10 Czech, Poland

Safely parked at the camping, the next day, we could take the tram. Towers and domes around medieval squares connected by pedestrian areas were lovely to explore. The city is set on the wide Vlatava River and overlooked by the impressive buildings of the Praha Castle. The wide old Charles Bridge has 30 statues and artists display their works there to throngs of tourists. There were articles of glass, copper, iron, ceramics, leather, wood, lace and all forms of pictorial art depicting Prague. Goethe called Prague “the prettiest gem in the stone crown of the world”.In only 10 years, after 45 years of communism, The Czech Republic has recovered remarkably and modern shopping is much in evidence. (It also shed its neighbour, Slovakia 10 years ago when “Czechoslovakia” ceased to exist). In small towns there are still few cars around. In Czech generally 9 out of 10 cars are Skodas (locally manufactured). We did not know that Bata shoes come from the Czech Republic. The factory was founded by Thomas Bata in 1884.

For a change, we found a country not so expensive. Even in Rands prices were very reasonable, like large draft beer R3, Cappuccino R4, bread roll 16c. A main course was R25 to R29. We tried pork roast with cranberries and dumplings and crisp roll of pork filled with capers, egg and ham. A scoop of ice cream and small yoghurt were R1 each. Food seemed to have a sales tax of 5% and other goods 22%.

In the town of Plzen we visited the brewery museum where beer has been brewed for 700 years. We sampled the only original Pilsner, “Pilsner Urquell”. At Budweis (now Ceske Budejovice) we were taken through the Budvar Brewery where they produce 75 000 bottles an hour. Budweiser is exported to 52 countries (except USA; separate licence agreement). We both think it is The most delicious brand of “pivo”!The large fields of barley and hops for beer making were bordered with red poppies and white daisies. Along the roads are avenues of fruit trees. The cherry trees were covered with fruit and seemed to be abandoned. We climbed on to Dipli’s roof and filled bowls with large black juicy specimens. When we could eat no more Leoné cooked jam, marinated some in liqueur and preserved the rest in the freezer.

Medieval Festival

Cesky Krumlov hosts the Five-petalled Rose Festival every June. It is one of the most picturesque small medieval towns in Europe. Together with its castle on the riverbank, and old Market Square, its appearance is almost unchanged since the 18^th century.The festivities included parades of people in lavish medieval dress. There was a constant program of traditional music and performances of ancient dances accompanied by sounds from weird old musical instruments. In different areas there were performances of drama, skill and comedy; also exhibitions of old crafts and games, such as knights jousting and battle axe throwing. The highlight was a modern audiovisual show on the castle terrace, depicting an historical event; followed by a spectacular fire works display.

One day when passing through the town of Brno we came across a gathering of folk dancers. Groups of people from different regions wearing colourful local costumes were doing intricate steps (including the polka, which is Czech’s contribution to dance floors).We enjoyed walking in the forests of the part called Bohemia. On one such occasion a woman came by on a tricycle pulled by three Huskies! However, in the Bohemian forests there are also Bohemian mosquitoes and Bohemian ticks; our guidebook mentions illnesses transmitted by them, like Lymes disease which sounds worse than Malaria. We started to itch at the very thought.

Kutna Hora is a town near Prague with a splendid cathedral. The town also has a church where the contents of abandoned graves were deposited. In 1870 a local woodcarver “decorated” the semi-subterranean church with the bones of some 40 000 people – arranging the bones in the shape of bells, a chandelier, a coat of arms and huge pyramids. Heavy rain made us decide to stay right there for the night; between a cemetery and a very large spooky abandoned convent. No lights in windows; no movement of cars or people at all there that night…

Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps were used from 1940 to 1945 to exterminate about 2 million people. The entire spread out area is now a museum. The barbed wire encampments with watchtowers contain prisoners’ living quarters, with crude bunks and washing facilities. In the buildings are also the SS confiscated photos, documents and mountains of possessions (like combs and brushes, spectacles, artificial limbs and women’s hair,). The retreating Nazis partly destroyed all except one of the gas chambers and crematoria. The ominous railway tracks and ramps are still intact.The batteries still did not seem to be charging properly. We decided to plug in at a Camp site and go into Krakow by bus. There was no war damage in Krakow and the old plaza with the beautiful 16^th century Renaissance Cloth Hall is stunning. Inside the old building are souvenir stalls with amber, woodcarving, dolls, leather, etc. L simply could not decide what amber object to buy. Roundly polished looked like beads. Rough ones looked like stones. Large clear ones Jan defined as fakes. T-shirts with the CK-logo (“City of Krakow”; not “Calvin Klein”) were going for a song.

We were enchanted by a coffee shop, in an old building with low vaulted ceiling. Hessian coffee bags covered the seats and screens and antique coffee making accessories were displayed. The Polish music was like 60’s folk. The chain of coffee bars is called “Sklep z Kawq Pozegmanie z Afryka” (“ Shop of Coffee Farewell to Africa”)! Around the old town, what used to be the defensive wall and moat, is now a green belt called in Polish: “Planty”. The benches in the shade are for weary sightseers.

In slow 5pm traffic we drove 15km outside Krakow to the Wielicza salt mine. We parked the night next to a restaurant. Leone had excellent duck. Jan had a meat dish served in a “bowl” made out of bread, complete with crust lid.

We made a 500km detour to visit the Bialowieza National Park on the Belarus border. Russian tsars, German dukes and kings had hunted there and although they had depleted it of animals, the primeval forest was preserved. An ornithologist took us on a lovely hike. (However, there were no visible birds). Nearby in the European Bison Reserve we saw some of the 250 bison in the Park. There are only 3000 worldwide; also wolves, wild boar and deer could be seen.

Attacked!

We were heading south to the Slovak border. On the outskirts of Lublin in front of the Open air Museum we parked for the night. There were cars and people around. It was hot and we sat outside writing until late. At about midnight, shouting and banging on the Camper’s sides awakened us. L said, “Stop it!” Jan said “Schh”. The pulling and hammering on the doors and cursing became more violent.

A blow cracked the front R window. One was tugging on the back door. Jan was watching at the front (He thought he might open the window and spray him). The attacker moved the mirror arm and by hanging onto it and with one foot on the wheel, he kicked the LF window several times till it broke out of its frame with a crash. As he landed on his feet, his face was level with the opening. J sprayed him. He reversed and came forward again with his elbow over his nose.

Then he got the “chilli juice” straight in the eyes and face. He spluttered and gasped: “Gaz!” Thug no. 2 came to the same opening and J was ready to give him a full dose of Oliocapsicum in the face. While they were stumbling about blinded and coughing, Jan found the keys (it felt like an eternity!) and we could drive off. Some of the gas got to the back and Leoné had her face in a pillow. Although we wanted to get far away fast, we had to stop to remove the glass fragments Jan was sitting on! We spent the rest of the night parked safely at a filling station, with all night traffic disturbance – it was the local hooker pick up point!The following night we camped next to a Polish family, who invited us to their campfire for Polish vodka, roasted potatoes and folk songs.

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