chores in the morning, we set off on the short walk into the centre of the town. We had stayed in Zell am Ziller twice before but both visits were over thirty years ago. We thought that we would remember parts of the town but neither of recognised anything. We did however remember that it was very tidy and very pretty and that was certainly still the case. The impressive main church is surrounded by an immaculately-kept churchyard that is full of flowers. The interior is also very pretty with a beautifully painted dome. The town centre is very compact and the wide river Ziller, less tan 100m from the church, marks the edge of the town. The green and white icy-looking water, nearly 2m deep, rushes past – there must be a large volume of water passing and during the spring snow melt it must be huge. As always in Austria towns and villages, there are flowers everywhere and in the central park we found an army of people digging up the flower beds in order to plant different flowers. The old flowers were still in bloom and looking pretty, but everything had to go including bushes three and four feet high. Looking at the quality of the public buildings, facilities and parks, and the immaculately maintained roads, footpaths etc., I wonder how much the Austrians pay in tax. I can remember our hosts 30 years ago bemoaning the fact that they had to pay a considerable proportion of their income to the Roman Catholic Church in order to ensure that their children got a good education and I wonder whether this is still the case. I am sure that he cost of living in Austria is high but the country is very beautiful and seems to be very well organised. Voting in the Austrian General Election is taking place on Sunday and BBC Radio 4 reported this morning that there is another upsurge in support for the Austrian far right parties with their ultra-nationalistic, anti-immigration policies. There is a danger that they will get power as part of a coalition in the new parliament. Last time that this happened, it caused a real fuss in the rest of Europe, reminding many of the strong Nazism in Austria before and during the Second World War. End of rant!
We went to the tourist information office when it reopened at 14:30 and obtained a map of the town and the surrounding area together with details of local walks. This is another thing that the Austrian's are very good at – tourist information and marked walking trails.
The campsite has got WiFi Internet but at €5 per hour it is expensive so we decided to look for other options in the town. We went to the only Internet/gaming shop in the town and used their WiFi at a cost of ...... €5 for an hour – I think that there is a cartel operating in Zell am Ziller!
Photos: This farm is right in the centre of Zell with the cows in the pasture behind. This is typical of Zell and many other Austrian towns and villages, houses interspersed by farms and fields.

Monday 22nd September 2008

More rain during the night but it had stopped by the time that we left. The whole of the journey was through spectacular mountain scenery, over high passes and, almost always, following streams up and down valleys. I had noticed that Zell am See, a popular package destination many years ago, was only just off our route and I suggested that we stopped there for lunch. The map showed a road running close to the lake and we attempted to find it but ended up in a very long tunnel, emerging beyond the end of the lake. We found the road on the way back but there was always a railway line between the road and the lake and nowhere to park with a view of the water. We soon entered another tunnel and we ended up on a road out of the town. We gave up and eventually found a lay-by about 20 miles further on – there was a very small lake and a view of the mountains but it wasn't quite the same as Zell am See.
More splendid views followed with the highlight being a long distance view of the famous Kriml Waterfall surrounded by the snow covered high mountains.
We descended a steep road from the Gerlos Pass and came across a herd of Alpine cows, complete with bells and beautifully decorated collars, being taken down from the high pasture to the valley. I asked Jane to get her camera to take some pictures but, as we were directed through the herd, she was so busy watching to make sure that I didn't hit any of the cows, she didn't take any photographs. She will never have a career as a photographer's assistant! Continuing our descent, we arrived in Zell am Ziller and quickly found the Hofer Campsite, which was surprisingly busy but there was still plenty of space for us.
Photos: A view of the area around the Kriml Waterfall, one of the spectacular views that we saw on our journey to Zell am Ziller.

