A dash across Europe

With time counting down I decided I needed to up my pace - so in the space of the last  fortnight I've been in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany again, France and now I've arrived in Spain.

Poland was my first stop after Germany - only a flying visit and only staying overnight in one town - but enough to know its worth coming back.  Looks like an interesting halfway house between Europe and Russia in its attitudes and some of its developments.  In many places it looks like what I think Germany around East Berlin might have looked like 10-15 years ago.

[caption id="attachment_697" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Wrocklow Poland - a gorgeous city square - the finest completely intact one I've seen."][/caption]

Riding around was fun quiet but interesting roads and lots of small villages

[caption id="attachment_700" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Typical village scene"][/caption]

- and many with a huge church or castle or something interesting.

[caption id="attachment_698" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A small village somewhere in southern  Poland - with a massive castle on a hill top (looked more impressive in reality than the photo seems)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_699" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Poland does however win the prize for the country with the most sign posts - the roads were massively lined with them -most of course telling you the obvious and of course with the critical direction one usually missing."][/caption]

From Poland it was on to the Czech Republic and Prague.

[caption id="attachment_701" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="All day it looked like this and struggled to get to 2 degrees."][/caption]

 

The main reason to visit Prague was to get a taste of the changes that happened there since 1983 when I hitch hiked there as part of my trip that eventually finished in Australia.  I remember Prague as a beautiful, uncrowded city.  Well its still beautiful but the uncrowded has gone - even in what is the low season you could hardly move in the old city (and some of the beauty is now well hidden under the selling of universal tourist tat).  A worthwhile experience but after a few days I was ready to move on.

[caption id="attachment_702" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Night, the old Townhall - and crowds"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_703" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="There were still some quiet spots - if you got there early enough in the day."][/caption]

 

Near Prague is Kutna Hora what is now a smallish town but 500 years ago apparently outshone Prague.  Because of that it has more than its fair share of huge churches and the like.

[caption id="attachment_704" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Pretty and quiet - much more relaxing if less dramatic than Prague"][/caption]

But what draws people there are not the cathederals - but a bone ossurary (place where the bones which are removed from graves when they are re-cycled are stored).  Ossuraries are apparently reasonably common in Europe - but what is special about Kutna Hora's is the way its bones have been used to decorate the crypt of a small church:

[caption id="attachment_705" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A general view"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_706" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="The church's sponsors coat of arms - and a very large pile of bones behind (one of 6 pyramids of them)"][/caption]

And if you think the above looks familiar - yes this place featured in the "Long way round" video.

After several weeks of being cold I decided it was now time to get warm - so decided to go to Spain.  Eighteen hundred kilometres in 3 days and that was achieved.  The first part of the trip was German motorways very efficient, straight and boring and lots of fog then onto the French equivalent which were lots more scenic (and enlivened by sometimes being beside the TGV train track - and when comes past at 250km hour its worth seeing).

The only flaw in the plan is almost as I reached the Spanish border I kept seeing electronic warning signs saying something I couldn't  - but was obviously to do with the weather - I found out as I was enveloped in a massive thunderstorm - thunder and lightning crashing around, rain at the "where's the road" level etc..

[caption id="attachment_707" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Fortunately a hotel appeared out of the murk - so bike and I hid there for a night."][/caption]

And then next day it was on to sunshine and Spain - but that will be my next post.