It's been almost a week since our last update. Here's what we have been through during this time.
After leaving Berlin on June 13th, we headed south in the direction of Dresden. We took the train out to the outer part of Berlin to avoid the traffic and make it simple for our navigation. The first day took us from Blankenfelde to Grüwalder Lauch. That's over 120 km.
Between Lichterfeld and Lauch Hammer we observed a devastated land of old mining site.
The classic navigation.
A huge coal mining machine in Germany
Camping site view
The next day, June 14th, we headed into Dresden, which took us more time than we thought. On the map it looked not very far, but as we rode through the country roads, it seemed to continue forever! We got to Dresden late in the afternoon and took a train to Pirna. It was almost 7 pm so we decided to end the day, camping at a site near the town.
Our way into Dresden
From Pirna, at first we thought about taking a seemingly shortest road to Decin, in Czech republic. A quick check with the people at the camping site confirmed our concern, for that road would take us through very hilly terrain. Instead, the bike path along the Elbe would be easier ride and beautiful. And that was the road we used from Pirna through Decin to Litomerice on June 15th.
Oh and since people seemed quite impressed that we were riding all that distance, we decided to make it more obvious on what we were wearing...
Sweden to Serbia!
Along the Elbe
Bastei
Konigstein
Into Czech republic - Day 10, country Number 4
Dodgy looking night clubs close to the border...
Waiting for rain to pass - biscuit time
Nice view over the Elbe in Litomerice
From Litomerice, we couldn't take the bike path further as it was under construction. Instead we followed a road to Roudnice. There we met another new experience. While consulting our map in the town centre, a old man approached us. He introduced himself as a cyclist knowing the way around the region, then offered to ride with us to the next town. We hesitated at first but after he enthusiastically insisted, we followed him home to get his bike. There we met his wife who sat us at a table and gave us soup and bread! At this point we were not even properly introduced! When finally asking his name, he went to get a business card: Jan is the name, retired engineer, and Eve his wife. After that he lead us on a path along the river again. Within barely 30 minutes of riding, he stopped and proclaimed "and now my friends you will have a beer with me"!!! Loveable guy obviously! We drank and talked about Czech history and culture for a bit, then he seemed properly fuelled because we had a hard time keeping up with him. He lost the way at some point, we went to a factory where he asked a friend directions, and overall he rode with us for over 50 km until we reached Kralupy. We had photo together before we parted. What a nice experience!
We took the last 25 km into Prague on road 608. The sun was burning, the temperature was over 30 degree celcius and we had some hills to climb but we reached Prague safely.
Our speedy guide
Prague finally
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