Sunday 21st September 2008 – Halstatt, Austria

We made a deal yesterday – if it was fine in the morning we would walk up to the salt mine, if it was raining we would use the funicular. It was actually overcast with the cloud base below the mountain peaks and it had rained a little but when we were ready to set off, it wasn't actually raining. We decided to walk. It is quite a long steep walk, zig-zagging up the hillside to to the Hallstatt High Valley but there were frequent information boards with English text and this gave a good excuse to have a breather. There was also a view of the waterfall on the 'Millbrook' that drains the High Valley where thick alluvial clay means that the water does not soak away but runs off very quickly, causing problems in very wet weather. The town of Hallstatt is on a small promontory and this was formed by scree and clay washed down from the mountain.
We reached the top and admired the view from the top before going on to look at the other sights. As we had recently visited a salt mine near Krakow, we did not want to visit this salt mine even though it looked very good – two large wooden slides (great fun – I went down one years ago in the Bad Ischl salt mine), prehistoric shafts, salt lakes etc. We did however visit the Hallstatt Period sites - reconstructed bacon curing pit, the reconstructed miner's house and the famous cemetery. The archaeologists still excavate both the mines and the cemetery every Summer and were there today. They had excavated some prehistoric wood and had it under water sprays outside their offices. They had also been excavating in the huge cemetery – over 1,500 graves had been excavated by 2007 but it is thought that there may be a total of 5,000, enough to keep the archaeologists going for many years! There was a small building that housed an example of two burials, an inhumation and a cremation, complete with examples of the grave goods. It was very well presented but, for some reason best known to the creators, they were playing jolly piped music – perhaps to counteract the solemnity of the burials?
Last year they constructed a steel bridge across the valley that provided access to the funicular and the Rudolf Tower and gave superb views over the lake and the surrounding mountains. We walked over to the tower, admiring the views on the way and found a table by a window in the restaurant on the first floor of the tower. We enjoyed Gulash Soup and the view from the window.
We had hoped to continue our walk down on another path back to the town but found it closed for safety reasons. This meant that we had to retrace our steps down the zig-zag path, then turning left and descending to the opposite side of the town. Here we came to the Parish Catholic Church built in the 16th century with a particularly interesting Charnel House. Since the middle of the 19th century, the local population have removed the bones of their dean from their graves and painted the skulls, sometimes with decorations but always with the name of the deceased. We were able to visit the charnel house and see the exhibit of the skulls, the latest of which was painted in 1995. A strange idea but somehow more seemly than the bone constructions that we had seen in Portugal.
We wandered back through the town to the campsite, pausing to look through glass panels at the remains of the Roman baths under a souvenir shop. Yes, the Romans were here and, of course, exploited the salt deposits but they lived by the side of the lake rather than in the high valley.
Photos: Hallstatt from above; The view from the Hallstatt High Valley with the Rudolf Tower on the left; Looking up the Hallstatt High Valley with the salt mine ahead and the cemetery on the left; Hallstatt and the lake.

