Day Three: The patron saint of spiders and hitchhikers on our way to culture…
Another day, another coffee at dawn. The parched field burnt brown, and the sense of drought around us. The Otava was very low in the gorge, with white streaked lines in the valley sides beneath the tree line.
Dean was keen to visit a city, to immerse us in the culture of Czechia rather than spend another day rolling through the equivalent of the Vale of York. This would mean leaving the Vltava and heading south east for a while and riding into České Budějovice in southern Bohemia, 75km away from our current campsite in Varvažov. There was a lot of countryside ahead to cover, and the heat began to build. We took advantage of a Co-Op shop in Záhoří, hugging the shade beside the shop as we refreshed with water and coffee. Shortly after that though, we found deep forest roads.
We entered Přírodní park Písecké hory unaware of how far we’d be travelling under the canopy of trees. We were on deserted roads that were sometimes hard packed gravel, but mainly smooth tarmac. It gave us the freedom to ride side-by-side observing and commenting on the woodland and wildlife, or getting lost in our own worlds of thought. Dean was often ahead of me, perhaps to avoid my paparazzi photography skills. I may have expected the heat to become stifling in the still air, but somehow it didn’t. Our time in the forest was cool and refreshing.
There were more of the wooden information boards but it was unclear who would ever read them as they were deep in a forest beside a track with nothing else nearby to give a motorist a reason to stop. I did realise that these were never intended for those travelling by car, they’re for walkers. We had begun to notice painted marks on the tree trunks around us, and were trying to decipher their meaning without googling the answer. I wondered if it was a forestry equivalent of the way shepherds mark sheep – of course I googled it later, and discovered these were often way markers on long distance walks.
From time to time we’d pop back out into the countryside and see more rolling fields of wheat and corn. The distant hills remained distant, but the heat of the day was intense. Sometimes we would detour to a nearby village for refreshments. Not every detour was fruitful – such as our visits to Paseky and Tálín – but none of our cycling was wasted, the combination of having a goal and the self-granted permission to deviate from that kept us both fairly relaxed.
We took advantage of a cafe in Protivín to enjoy a break and drink more coffee, and eat some pastry, but now everywhere we went was hot and we were riding quite slowly. Between Protivín and České Budějovice we stopped quite frequently for shelter from the sunshine. Firstly for lunch in Dříteň, then a bus shelter in Olešník and again beside a lake near Hluboká nad Vltavou.
In Dříteň, we found some chairs in a roadside prayer chapel, and borrowed them to sit in the shade of the trees behind it. The doors were stiff to open on rusted hinges, and the inside was a place of worship for spiders rather than humans, so after lunch we returned our seats to the spider-overlords.
From unimpressed saints in dusty chapels to pristine benches in airy bus shelters, we hid from the glare of the sun.
Although not every village had a shop or cafe, there was no shortage of well-maintain churches, each with clean white-washed walls, usually somewhere to sit and often the shelter of a tree. I joked that Christ may have said, “Come to me, all who cycle-travel and carry heavy camping luggage, and I will give you rest.”
By far and away our favourite roadside saint was near a reservoir at a road junction outside Hluboká nad Vltavou…
Saint Rocha: seen here exposing his thigh in a rather coquettish fashion. Again, refusing to google the answer, we came to the conclusion that Saint Rocha was probably the patron saint of hitchhikers, and anyone broken down at the roadside.
As we came into České Budějovice, we passed though an outer green space of recreation; cyclists, walkers, and even a white water kayak centre, then after crossing the motorway, we came to the business and out of town shopping district. Beyond this, tower blocks of flats, and as we found a riverside cycle path, we eventually came into the city centre.
Once into České Budějovice we found beautiful little streets with white walled buildings and red tiled roof tops, interconnected by cobbled squares, surrounded by small shops and cafes. It was a delight, and we refreshed ourselves again in the shade at Fér Café.
I left Dean to his own devices because I was interested in looking around the larger church opposite the cafe. Another massive advantage of travelling with a companion is being able to leave your bicycle with them, without worrying about luggage security or anything. I paid a few coins donation on the door and walked into the cavernous space.
I had heard of ornate eastern churches, but this was awesome. The pulpit was massive in many senses of the word – and I wondered how it stayed on the wall, imagining the way it confers authority on the preacher who stands there. The surrounding cloisters were so peaceful and airy, as I wandered the hallways I felt quite peaceful.
We did google for tourist places to visit in České Budějovice, and the city square and fountain were recommended. We were reliably informed that this was “as busy as it gets”. There were also fountains spraying cold water as a mist into the air beside the fountain, enough to be refreshing and to subvert anyone’s temptation to get into the pool.
The whole city had a creative cultural feel, rooted in history but giving space for small businesses to thrive. The soviet era only finished in 1989/91 with the Velvet Revolution, so thirty years feel like a short time, and perhaps that creative entrepreneurial spirit is only just beginning.
When we eventually cycled out of the city it was via a massive Lidl where we stocked up on dinner and breakfast supplies. It felt like quite a long, hot and tough climb away from the city centre southbound, but eventually we reached Včelná, and found a hidden footbridge across roadway number 39, to our overnight stop beside a lake at Resort-Restaurant Štilec.
Stage three from Zvíkovské Podhradí to Včelná via České Budějovice
