Soon, all 8 of us were there - Rich and Kris from Seattle, Pearce (father), Chapin and Breslin (16 yr old twin boys) from California, Tom from Houston, and us. Our guides, Zuzana, Marian and Bohumil showed up shortly thereafter. Bleriot rode inside the bicycle and equipment van; Fitz and I also rode there with Marian. We drove out from Prague to Chateau Konopiste, a smallish castle. It has gardens, picnic areas, and all that, now. We spent some time in the lower parking lot getting bicycles assigned and seats and pedals swapped (I watched and ate my lunch).
We then rode up the hill to the Chateau proper, for a look around. There is a moat with a bear, gardens, a courtyard, etc. etc.
Then we really started the ride. After getting past the adrenalin rush that I was RIDING MY BICYCLE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC :-), I settled down :-). Rolling countryside, with wheatfields and clumps of trees. We pass through a village, then more countryside, then another village. Not like the USA, where farmhouses are scattered about - everyone appears to live in villages, and farms are much smaller.
My rear brake kept catching on something. We finally decided it was an interaction with the Carradice bag, so I swapped it for the big handlebar bags the tour company provided.
Flowers in windows are a common theme here, as is the large church (Catholic, I'm guessing) in the town square, and many, many roadside shrines. Not the simple car accident ones we see here; these date from the 1800's or earlier, and are stone or wood, and are still in use today (fresh flowers and candles are the giveaway).
The buildings are constructed of (in order of age) stone, brick, and a perforated brick, all stuccoed over and painted a pastel color, yellow, pink, cream. The roofs are red tile. The houses often open right by the road, but it isn't a door into the house, it is a gate into an archway - houses are built around a courtyard.
Our pace is pretty casual, and we stop and take many pictures.
We finish the day by a church, and the van carries us to Tabor, to an inn right on the river. We have a great balcony view of the river, and the town.
After showers, we all meet for a welcome dinner, and Zuzana tells us about the area and geography. We had the Czech national liqueur (very spicy), dinner, Pilsner Urquell, and then go to bed. I realized that I'm just about out of memory card for my camera, and can't find the other card I know I packed. We'll hike into Tabor to see if we can find a card tomorrow morning before we leave.
More pictures from this day are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20084214@N00/sets/72157600994505339/
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