Saturday 20th September 2008 – Halstatt, Austria

We spent the last of Czech currency on groceries and fuel and then followed the sat nav's interesting route. This took us round the end of the lake to its southern lake and then due south over the hills into Austria on a road that wasn't shown on our Europe road atlas. It was an excellent route taking us on minor road, through pretty villages and over the undulating meadow countryside with many farms with huge barns, typical Austrian scenery. Given that it was a very grey, overcast morning, we didn't expect to see views but the cloud was high enough to see a long way. This was particularly the case when, having gained considerable height since the Vodni Nadrz Lipno lake, we approached the Donau (Danube) river. Just before the descent to the river, we had a commanding view east, south and west. We quickly crossed the incredibly wide Danube and admired that watery highway – a number of large barges were plying up and down the river whilst two more were moored on the southern bank being loaded with grain. We briefly followed the river east on its southern bank before we struck of south, deeper into Austria.
Approaching Lake Traunsee, we saw a huge shape looming up, largely surrounded by clouds. It was a snow-dusted mountain on the shores of the lake and probably wasn't much higher that 2,000m but it looked enormous to us given that we had just crossed a long largely flat section of the route. It was lunch time and we stopped at a lay-by on Traunsee's shore, opposite that moody peak. The lay-by had spotless toilets complete with toilet paper, hand towels and even a bar of soap on a small mat to stop it sliding about. The was no graffiti. Clean and tidy Austria! In Britain, the toilets would have been vandalised and the soap would not have lasted one day.
Over lunch it started to rain and it continued for the next 50 minutes until we arrived in Hallstatt on the Hallstatter See lake. The campsite on the edge of the town is in a small valley bordered by steep-sided mountains and this applies to the whole of the lake, making it very picturesque even in the rain and low cloud. Here too, the recent rain had fallen as snow on the tops of the highest mountains.
We walked the short distance into the UNESCO World Heritage listed town passed the coach park with many tourist coaches in it. It was obvious why they were there, the village is extremely pretty, full of lovely wooden houses. This combined with the lake and the history of salt mining in the area attracts the tourists. In the centre of the town is a museum and, given that we had a couple of hours before it closed and it was raining, we decided to go in. One of the reasons that we wanted to come here is because of the European culture known as the 'Hallstatt Culture', approximately 800 to 500 BC. The culture was named after a very important find of remains dating back to this period in the area of Hallstatt. It is all connected with the salt deposits that have brought wealth to the area from about 1400 BC right up to the current time. Salt was mined, refined and traded over a very wide area and the wealthy 'mine masters' during the period 800 to 500 BC were buried together with rich grave goods in a cemetery close to the mines high above the current town of Hallstatt. In 330 BC a disastrous rock and mud fall covered the mine entrances and the settlements from this period and mining moved to a different area of the mountain. The cemetery, due to its position on the mountainside, survived the rock and mud fall and was found and excavated in 1846. The records of the excavation are very good and, although many of the early finds were carried away by 'tourists', there are still some very impressive finds in the museum including many swords, Celtic-style spiral fibulae and bronze vessels. Due to the preservative effects of salt, organic materials have been found dating back to between the 14th and 8th centuries BC. These include a rucksack and cap made from skins, wooden tools and patterned cloth. Fascinating!
Photos: The Traunsee Lake and its brooding mountain; A piece of modern art in Hallstatt – the story is that each Hallstatt house has a pair of Wellington Boots on its dining table in case the floods hit. The heights of past floods are shown by the markers on the left post; The prehistoric (14th to 8th century BC) backpack found in the salt mines; A view of Hallstatt and its boathouses.

Friday 19th September 2008 – Lipno, Czech Republic

Reluctantly, it was time to leave Trebon and head south towards Austria. Our first stop was the UNESCO World Herritage town of Cesky Krumlov and, even though we had visited it last year, it warranted another one. The sun was still shining although the forecast suggested that we should enjoy it whilst we could – rain was on the way.
Cesky Krumlov always looks beautiful but is at its best in the sunshine. The castle looked splendid, high on the rock above the loop in the Vlatava river. I found the same restaurant, 'Krcma v Satlavske', that we visited last year (and 14 years before that) and we ordered the soup. This came in a very large crusty roll, or small loaf, that had been partly hollowed out. The garlic soup soaked into the bread but did not come out of the sides. It was delicious but neither of us could eat all of the bread, so we were left with the two empty bread cases. We did a tour of the many tourist shops in the town that included many excellent potters and glass shops and then headed back to Henrietta. A tip for anyone coming here – the car parks are expensive but there is free parking on the sides of the road south of the town.
Photos: The Cseky Krumlov Hrad (castle) sitting above the Vlatava River; The impressive bridge of the castle; The Krcma v Satlavske restaurant.

Thursday 18th September 2008 – Trebon, Czech Republic

Bad news – the thermometer shows the outside temperature as 1.9°C. Good news – the sun is shining! We woke at 07:30 this morning and it felt cold. We have discovered an Austrian radio station called FM4 that broadcasts a music show with an English-speaking presenter in the mornings. Although the music is fairly awful, it does mean that we get the news and weather in English on the hour. They confirmed that the weather is unseasonable cold but didn't mention when it was going to get warmer.
We had a good walk around the town, enjoying that rare commodity, warm sunshine. After a session on the Internet, we took the opportunity to visit the brewery tap for the last time and enjoyed some of their excellent beer. We called in at the fishery on the way back and bought some carp fillets – we had at last found somewhere to buy fresh fish, something that had defeated us on our previous visits.
I got inspired by the lovely weather and decided to go for a bike ride. The whole of the area is virtually flat and is riddled with marked cycle trails. I chose a loop south of Trebon and headed out of the campsite. The first section was on a road with a few cars on it, after that I hardly saw a car. What I did see was about 10 more fishing lakes that I hadn't seen before, a watermill that had had a mill on the site since before the 13th century and a racing stables and racecourse. The route brought me back along the side of the lake with a lovely view across to the campsite and Henrietta. It was an excellent ride and I saw lots of other cyclists, as we did yesterday. This is a very popular cycling area and, given good weather and a longer stay, I would definitely like to take some more excursions.
Photos: The Svet ('The World') Lake with the sluice gates in the foreground; The Trebon Chateau complex is one of the largest in the Czech Republic; The Opatovicky Rybnik Lake in the evening sun, as seen from the campsite.

