Once a very long time ago we had to cancel a biking trip in Europe because one of us had an accident with his bicycle. This year we made up for it with a memorable bike tour of the Czech Republic and Austria with Backroads and were joined by good friends Jo-Anne and Doug Ellenor.
It all began on a warm Friday afternoon and Saturday in Prague as we arrived early in order to get to know the city before we joined the tour. Prague is a glorious old city that escaped bombing during WWII and thus has maintained its magnificent baroque and gothic buildings in good repair. Used as a backdrop for a number of movies, it still has a charm that characterizes the “bohemian” lifestyle and the glory of ancient Europe. To get the most out of it, we took a tour of the city which was led by the daughter of a former Czech ambassador to Canada. Highlights were the Prague Castle that dates back to the 9th century but was expanded and remodeled many times. The gothic cathedral of St. Vitus (and St. Wencelsas of Christmas fame) is part of the castle enclosure. Other sights are the Charles bridge and the old town square. Click on the following photos to access the full gallery of photos of our two days in Prague.
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The Backroads tour officially began as we were picked up at our hotel Sunday morning already dressed in our biking attire and were transported in a chartered bus with the other participants to the town of Tyn where we were issued our bikes and were handed our trip directions and sent on our way to Hluboka with one stop at a distillery (slivovice and plum schnaps) on the way. (by the way – slivovitz seems to weaken your legs) First day of biking was 42.3 km, through wonderful forested countryside, some good hills to test our mettle and perfect weather in high 60’s warming to the 80’s later. We overnighted in a hotel at Hluboka. Click on this photo to access the gallery of day 1.
Day 2 began with Donna and I getting lost straight out of the box ,which added a few kilometers to the ride but we caught up in no time and rode the 65.1km to Cesky Krumlov arriving before most of the group. It was fun ride with the exception of one gravel stretch that cut through forest in order to avoid traffic. When we pulled up to Cesky Krumlov it was like emerging from the forest into Disney World! A UNESCO world heritage site, this is a marvelously restored medieval town surrounding a magnificent castle on a twisting river. Ignored during communist times, it has been wonderfully restored according to strict architectural guidelines to preserve its authenticity. We stayed two nights in a transformed Jesuit monastery decorated to match the period. Photos can be accessed here.
Day 3 was also launched from Cesky Krumlov as we did a 45.6 Km loop through the countryside coming back to Cesky Krumlov. We were back around noon, allowing lots of time for us to explore the town and do a tour of the castle. In our honor -I’m sure- a Canadian band played in the town square. More photos are here.
Our Austrian portion began on day 4 with a bus trip across the border to Ottenstein where we hopped on our bikes and rode down to the Danube town of Durnstein. Ottenstein is a former summer castle now owned by the forest service in a beautiful wooded part of the countryside. This was my favorite ride of the trip. 59.8km long, it snaked through very picturesque forest and farmland. The route included lots of challenging hills that took you to high farmland and beautifully maintained little villages and a great downhill portion which passed various castle ruins. Just before the end, we rode through the town of Krems , another cobble stoned historic town in the Wachau valley along the Danube. We would have liked to explore it more but the temperature was in the 90s and we just wanted to find somewhere cool.
Durnstein is a charming little fortress town that is famous for having hosted the imprisoned Richard the Lion-heart (of Robin Hood fame) when he was held hostage by King Leopold in the 12th century. Today it is also known for its wine. The hotel we stayed in was a converted convent but… it had a great swimming pool. Boy did it feel good! Here are some photos of the town and along the ride.
By now the temperatures were in the 90s and riding was hot! Day 5 was characterized by a ride along the Danube along a bike path that originates in Germany and runs 1800 miles to Romania. We went to the Abbey at Melk (76km with a loop up the hills for a little additional exercise). The Danube is sprinkled with castles (ADC = another damn castle) and picturesque villages and the hills are beautifully organized farms of mountain cattle, corn, wheat, barley, sunflowers and one particularly annoying horse fly that liked the taste of me. By the time we got to Melk we were dehydrated but proud of our mountain climbing prowess.
The Benedictine Abbey of Melk is still in use and served as the inspiration of the book and movie (Sean Connery) The Name of the Rose. Its restoration was financed, in part, by the sale of the Gutenberg Bible to Yale University. We stopped for lunch and a tour (plus a lot of liquids) and then rode back to Durnstein and the pool!! At night we were forced to do a wine tasting. Photos are here.
Our last day was short and David was elected to scramble up to the top of the escarpment to the castle ruins and take pictures while Donna did a short ride on the other side of the Danube for exercise. We were transported to Vienna at noon to end the tour. The Ellenors and ourselves stayed an extra day in Vienna to search for the perfect apfel strudel but were too pooped to do much else. A few Vienna and some final Durnstein pictures from on high are here.
It was a great experience and we would do it again in a heartbeat!
