Rolling Rolling Rolling

 

Rolling along - Poland…Slovakia…Czechia…3 countries, 3 currencies, 3 languages, but the landscapes are virtually indistinguishable to our eyes as we ride through their villages, farms and yes, industrial sites. They are all friendly and welcoming (the Polish people give the U.S. a favorable rating of 93%!!), serve huge portions of meat-based meals and drink copious amounts of one type of beer.  We ordered a bottle of wine once (haha, much more than once) and the waitress asked us, “How much of the bottle do you want?” 🤣 Actually there are quite a few wine growing regions here, and we’ve had fun sampling many of them as we rode through. 

Our daily post ride repast - beer and chips

Perhaps in a nod to our age - thankfully we have little left to prove to ourselves - we decided to adapt our planned routes so that we actually enjoy the ride as opposed to riding the entire route from point A to point B.  This decision was predicated by a 70 mile ride on a 60 mph undivided highway. The route was listed as best for bikes but it was a grueling grind to the end. Going forward, we found there are many train routes that can assist us to complete our journeys such that we only ride the beautiful trails. It’s a whole new way of traveling for us!

When you ride the highways, at least the road work crews leave toilets for us to use.

The final 6 miles of the 70 mile slog was a huge traffic jam. It was actually the only fun part of the ride as we precariously zipped past them.

We travel mostly on back roads and through agricultural properties, so we don’t see a lot of cities and typical tourist sites. Instead these trips feel more like anthropological studies since we see so much of how the people live day to day. (I bet Rick Steeves doesn’t know that the women here mow the lawns!) When we do stop in a city, it’s because we’re taking a rest day. 

Arriving in Brno, Czechia 

Brno is the traditional capital of Moravia, known for its modernist architecture. It’s the 2nd largest city in Czechia. We had fantastic Czechian wine and gourmet locally sourced foods while we enjoyed a day and 2 nights without locational change. 

The war in Ukraine is a lot closer here, and the threat of future incursions is clearly on people’s minds. I found this exhibit in one of Brno’s squares to be especially poignant. 

I said “good morning!” to the kids and was met with blank stares. Then I said “Hello!” and they all shouted back “HALLOOO!!” The language has definitely been a big challenge here although most people, especially young people, speak passable English.  I tried at first to say the basic “thank you”, but it refused to come out in any recognizable form.  It sounds the same in all 3 languages but looks like this: 

Dziękuję - Ďakujem - Děkuji.  I gave up. 

 

Neat, tidy gardens with similar flowers are typical in the suburban neighborhoods of these 3 countries. The houses are mostly boxy and functional.  There is no trash anywhere, and all the people seem very law-abiding - which probably explains the almost total lack of police presence. It feels very safe, but there is a certain lack of creativity in its uniformity (with the exception of some randomly VERY colorful renegade houses). 

So many days are lovely rides, but there are definitely days when I just wish we’d arrive at our destination. This day was one of them - we battled head winds and were buffeted by side winds and there was just miles and miles of dead cornfields and sunflowers with their sad drooping faces. I kept trying to look for the magic but all I came up with was this: towards the end we were riding under a chestnut tree, and the wind was so bad that a few chestnuts kerplunked onto my helmet. It made a great sound and didn’t hurt. And that was my magic for the day. Not much, but there’s always something. 

After our 70 mile ride on the highway, the bridge was being repaired so we had to reverse course and catch a ferry - and saw this amazing decrepit castle on the cliffs above.

 

They have perfectly paved roads and well-marked bike routes, but Dennis can always find alternative forest routes when the roads become mundane. 

 I like this juxtaposition of their 2 worlds, old and new

Another juxtaposition- note the classic stained glass windows at this train station and the communist ironwork “art” installed later.

In my travels, I’ve noticed the poorer the country the more homogenous the dogs look. There are a lot of different breeds here! Pretty happy too. And no messes to avoid riding through!

I don’t know who is responsible for these shrines found on all the roads, but they’re a comforting site as we keep rolling along. 

Next stop, Austria!