Wednesday 17th September 2008 – Trebon, Czech Republic

We really wanted to walk and were hoping that the weather would improve today. There was no overnight rain and, although the sky was still totally overcast, it was brighter than it had been.
We drove to the nearby village of Chlum u Trebon by a circuitous route in order to enjoy the countryside and parked up on the edge. We followed a series of cycle routes (of which there are very many in the area) and circled one of the fish lakes to arrive in Chlum u Trebon for lunch just after 13:00. The restaurant was bust with locals, walkers, cyclists and fireman(!) and, once again, we had to move into the 'no smoking' room to find a table. The meal was good and excellent value but we had to take pot luck as there was no English or German translations. Choosing this way is good fun unless your choice turns out to be tripe!
We continued our walk around the edge of the lake and then on a side road back to Henrietta. Although it is very quiet now, it must be very busy in season as, on a local map posted by the side of the lake, we counted 20 campsites around that lake and its neighbour. We saw many of these, varying from ones capable of taking only a few campers to very large ones occupying long stretches of the lake shore and having large numbers of chalets. The lakes offer good fishing and bathing facilities although with the temperature at about 12°C, there wasn't anyone swimming when we were there. When we returned to Henrietta we decided to drive the very short distance to the Austrian border in the middle of the forest. There is no natural border here and it is difficult to understand how they managed to police the border during the communist era.
We thoroughly enjoyed our 5 mile walk and managed to do it all in the dry. We drove on another circuitous route back to Trebor. The roads on the outward journey had been bad, very rough and inexpertly patched but these roads were better and the route was very pretty. We passed many fishing lakes and in quite a few cases drove on narrow causeways between two lakes.
We stopped near the brewery in Trebon and bought some small kegs of beer to take home with us – we decided that our friends should have the opportunity to taste some excellent regional Czech beer.
Photos: One of the many village ponds in this area of Bohemia – this Cep pond (the small village has at least two) is a particularly fine example with a promontory complete with benches, a lovely place to sit on warmer days; This chateau at Chlum u Trebon was once owned by the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este and it was from here that he left for his fateful journey to Sarajevo in 1914; The village and church of Chlum u Trebon across the Hejtman lake; Walking into Austria – we were amused by the speed limit of 100 km/h given that, on the Austrian side, the road was a dirt track; One of the causeway roads between fish ponds.

Tuesday 16th September 2008 – Trebon, Czech Republic

We were woken this morning by the ducks who were sheltering under Henrietta and suddenly decided to have a communal quacking session. It could be described as “good weather for ducks” but even they were fed up with the continual rain.
The weather improved slightly and we decided to walk into Trebon. We walked passed the Regent Brewery (the best brewery in the Czech Republic in my humble opinion) and inspected the menus on a number of restaurants, of which that are a large number in Trebon. We selected a restaurant close to the brewery and had an excellent meal. Jane had pork cooked in Regent beer and I had a selection of fish fillets (3 different fish) served in a piquant sauce. I only found one bone in all of the fillets but Jane managed to find one in the small sample that I gave her. Fish bones always seem to be greatly attracted to Jane.
We then did a tour of Trebon and its shops – Trebon is a lovely town but its shops aren't very interesting. It was then time to call in at what we English would call the 'brewery tap' the pub, or in this case beer cellar, attached to the brewery. We had been there once before (see entry for 28th September 2007) when we met a cycling couple. It was busy then and it was busy now – we had problems finding a free table but found one in the 'no smoking' area. I tried the 13° brew but that was a little too sweet for me but the 12° was excellent. The total bill (68kc, less than £2) for 2 x 0.5l + 2 x 0.3l came to less than a single pint would cost in an English pub. We resisted the temptation to stay to watch the musicians who were just setting up (free music as well!) and walked back past one fishing lake to Henrietta on the shores of another.
Photos: Typical architecture in Trebon; The Regent obviously enjoyed his beer – a painting in the Regent Brewery Tap.

