Distance traveled: 229.6 km
Cumuative distance: 610.7 km
Top speed: 116 kph
Temperature range: 9 - 12 degrees
We are in Pilsen today. If you even REMOTELY drink beer, you might recognize that name as it is the town where Pilsner beer originated. Locally, the town is called Plzen and somebody who shall remain nameless but not me thought that they were different cities and that we were going the wrong direction. Ye of little faith. We have already been drinking Pilsner beer here in Czechia, so we have a head start on visiting the Pilsner Urquell factory tomorrow.
We were pretty excited this morning because we walked to the main hotel wing and we were not in the rain. Unlike every other morning on this trip, we had a hot, cooked breakfast to order as there was only one other couple as guests in the hotel and not enough to warrant a buffet breakfast. But we were told that we could order as much as we wanted off the menu and keep ordering until we had had enough. They even made us lattes.
Afterward, I had to walk the three blocks to fetch the bike from its parking spot in the town pubic parking area. I had thought that the parking was going to be enclosed but it was simply a parking lot ostensibly with CCTV cameras. No payment and virtually no security. The owner of the motorcyle had reminded me to lock the steering of the motorcycle when I parked it but for the most part, it has been in a secured parking area and I haven't felt it was really necessary until now.
It rained on us while we exited Telc and for some time afterwards. After trying to sort through some things at the hotel before we left, we finally hit the road at 11:30. Nan alternated keeping the camera under her coat and in the top box, depending on the severity of the rain. We had been out a few days without taking the camera so we were happy to be taking pictures and we hope you enjoy these as much as we do.
We were riding to Pilsen and we were attempting to keep to the back roads and most of the way, that was the case. Roads so "back" that they didn't have lines or likely didn't have a name. At least in one case. When we reached Pilsen, Google Maps took us on a lane through a field. I was half expecting the pavement to run out and turn into a cart path but what I later realized was that it was trying to get us into the city while avoiding the freeway, as we saw it just adjacent to us at one point.
We had a little trouble navigating to our apartment for the night as several of the streets are one way and the apartment is actually on quite a busy main road so we had to be sure we were approaching it from the correct direction as it would have been impractical to lug our luggage across the street. There was a lock box at the building entrance and when we got there, no key was to be had (this is an Airbnb - styled rental) in the box so I had to call the owner to get access. Nan immediately wondered if we had been scammed but I had actually paid through Expedia, so I wasn't too worried. The owner was very apologetic and said his "colleague" would arrive shortly to give us the keys. As it turned out, the colleague was in the building so we didn't wait five minutes and we were inside. We hauled the panniers and top case up and then I went to take the bike around to the back of the building to the secure parking area. I would say it is quite secure as it is walled and I had to pass through two different electronic gates. The building has several security measures and Nan had mentioned that she saw some ne'er-do-wells on the street so she said we should get back from dinner before dark. It actually does look a little sketchy but there is lots of activity around.
OK, there are a lot of pictures here tonight. I am not going to give a description for every one; just think about it in terms of today's pictures are what we in large part came to Europe to ride. Little back roads, through little hamlets with a lot of history.
This jet was identified for me by our friend Kevin who is an aircraft aficionado and was on the trip with us earlier. It is a MiG15 and entered service in 1949, four years after the end of WWII and was used in the Korean War. The engine used is a copy of the Rolls Royce Nene jet engine.
