So erratic (in writing ths blog)

Well, I have truly neglected this blog over the last 2 or 3 weeks.  We are about ot leave Czechia for the last time, having been in and out of the country several times since we left Cheb.  One reason for this is that I (Tom) have not been very well.  I had a fall before we left England and it led to something or other in my right knee that has dimished, but not gone away.  How far this has affected general activites, I have no idea.  I have also gone through a bad cough and cold, and it is always somewhat surprising how they can persist so strongly even in the brilliant weather we have been having.  "An area of high pressure persists over central Europe".  It has been wonderful, though did lead to two strong thunderstorms.

Excuses, excuses.  But only partly actual reasons.  Still, back to it!

When we left Cheb, we got lost leaving the town.  This is fairly normal practice, so nothing in particular.  But we found the way, crossed the German border and went on the lose the official EV13 route soon after.  Via a "Lourdes Grotto" we got back on the track OK an continued South  through a string of places.  On account of my health, we did not camp and went to Gasthausen; that was OK.  The first notable destination was Flossenberg concentration camp, a sizeable one where granite was quarried for some of the grand projects of the 3rd Reich.  They later also made parts for fighter planes.  There was a good exhibition about the camp and the conditions of the prisoners, which were dreadful to say the least.  Most of the camp, mainly the accommodation huts, have gone.

 We carried on from Flossenberg in a wonderful downhill run to Eslarn, a border town where we crossed over into Czechia again.  This led to a beautiful ride down a valley, on a road with no traffic at all (the car is a usually benign enemy when one is cycling).  We came out into Germany again, into Waldmunchen and on to Furth im Wald.

Furth im Wald does a medieval play every year involving a dragon.  More of that next time.

To return to the previous trip, after visiting the sculpture park, we had been told of a place to stay in the next village, and although there was no sign of it to start with it was there. Visitor accommodation next to an esderly care home.  A nice meal and a good stay.  Then on, via various places to Bad Colburg, where we stayed in a less welcoming, but perfectly OK B&B, and went to the therme.  This si quite moderan establishment with sauna and a serious of hot pools.  They do not get quite to Icelandic temperatures, but they are very satisfying.  "No textiles" is de rigeur in the sauna, maybe in faithful imitation of the Finnish origins, but fine in modern Germany!  After the Therme, we continued to Neustadt bei Coburg.  Although an important place for British royal history, we did not visit Coburg itself as it was off the route and we got lost around there anyway. 

Neustadt bei Coburg ws (is?) an impartant centre for toymaking.  Of thos more next time. 

Into Czechia, to As and Cheb

... and I have not spelt As correctly; it has a funny accent over the s and in German is Asch.  Anyway, we left Hochhoh in good time, cycled back through Modlareuth and on to a string of villages all close to where the border used to be.  Getting close to the border, George f9und a quite excellent coffee and cake establishment.

It is important to remember that one very importand reason to come to Germany is the coffee and cake; a day without it is basically incomplete.

After this bit of indulgence, we arrived at the "border triangle".  Crossing over was somewhat bizarre; we went down a lane to a soldier's grave, went on a path across a field and came to clearing in the woods with various information boards.  It was very peaceful, and this belies the local history.  Before going down the lane, George spoke with an old woman who said she had been born across the border but her village had been destroyed.  He said her accent weas difficult to understand, but we wondered if this had happened at the end of WWII, long before the border was "fortified".  There was resentment of the Germans by the Czechs, particularly after Hitler's invasion and Nazi rule.  Had locals done this after the defeat of Germany, when ultimatley the area was under Soviet control?  Once over the border, we saw remains of houses knowcked down and some information boards suggested there was triving, if small scale, iron mining activities.

Anyway, we continued on the only (dirt) road out of the spot.  Came to various junctions and followed signposts to As.  We ended up on forest roads that ran dead straight for considerable distances through hilly forested country - the roads just went down and up and the surface was not good enough really to enjoy the down.  Well, we got to As, and the other side of town was the Goethe hotel with our reservation.  Rooms fine, except the lighting was quite dim.  The restaurant was closed, we were too late, and we went to a kebeb place over the road where they all spoke good English and knew London, and sold us enormouse pizzes that lasted well into a subsequent piknik.

The next day, on south east towards Cheb.  This started on the same sort of Forest roads as before, but these ended up in the village of Liba, where we continued along a good main road with not much traffic.  This got us to Cheb in good time and we founf our B&Bs quite easliy.  Cheb is an impressive place and we enjoyed wondering around and had a good meal in a restaurant in Spalicek at the end of the main square.

Coming back to progress earlier in the year, we left our B&B in the Ulster valley and embarked on what the route guide called a very long push up, difficult for the ordinary cyclist.  It was.  But we got to the top and were rewarded with a suberb downward run thatb took our breath away.  The weather was good, the road sloed down, there was very little traffic.  Etc.  At the bottom, it was up again, made worse by me finding the wrong route.  We revoered from this ands continued through several villages to one with a quite extraordinary sculpture park, on the border and quie bizarre.