Monday 15th September 2008 – Trebon, Czech Republic

It continued to rain all night, not pouring down, just steady, continuous rain. It rained all day today, which made out short journey to Trebon a very grey one. I always associate the Czech Republic with fish ponds and we had seen these in most of the villages over the last few days. However, during the last half an hour of our journey to Trebon, we came across the huge fish lakes that this area is famous for. They produce a vast quantity of fish mainly carp but also trout, pike and other fresh-water fish. The Trebon campsite is on the shores of one of these lakes and we chose a pitch with a wonderful view over the lake. However is was still raining and the view did not look as good as it did when we first camped here almost exactly a year ago.
Despite the rain, we went for a walk into our favourite town in the Czech Republic. The tourist information office was open and we were able to establish the location of the only WiFi Internet café. After updating the blog and checking emails we continued our walk but Trebon doesn't look quite as attractive in the rain, one reason being that it is difficult to look up at the buildings when you are huddled under a large umbrella. Unfortunately, according to the forecast on the Internet, the weather tomorrow is unlikely to be much better – it showed 100% chance of rain and a maximum temperature of 10°C.
Photos: This was the most exciting thing that happened today – a freight train crosses in front of Henrietta.

Sunday 14th September 2008 – Tabor, Czech Republic

It had been cool yesterday when we weren't in the sun but today was really cold. At 4°C when we woke up at 07:15, we decide to have breakfast inside and were wearing shirts, jumpers and coats when we set off for the 09:06 bus into Tabor. We didn't take any layers off all day – it was really cold and, unlike yesterday, there was very little sunshine.
We started by following part of the town tour detailed on a leaflet from the tourist office and stopped off at the Dvorak Hotel at 10:00. Dvorak, a large construction company, bought the old brewery and have renovated it, converting part of it into a luxury hotel. They have given other parts over to the community to be used as a museum and concert venue. The buildings are very significant as they are on the site of the old castle. Most of the castle was demolished over the years as the brewery expanded, so much harm was done but the renovation has left a very attractive complex. We sat in the courtyard, selecting seats in the sun (if only briefly) but it was very cold and the two jazz guitarists looked very cold. As Jane noted, it was strange to be listening to gentle jazz at 10 am, it was really more suited to 10 pm but it really was very good and I would like to have heard some more, preferably in a warm jazz bar with a pint of Czech beer in front of me.
We then moved on to the only to visit the only part of the castle that is still extant – the Kotnov Lookout Tower. Today was a special 'Open Sight Day', which meant that many of the tourist sites, museums etc. were open without charge. The Tower was one such site and, although the accompanying museum was not very satisfying due to the lack of English texts, the view from the tower was very good. We could see how the Old Town was well protected by the river valley and fortifications – it was easy to understand why the Hussites had chosen the site for their stronghold. We went on to learn more about the Hussites in the excellent Hussite Museum where the English text told the story of the Hussites and their connection to Tabor. The Hussites believed in sharing all of their worldly goods and when new followers arrived in Tabor they put all of their possessions into casks and these were then shared out amongst all of the people. This, together with revolutionary ideas such as the congregation receiving communion bread and wine during mass, upset the Roman Catholic church. Within the museum is the entrance to 10-12km of tunnels that interlink the cellars of the buildings around two thirds of the square. These were originally separate cellars but were linked in order to provide shelter for the inhabitants in time of attack or fire. They were used during three very serious fires that destroyed a large part of the town. The cellars, sometimes going down two levels were also used for maturing beer but we only saw empty casks on our tour.
Back in the main square we witnessed the arrival of the bikers' parade. They were all wearing crash helmets or, more accurately, helmets that matched the rest of their Mediaeval outfits. They were quite an impressive sight, smoking large cigars on their huge gleaming motorbikes, flying Tabor pennants. As Jane pointed out, she wouldn't want to meet them on a dark night!
We had lunch from stalls in the square – Jane had a spicy sausage wrapped in a pancake and I had a chunk of hot smoked ham with a thick potato pancake that tasted just like bubble and squeak.
At 3 pm we went to a mill just below the town walls to see a mock battle between the Hussites and the Catholic forces. We were treated to a display of impressive Italian-style flag twirling and throwing with one performer being particularly talented, juggling and throwing two, three and then four large flags at the same time. Then it was time for the battle and a large number of children volunteered, having the option to join one of the two forces. Needless to say the Hussites were by far the most popular but this problem was solved by getting them all to attack the bikers. Everyone was issued with large foam weapons and the children took great delight in hitting the bikers around the head, or any other part they they could reach. Soon the bikers were forced back to the pile of coffins and were severely defeated – perhaps the bikers weren't as nasty as they first appeared!
We returned to the main square to see a band on the main stage only to discover that it was Country and Western – definitely not our scene.
It was time to return to Henrietta and put the fan heater on. Shortly after we got back it started to rain and we were glad that we had not decided to stay on into the evening.
Photos: The Brewery chimney in the Dvorak Hotel; View of Tabor old town from the Kotnov Lookout Tower; The bikers pose for photographs – I took this just before the biker on the right was beheaded!; Dust flies as the children battle against the bikers.

