The hike involved a path and steps up a hill
then through some narrow lanes to the town square. It appeared that there was a small product market just opening up for the day:
We also did find a camera store, but it didn't open until 9, and we were to depart at 9:30. Not quite enough time. So we walked back. Many people were out and about, carrying shopping bags. It may be that most shopping happens first thing in the morning.
Loaded up, and headed out on the 45 minute drive to Plana na Luznici. We started out on a very busy road, but almost immediately turned left onto a much quieter one. We entered Kosice. I've got family members from Kosice, but Zuzana thought it was probably the Kosice in Slovakia, which is much bigger. As this Kosice was tiny, and far away from the Hungarian border, I'm inclined to agree with her.
Mostly rolling hills, poppy fields (grown to make poppy seed filling, yum) and forested areas. We stopped to explore Horni Radoun, a formerly fortified building, now a park, with a real moat and the restored schloss, with an amazing painted archway leading into the courtyard.
It was raining heavily; our Showers Pass jackets got a lot of attention, as did my waterproof glove covers.
We then headed onward and upward for maybe another 2km, for our picnic lunch in the woods. The rain had stopped. There were sliced meats and cheeses, excellent bread, mustard, salad, chips, juice, cookies and fruit. We picked a few wild blueberries as well.
After lunch we continued up, meeting up with a little family of pigs at the summit, all around a bowl of pinecones.
The forest is fairytale forest, evergreen trees and not much undergrowth. More villages and countryside. Apple and cherry trees grow along the roadside, and anyone can pick them. We snacked on cherries all afternoon, Rich especially :-)
We saw many groups of cyclists on the road, some groups of tourists, others locals going from here to there. Bikes are either touring/mtb style (fat 700c wheels, straight handlebars), as are the Sumava Leader bikes provided for this ride, or more like a city bike, but much older, and all with a rear basket on a rack. Not so many clipless pedals, either, and I must have had the only set of drop handlebars in the entire country. Everyone has fat tires - many roads are virgin asphalt, but some, well... aren't.
Czech drivers come zipping along, apparently no worrying what might be around a corner (2 speeds, fast and stopped), but I saw many little children riding with their parents on the roads. The roads are quite narrow - some I would consider a one-lane road, but they are meant for 2 way traffic. Some cyclists wear helmets, but certainly not all.
We saw a little deer hop across the road :-)
Passed a house with a gorgeous garden and beautiful roses.
I then came upon one of the manually operated railroad crossings. It was down, so I waited. Pearce heard it come down, so he came back to see the train. We had a nice long wait until it finally did pass, then another wait for the signal to get back to the guy with the handcrank.
Then downhill to Studena, our destination for the day. Tom and the boys did not appear. Fitz and I rode down the hill to see the town and rode back up. Still no boys and Tom. We loaded up, and took one of the vans to Telc. On the way, Marian called to say they'd shown up. Apparently they missed a turn. Tom figured out an alternate route to get them there (we all had maps).
We arrived in Telc and checked in, then I went in search of a camera store. Telc is a world heritage site, surely there would be someplace selling memory cards. Success!
The center of Telc is a big plaza with shops, pubs and hotels, with a castle and church at the far end. Dinner was in a pub, where we could get the local brew - Zacharias, a tasty Pilsner. I had an excellent sald, potato soup in a bread bowl (ate most of the bowl, too), then chicken. Veggies were extra, and I got a serving that was really enough for an entire family, and clearly frozen mixed veggies...
Zuzana and Marian were wondering about REI (REI contracts with their employer to do the bike tours). Fitz, Kris, Rich and I assured them that it was an excellent gear and an excellent place to shop.
Zuzana was also fascinated by my cycling jerseys - nice cycling gear for women is an underserved market there. I recommended my favorite shop, and told her they'd ship :-)
All the pictures from this day are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20084214@N00/sets/72157600992380506/
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