Episode 21

This time we got most of the day to walk around Prague and we put it to good use. After spending a little more time in the Old City we crossed the Charles bridge again and spent quite a while exploring the narrow streets and cobbled squares and churches of Mala Strana area (below the castle). It starts off as a gentle uphill stroll that gets steeper the further you go, then you come to steps at the top of which is a large terrace area for admiring the view of everything below. The Castle immediately there in front of us separated from the cliff edge by the continuing terrace where there are restaurants with prices equal to the grand view. It was getting late in the day so we didn't go into the castle not having enough time to give it justice.

The castle is more like a palace than a fortified castle and it is huge with many wings and courtyards. Beyond the castle on the opposite side to where we were the spires of St Vitus cathedral tower over all else:

In the huge square outside the castle that is surrounded by some lovely buildings we wandered around an Armed forces display of military equipment. Of particular interest was a delta wing plane that is made in Linkoping in Sweden. That is where L’s friends are and where we spent a week or more back in May with car problems. By the time we got back to the car it was again peak hour traffic so a slowish journey out of the city in fading light. We had now finished in Prague and were again heading back to the UK with our car problems.

Before leaving the Czech Republic and because it was on our route we visited the lovely city of Plzen. It’s on the same style as most of the cities that have their beginnings in the 1th to 13th Centuries. The large cobbled main square is dominated by the church that sits in the middle of the square in this case.

This city has a large number of underground tunnels and we took a tour of the tunnels. Again no photographs were allowed though some with mobile phones got away with taking plenty. These tunnels were used for storage and also as a place of refuge in times of war. Because of the large capacity for storing supplies the town withstood several sieges of lengthy durations. There are many water wells in the tunnels that don’t go right through to the surface. Even the first printing press in the Czech Republic was set up down here and there were many artisans shops too. Probably many people will think that the most important thing that was stored down here was the beer. This is the home of Pilsner beer, and I think our guide said that the brewery here is the oldest in the Republic but I can’t be sure as she was way ahead of us and the acoustics left a lot to be desired.

After leaving the Czech Republic we made a detour and spent a lovely day in Salzburg. This is another city L has visited in the dim and very distant past. She says that it seems very drab compared to what she remembers. I got overlooked and left in the car, how can a stuffed toy write a blog about a place he didn’t get to see:

With the car parked in a park and ride my humans caught a bus into the city centre and got off very near where L remember the YHA used to be, it’s still there: From there they wandered about the narrow cobble streets before most of the shops etc were open for business. Things open here later than lots of other places. Eventually they came to the Tourist Info office and got a map. Then they visited the church on their way to climb the steep path and steps that lead up to the 11th century fortress that sits on the cliff top overlooking the city below. The city is divided by the river and the old city did extend on both sides of the river and much of the old city wall is very visible where it snakes its way across the forested hillside on the opposite side of the river. We could see the fortress on its high vantage point long before we reached the city.

After paying quite an expensive admission charge to visit the fortress they then discovered that it was such an interesting place with so much to see that it was well worth the entrance fee. A very steep walk way lead from the arched entrance up and under another long archway and still going uphill the cobbled courtyards eventually lead to the highest point where the bishops residence used to be and now houses a wonderful museum that covers a range of things. It was good to see that photos were allowed, just no flash photography. Fortunately L’s camera takes reasonable photos in limited light conditions.

For the less energetic there is also a funicular rail up there, originally it was horse drawn so is quite old, form the late 1800’s

The first museum they came to houses Marionettes. They enjoyed this and even got to try their hand at being a puppeteer, both deciding that far more practice was needed. A very skilled profession is puppeteering: Next was the very extensive museum that gave an overview of local and European history from Roman times. The chief occupants of the fortress were the Bishops who lorded it over the monks in the monastery and the peasantry that lived below.

They certainly did live in style these Bishops, their private quarters have rooms that are beautifully wood panelled with pink marble archways and entrances, with ceiling sthat are studded to give the effect of the evening sky. There was an exhibit of weapons and armour from the 12th century onward, much similar to what they’d seen elsewhere. A great deal of time was spent here browsing as the crowd wasn’t huge so they could take their time, and they did.

There was then another museum to visit, for this one they had to queue and wait but not for long, it was guided and no photo’s were allowed expect at the very top from which point there is a superb view of the whole city and environs .

This tour include paintings and a short history of all the Bishops who have lived here and in later times, Kings, and shows how the castle was developed over the centuries from the wooden structure built in the 11th century. Archaeological digs have found that the Romans had something here and there are indications that some structure probably predated the Roman ones.

After eventually leaving the fortress my humans returned to the city and wandered at leisure through the now bustling city’s narrow streets and numerous covered arcades. They crossed the river on a bridge that has thousands of padlocks affixed to the railings. Affixing a padlock to a railing is supposedly a custom that started in Italy; lovers linger on the bridge and affix a padlock representing a commitment to each other. L wonders how well that works, no doubt about it L is a cynical *****: Finally late in the day they returned to me and the car.

We drove back into Germany and through a district of lakes where numerous resort towns can be found. In summer it would be thick with tourists but now only stray travellers like us can be found disturbing the tranquil scene. Nearly everything had closed for the season, not even a stray bird disturbed the scene.

Then we came to some prettily painted Bavarian towns and villages and the big ski resort of Garmesh Partinkerken, another town Lyn remembers well from her hitching days around Europe not that she recognized anything here.

Crossing back into Austria we took a little used road over a high pass only to find that it was closed a short way down the far side so we had to return to a junction and take the pretty route over the Arlberg Pass. L had passed this way too in her hitching days having been in a car following to red glow of the rear lights of snow plough for hours. Nothing else was visible: This time however there was little traffic on this route and although we did get some rain we still had some great views while most of the traffic took the motorway below that passes mostly through a series of tunnels.

Next we went into Liechtenstein: We had to pull up at the border crossing and the guard there who we thought might want to look at the passports merely leaned down to the window and asked where we were going. L very nearly burst out laughing, she only just contained herself, whilst David quickly responded with Vaduz, the capital and principal city of this tiny Principality. The reason L wanted to laugh is that we were on a road with almost no side roads and high mountains of both sides and not even a place to turn around easily where else could we have possibly be heading, not much choice really; L told D that he should have replied Malaysia and give the fellow something to think about.

Liechtenstein is supposedly a banking enclave and so we wouldn't think it an unreasonable expectation to expect to see a number of smart looking banking establishments in the city. Well, apart from the castle that sits on a prominent hill overlooking the town it is otherwise quite drab with little recommend it. Certainly no flash banks, they must all be very discrete and keep a very low profile. We drove up to the castle only to find that it isn't open to visitors, and even a good view of it is hard to obtain, only from the city below. It is still occupied by the Royal family. L had passed through here in the same blizzard in 1970 or thereabouts. With little to keep us here we drove off into Switzerland and returned to Germany because my humans didn't want to be bothered changing Euros in Swiss Francs for a brief visit.

We kept to small roads across this very pretty and very hilly/mountainous region and descended into the Rhine valley near Frieburg, crossed the river into France and continued on our way towards Paris.

© Lynette Regan 10th November 2013