Reached Slavonice (7.30pm), after a long day battling into a fierce headwind and along a trail was, at times, no more than tracks through fields. 120k covered.
Will update blog later...
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Update,
Jackie wasn’t feeling too well last night. Probably due to the high temperature, direct sun and lack of water (despite drinking 7 x 750ml bidons-full).
So, today was a tad testing for her, particularly the last 30 miles or so. For sure, it was a long day - mostly due to the strong and persistent headwind. It was also a lot cooler today , even quite cold at times (maybe 18 degrees tops). It also rained a bit. In reality, we barely managed much over 10mph on average.
The Iron Curtain Trail that we did today was very meandering. All day long we alternated between Austria and Czecho. We came across plenty of watchtowers that, despite their utilitarian designs, had still lasted over 70yrs. They were typically meant for two soldiers, with a storeroom below and a kharsie close by. I climbed up a couple of them but the top trapdoor was blocked off, so I couldn’t get onto the platform or observation ‘cockpit’.
Not all of the borders are marked so it’s not easy to always know which country you’re in - potentially important because the Czechs aren’t in the euro and we’re a bit limited on their currency, koruna. For sure, if the town name ends ...ice or ...ov, it’s Czech and if there’s a poster headed (in English) ‘Sex in the Country’ it’s Austria (advertising a stage play somewhere).
Stumbled upon a tacky Czech theme park where, in one area, a Russian Ilyushin airplane had been turned into a café with a terrace, with tables and chairs on one of its wings.
The border town of Slavonice has a ‘traditional medieval renaissance’ centre with some lovely and well-preserved buildings. It’s, evidently, very popular also for an underground tunnel system dating back to the 12th century (not that we’ve time to explore).
The bars and restaurants were very lively - busy with locals (no Brits seemingly around). We had some food in one of them. The beer was good - Jackie stuck to orange juice (still feeling a little off-colour).
Early night. We’ll carry on West tomorrow...