Into The Czech Republic - Country #18

We are currently at a place called Kutna Hora, in the Czech Republic.  Our 18th country since leaving the UK last December.

Czech Republic - Country #18 since leaving the UK

We left Vienna 3 days ago and travelled to a place called Eggenburg, near to the Austrian/Czech Republic Border.  It was just a stopover before heading to Telc in the Czech Republic, which was another 60 miles away. We parked up on an Aire at the bottom of the town (N48.64556 E15.81694).  It was €4 a night, plus €1 for water and another €1 to get 8 hours of electricity.  It was all done on honesty (we have learnt that Austria is a very trusting country), you just put your money in an envelope and put it through the letter box of the building next to the Aire.  There was a ‘welcome pack’ as well, all in English and maps and information about the town.

Sonny, the motorhome hidden among the autumn trees

We were surprised how pretty this little town was and had a lovely walk around the 2km town walls.

From Eggenburg, it was a short distance to the Austria/Czech Republic border. As both countries are in the Schengen, there was nothing to let us know we had crossed the border – no remains of old border control buildings, no ‘Czech Republic’ signs, just this crude plaque of Jesus and lots of Flags!

Like the previous 6 countries we had been in, we chose not to buy a vignette.  That meant no driving on the motorways otherwise we would incur a hefty fine.  So, crossing over from Austria where we'd had top-class roads, we were all of a sudden subjected to some horrendously potholed roads pretty much all the way to Telc - our stop for the night.  The town of Telc is lovely, and is known for its Italian Renaissance architecture and colourful houses, and is part of UNESCO World Heritage - yes, another one!

We wild camped the night at at the bottom of the town near a dried up river - (N49.18058 E15.45797).

Leaving Telc we were surprised that the roads were very quiet, given that it was a Saturday. We stopped off to get some food, only to find out that all the shops were closed.  It was the same thing as we drove through all the towns and villages on the way.  A quick check of the internet and we found out that it’s a public holiday – Independent Czechoslovak State Day.  It is the National Day of the Czech Republic and commemorates the date in 1918 when Czechoslovakia was created.  Interestingly, it is not a public holiday in Slovakia. Fortunately, we had stocked up the day before with food and had enough for a few days so we weren’t going to starve – much to Mel’s relief!  

Plenty of pumpkins in this town we went through - must be Halloween soon me thinks!

68 miles later and we were in Kutná Hora and found our parking place for the night (N49.94740 E15.27867).  We headed in to the town, once a wealthy silver-mining town. The sun was out but you can tell from what I am wearing it was cold - I had 3 layers underneath my coat!

St Barbara Cathedral

Some scary looking gargoyles on the Gothic cathedral

Very old medieval frescoes on the wall 

We weren't expecting to find any tourist groups here this time of year, but guess who we found in town - yes a large group of Japanese tourists posing for photos!

Time for a Glühwein stop to warm us up!

Interesting frescoes on the outside of this house

Tomorrow we are off to Prague.  We last visited the place nearly 8 years ago, so we are looking forward to getting reacquainted with the beautiful old city again.

Sally x