September 18: Loket

Distance traveled: 96.7 km

Cumulative distance: 707.4 km

Top speed: 106 kph

Temperature range: 18 - 21 degrees

We awoke to a beautiful blue sky today, first time we have seen real blue in a week.  It was mild out and so Nan went to fetch us a couple of lattes and croissants before our departure. We were on the road shortly after 10:00 am for our short ride today. 

With the change in the weather, we were feeling exuberant and ready to take on the day. 

In short order, we were on the outskirts of Pilsen and into the countryside. With Google Maps set to "Avoid Freeways" we were having a lot of fun riding the small lanes and little back roads on the way to Loket. We marvelled at how Google would even identify  some of the these roads as "roads".  Often, they looked like driveways to someone's house or cottage but they were in fact, actual numbered roads. We figured out that a road numbered with four digits probably meant no lines, three digits meant lines marking the edges of the road, two digits probably had a line down the centre (or more) etc.  It was good fun winding along the valleys, twisting and curving but it is no place for "colouring outside the lines" because the roads are so narrow, meeting another vehicle would spell almost certain disaster: every corner was blind and with the road being so narrow there is little room to pass. 

Exiting the secure parking area.

A beautiful Plzen mural on the side of a building.

Early morning fruit and vegetable market.

Road 2808.

Hard to believe this rates as a "road" on Google Maps.

Loket is the epitome of a "tourist town". When we approached the bridge entrance to the town, we saw three tour buses parked and regurgitating tourists to visit the town. Riding in, the first sign I see is "suvenyry"; which pretty much tells you something.  Handily, the hotel we are attending is the first building we encounter crossing the river into the town. I park on the side of the cobbled road and find the entrance to the hotel. I wasn't even sure we had a reservation as I didn't receive any confirmation when I booked it the prior night but walking in wearing motorcycle clothing, the desk attendant said "Mr Howard?" - I always indicate in the reservation that we are coming via motorcycle - and he ackowledged that something had gone wrong with the confirmation but we indeed did have a reservation and a secure place to park the bike. 

It was only 12:30, earliest we have even been at a destination,  so we were looking initially for something to eat since we had had a more modest breakfast than to which we have grown accustomed. It turned out to be beer for breakfast, along with some good, hearty Czech food folowed by a latte to go.  We walked around the town - population about 600 - and again, it is a place with a beautiful town square. Its most notable feature however, is Loket Castle, a 13th century castle that has undergone extensive renovation and "modernization". The earliest reference to the castle is from 1237.

Nan had thought that we should visit the castle tomorrow but we ended up at the front gates so elected to do our visit today. The castle had a reputation for having a "dungeon" and "torture chamber" so we thought that we wanted to see that. The town itself is also a noted porcelain manufacturing centre and has been for centuries. The castle has a repsository of museum quality porcelain from the last 200 years.

The castle has a number of artifacts from the ages but ongoing efforts to shore up the construction has "modernized" the structure, which I found a little disappointing. However, the reality is that in order to display the castle to the public, some efforts need to be made to allow visitors with little risk of injury. For example, there is a stone staircase that does not look safe for people (by today's standards) and is closed for use.  Most parts of the castle we visited had refurbished or rebuilt stairs and floors and plaster was applied to the walls. 

No longer fit for use. 800 years old, afterall. 

Helmet from the early 19th century.

Detail on armour from the 14th century. Armour was eventually rendered obsolete by the advent of guns in the 18th century.

Gifts of porcelain to the museum of Loket.

This shows the foundation of the castle from excavations that occured in the last 50 years. The walls are 2 1/2 metres thick. Built to take a pounding.

An old but somewhat intact heating stove.

Repairs to the castle tower are ongoing. The tower was the last refuge of the castle when under attack.  Amazingly, no one has seen fit to install a clock.

This exposed arching structures were the ceiling to the porcelain museum one floor below. I had been curious about what was below when I saw the structure and when we were leaving the castle, I asked about them and what was below. I was told that they were indeed arched ceilings and were over a room containing the porcelain and the room was accessible, so we went back, found the entrance, which was somewhat obscured by construction and saw the porcelain museum.

Murals one the walls had been covered by plaster up to 30 cm thick and were restored when the plaster had been chipped away.

Thick walls to protect the castle.

Weapons of the 17th century.

The following pictures are of tools used to "punish" or torture individuals from medieval times. Most of us have probably seen movies where this kind of torture was demonstrated (Braveheart, Gladiator) but seeing the actual instruments of torture were quite disturbing. Those inflicting the torture went out of their way to make the punishment as cruel as possible. The dungeons of the castle were set up with arcade-style demonstrations including recordings of people ostensibly in pain while tortured and goofy stuffed animatrons enacting the scenes of torture. It reminded me of visiting the "haunted house" of past traveling exhibitions and, in my mind, trivialized the barbaric nature of these acts.