Where are all the people?

We're back on the bikes after taking a "rain day" in Slavonice. I have to admit that a day off in a beautiful hotel room with a big bath tub was worth every Koruna. Early on in today's ride, Jude and I were talking about the weirdness of the silence ... By that I mean for hours on end, through villages and small towns, we saw no one (well hardly anyone), and the lack of any sound -- kids playing, radios blaring, tractors working) -- was disconcerting. Especially given that it is Saturday. We passed parks, tennis courts, soccer fields, farms, churches, schools ... it appeared as though we were in a movie with no other actors ...

Around noon things began to change. We rode into Vranov and happened upon a castle; and people. We rode through town and into a cottage / lake community where we stopped for lunch, and found, more people. (Not too many. A few hearty cottagers and the owner of this little cafe who made awesome soup.)

Around 2 pm and 50 + km into our ride we began to see bits of blue sky, maybe more like light grey. But it was warming up! We were loving our cycle day, riding km upon km through farmland and small villages & towns with - maybe - a car passing us every 30 minutes or so. Once we reached the Podyji National Park, the terrain and countryside changed again. Dramatically, we left fields of canola and found ourselves right in the middle of Morovian wine country.

  

A wine tasting hut on the Greenways bike trail, only accessible by bike or on foot. The next photo shows why ...

The weather is improving. We got to shed the heavy raincoats this afternoon. Tomorrow the prospects for riding in shorts look promising. Soon we leave the Czech Republic and head to Vienna before riding down the Danube to Budapest. One week in and we are just beginning to gain an appreciation for what the Czech people are like and what they have been through since the 1940's. 

More later ... Keep Smiling!