Saturday 13th September 2008 – Tabor, Czech Republic

I had spotted two castles roughly on our route today and therefore programmed the Garmin satellite navigation to take us on roads past them. The first one, a castle called Rzkovy Lhotice, we passed without any signs to it or of it but we did manage to spot the second one, a defensive tower called Selmberk. This added interest to the journey, although, being a ruin, it wasn't worth diverting off the road for a closer look. The route took us on many more on the byways than yesterday, which meant that we went through villages and small towns with very pretty architecture. There were also more hills than yesterday, giving lovely views over the countryside.
We parked in the large car park of the InterSpar in Tabor and walked into the town. Our old guidebook said that there was a festival here on the second weekend of September – this weekend – and as we approached the centre it was obvious that something was about to happen. We had timed our visit perfectly as a parade was gathering and we were able to watch it set off through the town.
Tabor was established as a military garrison by the Hussites, a Christian sect that broke away from the Roman Catholic church. Jan Hus, the founder of the Hussite movement, was tricked by the Roman Catholic authorities into attending a meeting in Constance in Germany where he was arrested and, after a summary trial, was burnt at the stake as a heretic. His movement however continued to grow and between 1419 and 1434 it swept Bohemia. Tabor was the base from which the Hussite army set out for many significant victories over the Roman Catholic forces.
The parade celebrates the Hussite past of town and many of the participants dress in costumes of the Hussite period. Some of the participants were rather surprising – a group from Sighisoara in Romania (we were close to there in July) and even two people from the Lake District in the UK. As the parade halted briefly in front of us, I managed to get a photograph of the Lake District couple but didn't have time to find out what they were doing there – I am sure that they weren't Hussites! We followed the parade into the main Zizka Square, within the old town walls. Here we obtained a programme of events for the 'Tabor Meetings Festival' and were impressed at how much was going on and the fact that they actually had programmes in English. We watched a series of musicians, dancers and singers on the main stage in the square and then moved on to another square where there was a large number of craft stalls. Here there was more music – a jazz band when we arrived, followed by a folk music band complete with bagpipes, although these were somewhat muted when compared to the Scottish Highland bagpipes.
We had to leave in order to find the campsite and obtain a pitch but at least we had been able to establish where the campsite was with the help of the tourist office. The campsite was well hidden and poorly signed but we found it and had no problems in finding a pitch. There were a couple of tents pitched and quite a few people in the chalets, most of whom were wearing camouflage outfits. It was definitely a 'huntin-shootin-fishin' area with the sound of gunfire in the distance and a fishing lake on the edge of the campsite. I have noticed that fishermen in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland often wear camouflage gear – is this in order to hide from the fish?
Photos: An elegant Hussite man; Equally elegant Hussite ladies – definitely not camp followers; Now these could be camp followers or possibly leaders and they were very good drummers – much better than that angel in St. Barbara's Cathedral (see yesterday's entry); There were some excellent matching bands in the parade, these were from Germany.

