September 12 in Brno (yes, that is the correct number of vowels), southeast of Prague

Distance traveled: 242.0 km

Cumulative distance: 277.7 km

Temperature range: 8 - 15 with rain

Top speed:146 kph

We were reasonably organized this morning, having organized a lot of our gear the night before, seperating it into two bundles each: leaving it or taking it. We were fortunate to be abe to jam our "leaving it" stuff into our carry on suitcases, which we were able to slip into our "checked luggage" suitcases so that we would only have to leave two suitcases with the hotel for our motorcycle absence. We will have our last night in Czechia at the same hotel so it is convenient that they have storage space for luggage. 

Being organized, we didn't jump out of bed at first light or, for that matter, barely mid morning as it was after 9:00 am by the time we rolled downstairs for the excellent breakfast provided by the hotel.  It was 10:00 am by the time we attached the panniers and top case to the motorcycle and I took it up the elevator from the hotel garage. I was glad to see that the large garbage bins which had been blocking the door to the garage the night before had been moved. Route guidance was set up before leaving our hotel room and my roaming cell phone was mounted on the handlebars with ear buds firmly jammed in both ears. I was still able to hear Nan in the bluetooth headset over top of the earbuds but if Google was talking to me at the same time as Nan, it was a competition as to who I was going to believe. 

We had to navigate our way out of Prague, a big city but Google Maps was up to the task. We got to see some of the city's more modern architecture. Where we had taken a random tram and found ourselves in the old Soviet quarter, we were witness to some beautiful, modern architecture this morning.   Or at least, Nan was. I was witness to a lot of traffic and making sure I wasn't sharing an intersection with pedestrians or other vehicles. 

It may take a little getting used to riding in Europe. At least in Czechia and Germany (and probably most countries) While drivers I find are reasonably courteous in that they signal well when passing, I find they are serious tail gate-ers when the want to go around or go faster than the vehicle (i.e. motorcycle) ahead. They also think nothing of cutting across in front because, well, they are signaling. That means I have to keep a close eye on all the vehicles around me and anticipate when they might want to change lanes or get around. Even though it is a little scary, I would far rather ride amongst these drivers than in Kelowna, who are just plain bad, dangerous drivers without regard for other vehicles in their proximitiy.

Once out of town, we were heading south on the highway to Konopiste Castle. No rain as yet but we were dressed in anticipation of it coming. Road traffic was heavy and in the right lane, almost non-stop heavy truck traffic and in the left lane, cars going fast, frequently in excess of the 130 kph speed limit. We were caught between a rock and a hard place as I didn't want to be riding in the rain at 150 kph but I also didn't want to be sandwiched between semis doing 90. At times, we saw endless rows of trucks, many kilometres without breaks or interuptions. 

The castle is off the highway about 10 or 15 km and makes for an easy diversion from the trip to Brno. We park the bike in the parking lot and even though it is not particularly busy, we are approached by the parking attendant (or so he claimed) and extracted 30 Czech crowns - about 50 cents - but did give us a receipt. Or his shopping list, not quite sure which but also allowed us to put our helmets in the staff room (of the parking attendants). As I was expecting that we would pass through a toll gate later in the day, I asked him what would be the toll so that Nan could have the change ready in her pocket but he told me motorcycles are free. 

We hiked up the hill to the castle and paid our seniors-rate fee and rented electronic devices with an English description of the castle. Corresponding numbers are entered into a keypad and we could hear the details of the room we were touring. When I purchased the ticket, it was explained to me that there was only a Czech language tour. My assumption that that meant for the rest of the day as opposed to all time. It was ironic to me that of the three couples on the tour, only one couple spoke Czech and they were busy wrangling their two toddlers and tuned out or talked over the guide half the time. I asked the guide questions in English and she had no problem answering me in excellent English and the other couple did not have an electronic device so just walked around looking at the artifacts and talked to each other. Much to our diappointment and dismay, photography was off limits so we had to content ourselves with paying attention. 

The castle was an amazing building with an amazing history.  "Founded" in 1294 it soon changed hands a mere 33 years later but followed with 275 years of stable ownership. It also went through a number of major renovations including at the end of the 15th century, early in the 17th century and then later in the 18 century. In 1887, the castle and surrounding grounds were acquired by Franz Ferdinand, the presumptive heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire. It was renovated into a "faux-historical" style and the surrounding lands were turned into landscaped park.

In July of 1914, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated which basically led to the onset of the first world war. In 1921 the castle was taken over by the Czechoslovakian government and that is when parts of the castle became accessible to the public to see the grand affair including an extensive art collection as well as animal hides, and extensive library, an amazing display of weaponry and armour of the middle ages and "modern conveniences like indoor plumbing, an elevator and heating.

It was heart breaking to not take pictures, especially in the armoury, which contained all manner of swords, including executioner's swords, armour worn by knights and horses, muskets and cannons, I asked the guide if she and the other guides would sneak in there at night time, don the armour and get on the stuffed horses. She said no, too many cameras.

No pictures but memories, which will likely get pushed out by other experiences before we leave Europe on this trip. But it was a fascinating way to spend a couple of hours.

These are from the courtyard and the grounds.

 A trio of pea hens wandered around the courtyard making themselves at home, including all three of the them finding their way into the confectioner's strore.

 

Not long after we left the castle, we had about 20 km of riding through Czech countryside on little two lane, two line (on the outer edges) roads, just barely wide enough to allow two vehicles to pass by one another. Stunnng scenery as we passed through little villages, this is what riding in Europe is all about.  But in short order, we were back on the highway to Brno and soon with it, the rain.

It rained pretty hard and the temperature dropped. I haven't installed outlets for our heated gear but that will get a close look tomorrow if the rain stops. By the time we reached Brno, I was pretty cold. We had changed to my "winter" gloves, I figured out how to turn on the heated grips and we each added a layer. Hard to believe that last week, we were just about expiring from heat exhuastion. There was a time when we were bicycling that Nan said "at this point, I would welcome some rain". Farmous. Last. Words. I was starting to shiver as we reached Brno, made worse by the fact that I had put my phone away as it was raining fairly hard and I didn't want the cracked screen to take on any water, so i couldn't actually see where we were going, relying entirely on the verbal commands. Well, that didn't last and after doing an out-and-back then repeating a loop, I pulled over and took the phone out so that I could see where we were going, which made all the difference.

The hotel was a welcome sight and the water ran hot in the shower. We had dinner in the dining room of the hotel which was an extraordinarily delightful surprise as the food and service were both excellent.