Am I motorcycle rider first, who travels? Or a traveler first, who happens to ride a motorcycle?  In other words, is it more about the travel or the motorcycle? I think it depends on how I’m feeling. I’m touring Prague and enjoying the sites, but I kind of want to be on the motorcycle. Instead of looking for sites in the city, I’m looking at the topography and roads of Czech to see what peaks my interest.

Still I can’t pass up being in the beautiful city of Prague. I took 2 full days and 3 nights at the Airbnb to check it out.

 

 

 

 

 

Charles Bridge

 

This Medieval Restaurant had a very unique menu for the meat enthusiast.

Take a guess what these are?

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed Prague it really is a lively city with a rich history, but I still want to ride. One of my friends, Ingrid, and students back home is from Czech. She offered her apartment for me to stay in Brno. You can’t say no and I really wanted to explore the countries roads.

I have no phone service here in Europe. I didn’t op for the international plan. In previous trips the phone service would roam if I didn’t turn the it off in the settings and At&t would end up charging me an arm and a leg. So prior to leaving my location, I had to make sure I downloaded the maps before hand with WIFI.

Look on your google maps and you can download up to 1725MB of a particular area. It won’t provide any other information but the main roads to get to your destination. There in lies the problem, when you want to take the backroads. Along the way it would default to the major highways. Once again, not my preferred way to travel. So I paid close attention to the road signs. Not always with success!

So I headed off and found a church of bones. If you have the chance, watch the The Long Way Around with Ewen McCregor and Charle Boorman. Their documentaries on motorycle travel I watched religiously before I left on my first trip, and it inspired me in many ways. They had stopped in this church of bones in Czech so I had to check it out myself.

The Sedlec Ossuary (Czech: Kostnice v Sedlci) is a small Roman Catholic chapel, located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints (Czech: Hřbitovní kostel Všech Svatých), part of the former Sedlec Abbey in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic. The ossuary is estimated to contain the skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, whose bones have, in many cases, been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel. (Wikipedia)

My Quest to get to Brno and ride the backroads was going great. Less people, more twisties, old castles, and……………….road blocks! The beauty and ‘trap’ of riding an adventure bikes is you feel like you can go anywhere and do anything. So I tried!

It was either break the law or turn around for a 3 hour detour. I like to get into the towns before sunset. That way I can get my bearings! So that wasn’t going to happen, if I had turned around. None of the workers seemed to care, even though the signs said no crossing.

After a slight embarrassment, I hopped back on the camel and found my way into the city an hour later.

The ride was satisfying and I pulled up to Ingrid’s Flat to meet her friend Filip who owns it with her. He gave me a tour and was very hospitable leaving me with the key to the flat and a couple of ideas on where to go. Downtown Brno looks like a nice mixture of old and new. I really enjoyed my stay here. It was one full day and two nights. I essentially saw another church of bones and enjoyed plenty of beer, including, the original budweiser. (Budvar)

I enjoyed a local beer at this place more then once as the view and vibe was super chill.

Výčep Na Stojáka (Brewery)

My interactions with some Czech though, were curious. They have a no nonsense attitude and what seems like rude responses to questions I had. Certainly it wasn’t the majority but it happened often and if you let it, it will get to you.  You might feel unwelcome. The reality was is I wasn’t bothered by it. I know that once you break past their natural dispositions you’ll find that it is just a directness that we aren’t used to in the states. Formal hello’s and long conversations are not needed in simple interactions. After all you have to only look back at the history and realize over 30 years ago they were behind the iron curtain. Not allowed to share their feelings or opinions. I’m not sure if thats the reason but it certainly helps you to just, understand!

 

I like Czech, but I have only 2 weeks to get to Portugal to meet the guys for the rugby tournament. So I’m trying to find the right balance of down time/ site seeing in these beautiful countries with backroad riding. I chose the distance but I don’t like being rushed. I decided I wanted to see Austria. So i’m heading to Vienna. Or so I think.