Back on the Iron Curtain Trail

We left Nuremberg the next day (Friday 6 Aug) by train to Hof, to the north.  DB did a special bit of making the journey negatively memorable.  Our train was at 11.38.  We went briefly to the railway museum, which is not part of the negativity - it was good, but not enough time -  and got to the platform about 10 minutes early to find it very crowded.  No sign of the train, which was starting there, but arrived in the platform about 20 minutes late and was only 2 carriages for a lot of people. We managed to get our bikes on, though not everyone with a bike managed this.  Lots of people standing.  The train then stood there for at least another 20 minutes and finally left.  It was hot.  Most of the children were extraordinarily patient, though one baby was not and had to be comforted all the way.  But the train finallly left and got to Hof still about 40 minutes late.

From Hof, along the Saale Radweg, by the river Saale and back the way we had come a few months ago.  We got to Joditz and had a drink and cake in the same place, and then to Hirschberg where we rejoined to Iron Curtain Trail, EV13.  A very steep hill out of Hirschberg and to the Gasthaus pre-booked.  We met George, Tom's brother, here.  The next day to Modlareuth village, about 1.8 km on.  Thisd village had arioginally been in two Lander, Bavaria and Thuringia.  So when the "inpenetrable" border was built, they contructed a Berlin-style wall right through the middle.  The middle was a stream and there are touching photos from before all this of ordinary people chatting by the stream.  We saw a short film about it, looked round the exhibition and the section of wall and fence and watch towers that the village people decided to leave as a museum.  Before this, we also saw where a mill by the boundary had been destroyed.

Then back to our Gasthaus.  Next day, to Czechia.

Coming back to last time's missing information, in Eisenach after the excellent Bach museum - really recommended - we went to the Wartburg castle which was what a castle was from a l,ong time ago and is up a very steep hill.  Pushed our bikes up and enjoyed the descent!  Finally, we ran into an excvellent cheese shop and there we also discovered Thuringian wine. Next day, we took a trainsto where we had left EV13 and continued along it.  We were still in the Werra valley, and this took us to a museum about the potash mining there.  There are two quite enormous waste heaps of white mine spoil that are growing, but that leach out ordinary salt that then pollutes the river.  We went via the town of Vacha, notable for its "friendship bridge" which was about anything but friendship at the time of the border - the bridge was closed off.  The town is one of those charming places with lovely old timber houses etc. And it seems dead; in the large Markt there are hardly any shops and we got our lunch in a supermarket cafe; it was reminiscent of communist times.  Back on the route, and now up a tributary valley, the Ulster Valley.  This took us to Point Alpha, an American base during the cold war, on top of a hill and driectly facing the border fence. They said the soldiers of both sides could see each other's eyeballs.  It now poured with rain.  We got on as fast as we could, back into the valley and on to our B&B further on, just beyond Hilders.

Normal service will be resumed as as soon as possible

....   which may not be quite true.  It is to my embarrasment that I wrote no more back in May.  We continued for about 3 more weeks, arriving in Hof, close to the Czech border, at the end of May.  Then returned to London, spending a day in Leipzig on the way with some exposure to wonderful church singing (Bach of course!)

Now we are in Nuremberg, about to go by train to Hof and resume the Iron Curtain Trail, which has incidentally been magnificently renamed as Euro Velo 13.  (There are Eurio Velo routes in the UK; will withdrawing from this network feature in Brexit?).  We got to Nuremberg by train also, and Deutsch Bahn showed they are fully up to delayed arrival, though I did not find out if being 35 minutes late qualifies for compensation, as it does in Britain!  We visited the "Dokumentation" exhibition about the rise and fall of the 3rd Reich; this was fascinating history and gave much food for thought as to how a demagogue can feed on "make our country great" to go, well, a long way; it included a bit on the Nuremberg trials, though we did not have time to visit the courtroom, in another part of town.  We saw the rallying field with the rostrum where Hitler stood before the immense multitudes, on the Zeppelin plain.  The whole complex there, unfinished when the war started and staying that way is fascinating.  And,of course, it all led in the end to the iron curtain.

Going back to May, after Oebisfeltd and Wolfsburg, we continued South coming to the Harz mountains, where we had a nice train ride to the top on the "Harzerschmalspurbahn" (narrow gauge railway) with wonderful old steam engines, some of them apparently more than 100 years old.  The top, the Brocken, at about 1300 metres was a high security radio listening post in communist days, but is open, and cold, now.  We crossed the mountains by bike the next day, went to a spa, camped in glorous surroundings up a steep hill and continued via Duderstadt into the Werra valley, where there is glorious cycling on good cycle tracks.  Another border museum, another spa (we like these) and a diversion to Eisenach where Luther translated the New Testament (and apparently founded modern German in the process) and Bach was born.  More of this all in the next blog.