Friday 12th September 2008 – Kutna Hora, Czech Republic

Time to move on again and today we were heading south to Kutna Hora. We travelled through gently undulating countryside with fields and patches of forest. We were on main roads, although they weren't busy, and we past villages laying off to both sides of the road identified by church towers and spires of many different designs.
We had chosen a ACSI listed campsite outside of the town but arrived in it to find another site signposted. We followed the signs to the site that was within the town and decided that it would be much more convenient. After a quick lunch we walked into the town to investigate.
Kutna Hora is a very pretty town with lots of interesting architecture. Even on our walk into the centre we passed many historic buildings with wonderfully ornate plasterwork, many of which were in need of restoration, some of which are obviously about to be restored. In the centre all of the buildings had been tastefully restored and were very attractive. We followed a town trail from a leaflet supplied by the campsite and managed to see all of the sites except the silver museum and mine – we had seen the mine in Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia and this one was unlikely to be as interesting.
The highlight of the tour was the huge St. Barbara's cathedral. Building work on this Goltic masterpiece was started in 1388 but it took over 500 years to complete it. The town owes its wealth to silver mining and the presence of the mint, producing silver Prague Groschen. Both miners and minting are represented in statues and paintings within the church and St. Barbara is the patron saint of miners. The wall paintings and painted glass (rather than stained glass) were beautiful and I was particularly impressed by the totally 'over the top' baroque organ with statues of podgy angels playing musical instruments on the top.
Photos: Beautiful house in Kutna Hora but on close inspection it is in serious need of restoration; The front elevation of St. Barbara's Cathedral – the scaffolding is for renovation, they aren't still building it!; A statue of a miner in the cathedral; The Baroque organ – I especially like the drum-playing angel on the right.

Thursday 11th September 2008 – Vrchlabi, Czech Republic

We drove through Vrchlabi (within walking distance of the campsite) and up to the ski resort of Spindleruv Mlyn. This mountain range forms a border between Poland and the Czech Republic and its possible to walk over the mountains into Poland from here. In theory, it is possible to drive over the border and we had intended to drive up to the village on the border but found that the road was blocked. It appears that, being a National Park, they restrict the vehicles that can use the road – buses ran up to the village but private cars were not allowed. Spindleruv Mlyn was a pretty village but was a relatively modern ski resort with many apartments, ski chalets and hotels being built. We took a walk all around the village and then looked for somewhere to eat. There was an incredible choice of places and for 99 kc (Czech Koruna – crowns), approx. £2.70, we could, in one place have a ham baguette or, in another, a three-course meal. Surprisingly we chose the three-course meal and very good it was too.
We call in for supplies at the Plus supermarket in Vrchlabi and then returned to the campsite to continue our glider watching.
In the evening I persuaded Jane to play tenpin bowling. The campsite bar and restaurant had two alleys in addition to a number of pool tables – plenty to keep glider pilots, campers and, I suspect, skiers in the Winter, occupied in the evenings or on inclement days. For approx. £5.50 we had use of an alley for one hour and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I can't remember how many years it has been since I went bowling but I can confirm that it is definitely much easier than skittles. If I managed as many floppers (strikes) and spares in skittles as I achieved in tenpin bowling this evening, I would be absolutely delighted. And with skittles you had three throws rather than the two in tenpin. I always find with skittles that I am very skilful at steering the balls straight through the gaps between the pins, something that is fortunately not possible with tenpin.
Photos: A view up the river at Spindleruv Mlyn.

Wednesday 10th September 2008 – Vrchlabi, Czech Republic

We had a very relaxing day today. Jane did the washing and I worked on the blog, which needed catching up. An added bonus of this site is that it has free WiFi Internet access and we were able to listen to BBC radio and browse the Internet at will.
In the afternoon I wander across the road and sat in the small café watching the planes take off and land in rapid succession. The gliders were being launched by winch or towed up by two light aircraft, there was even one powered glider, using its engine for take-off before switching it off to become a true glider. In the distance, hang gliders circled the edge of a large hill – there was never a dull moment.
Photos: Powered glider at take-off; A busy scene at the airstrip – the powered glider is in the foreground, a glider lands behind it whilst a prop plane prepares to tow launch another glider.