Dresden to Prague

Monday August 22

This morning Mary got woken up to a text at 6am. It was from Craig. He and Amy were in Palmerston North for the week and visiting Grandma who has Skype, so they wondered if she could come online. Luckily the Wifi reached me really well at this site so Mary switched the computer on and had a long chat to them. It was great to catch up and see Craig and Amy.

Today was a travelling day again but not a long journey was planned. Mary had sorted out a camp in Prague back in NZ before they left home and Alan had all the details so he set the Tom Tom to take them straight there. Well not quite straight there as they got the first turn onto the motorway wrong due to some confusing directions and tricky lane changes and ended up going the wrong way through three long tunnels for about 10k. Tom Tom lady kindly replanned the route and turned them around and got them in the right direction towards Prague. They had agreed to include a route that invovled pay roads but as it turned out that didn’t happen as there was a huge diversion with a large section of the motorway out of commission. They were taken on a country road along with all the many trucks. In one place a huge drain cover was missing and the police had narrowed the road down to one lane and were letting a few vehicles through each way at a time. They were lucky to be travelling in the direction of least traffic; the queue the other way went on for miles. They were taken through some lovely rural villages and got a first look of Bohemia. It was very attractive with traditional houses and churches up on the hills alongside a river.

Once on the outskirts of Prague, the Tom Tom again tried to take them up roads that had been changed to one way, so they had to override the instructions and get a new route which happened successfully. They finally found themselves not at one camp but at a whole street of camps in a suburban area. They saw the one they had the material about and drove in, took one look and backed out (with great difficulty). It looked untidy and poorly presented and with so many to choose from felt they could do better. So they drove into the next but one and it was really lovely. It is really the large backyard of someone’s house. There are only 15 places and it is set amongst trees, some of which are fruit trees. The facilities are of hotel standard because there is a guest house in the actual house as well. The woman seemed relieved when they spoke English. She spoke fluent English and showed them all around and where everything was. It is just the most beautiful setting. She was able to sell them tram tickets to get into town tomorrow as the trams are at the end of the street.

Having had such a busy few days, Mary and Alan got the awning out and the chairs and relaxed in the sun in the beautiful garden. The little guys had all got on well together on the trip so Mary played them episode of Sooty on the computer. Ber Lin was able to follow to it all easily even though his English isn’t very good yet. Pania is trying to teach him English with a few Maori phrases as well, but he gets all confused every time she says Ka Pai. He thinks she is talking to Ka Pai, but Patariki tells him it means he is doing really well. After Mary and Alan went out they turned me into a puppet theatre and did their own little show. I really am a multipurpose van it seems. I can be a vehicle, kitchen, lounge, bedroom, bathroom, tv room, games room, internet cafe, phonebox, and a puppet theatre!

Later in the afternoon Mary and Alan went for a walk in the local area and found the Troja Chateau just up the road. It is built in the style of a Classical Italian Villa. They went in and were able to take the guided tour at 5pm. Although the tour was all in Czech, there were translations in many languages in each room, all colour coded, that people could pick up and read. There were so many visitors from other countries that the guide seemed to be talking to herself at times.

It was the summer time palace of Count Vaclac Vojtech of Stemberk, one of the oldest Czech noble families. Every ceiling had been decorated with elaborate frescos; some to a higher standard than others. The highlight was the grand hall completely painted, walls and ceiling, and it is the finest example of a decorated hall in the Czech republic. There are also beautiful formal gardens laid out in French style. It was quite a bonus to have found something to see so close.

The walk home took them past the convenience store where they shopped for a few basics and then it was back to spend time outside in the cool of the evening. There is good Wifi here so Mary sat outside and caught up with all the news from NZ and the rest of the world.