Biking to the town with a castle on the hill

Sunday, June 14, 2015
Melnik, Bohemia, Czech Republic
Sun Jun 14
-I didn't sleep that well with excitement n thoughts about the upcoming day of peddling . So we were up by 6:30 n packing n bfast by 7:10.
-even so, we were exactly on time to meet Vital at 8. He had generously offered to show us the way out of town. After some minor gear tweaks, he took us to the edge of the park and set us free.
-we got a little spun around but we're headed in generally the right direction when a cheerful elderly man asked if we needed any help. It was nice to b approached in English n in a friendly tone.
-we told him that we were trying to get to the zoo, our first GPS waypoint, and he gleefully said, "follow me!"  It turned out that he was a zoo curator on his way to work. Along the way he told us about the route we would be following and the floura and fauna we would encounter. It was super nice and like having our own tour guide.
-soon we were at the river n parted ways. The water was calm n oily n the banks lined w trees n some cliffs. Very pretty n easy riding. The path was in good use since it was Sunday morning n there were many rollerbladers n families out biking . It was a nice start to our trip.
-we rode along the river for an hour and then headed up hill for our big climb of the day. It
wasn't too bad, but Laura didn't mind that I had all the weight in the single pannier we carrying.
-we descended down n reunited w the river. Another 30 mins along we stopped at the recommended riverside cafe n had a friendly waitress. Laura enjoyed her veggie salad n I went light w potato soup (I had stuffed myself at bfast.)
-after lunch we peddled onward along the river and the departing again inland through farm country. The scenery was nice n we enjoyed the architecture n bean fields.
-in early afternoon, we could c our town perched on a hillside. There is a dramatic monastery with vineyards spilling below it. We crossed a lock, took a picture and made the final climb of the day to our hotel.
-we were showered n hungry by 4 n decided to eat at the restaurant I the monastery which is now a vineyard. We sampled the very local wine and stumbled on a rich chicken dish that we had to order seconds.
-in a food coma, we left the hot table n went home for a nap. We awoke in the early evening to much more pleasant temps n headed out for a stroll around town with still full bellies.
-we sawthe town n burned off more of our lunch n decided it was time for bed. I finally got my first good night of sleep since leaving Maui. Yay!
-elapsed time 5:27; rolling time 3:32; distance 58km

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2025-02-07

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