Lifting the Iron Curtain . . .

Holesov, Czech Republic – Cieszyn, Poland

Let’s start way back in Morocco. We’re in Tangiers, and we’re heading across the Straights of Gibraltar to Spain. 

That’s when we met Radek and Isabelle. They are from Poland, but had been biking around Morocco. 

They were the ones who told us how fantastic the biking was in the Czech Republic. 

Boy, were they right. 

We just finished two plus days of biking across this beautiful land. It was way better than we had anticipated. 

Some bike paths – basically with nobody else around. 

Some lakes.

Lots of streams and rivers.

(Really nice to see more and more water around. I guess that’s what you get when you head north. We’re now at 49.75 degrees latitude – so well into Canada if you’re keeping track at home . . .)

Roads with shoulders. 

Some vertical – but nothing crazy. No 3,000 foot climbs or anything. Just enough to make the riding interesting and pretty. 

Bucolic scenes – with wheat and corn, and an occasional group of cows. 

Really nice, well maintained towns, with bakeries and grocery stores, stately churches, and even a few palaces

– complete with huge garden areas.

And good food. I tried one of the Republic’s traditional dishes last night: Svickova na smetane. Beef with cranberries and whipped cream, and these dumpling things, with gravy over the top. I’d have to say that it didn’t look good at first; the dumplings looked like they might be some kind of weird sausage. You know the ones – with the big white splotches in the middle of them. But the good news is that it was probably the best “traditional” food meal I’ve had in a long, long time. 

Pretty happy about that.

But, as usual, I’m getting ahead of myself. Before we officially arrived, we had to pass through the old border area. Our friend Andreas – who was our unofficial tour guide – brought us to an Iron Curtain museum. It was right at the border – maybe an old house that the guards used to live in. Kind of unassuming, but well-done and informative. 

Lots of barbed wire. 

I’ve been meaning to talk about barbed wire for a while now. Kind of feel like barbed wire has been our constant companion on this trip. It was invented in Illinois in 1870 or so. Basically transformed the Old West – and put the finishing touches on the buffalo herds. Instead of cowboys herding cattle on the open plains, barbed wire chopped everything up. Great for the ranches I guess. But kind of destroyed the grandeur of it all . . .

Here, in the former Czechoslovakia under the Soviets, there was barbed wire all along the border. Instead of livestock, this barbed wire was meant to keep people in. (Note to self: it’s not a good sign for your country if you need to put up barbed wire to keep your own citizens from leaving . . .)

But, of course, the barbed wire was not enough. Armed guards also patrolled the area, looking for anyone trying to leave. Andreas showed us where there used to be asphalt roads along the border so that the guards could drive up and down looking for would-be defectors. There were also German Shepards trained to find people trying to leave. And, of course, guards in guard towers with rifles, ready to gun down anyone who might think they could get past the dogs and the barbed wire.

Sounds like an all-around wonderful place . . .

A little note on German Shepards … They were originally bed by a German who was looking for the perfect working dog. I guess after World War II they were pretty associated with a lot of bad things – so there was a big effort to re-brand them as Alsatian Wolf Dogs – or just plain Alsatians. Neither stuck, and they’re back to their original name.

Kind of incredible how quickly Czechia recovered from WWII and the Communist era. Hardly a trace of the old Soviet world. Not sure we’ve seen any old Soviet-style apartment complexes. Lots of window flower boxes adorning well-maintained homes, with lush green lawns and manicured spaces. 

Okay, today we met two biking brothers. They were also heading toward Poland – but at a considerably faster clip than we were going. They have young kids, and apparently their famlies only gave them three days – so they were in a hurry to make the most of it. 

But I did have a chance to ask them a real question: “Can I eat the apples along the side of the road?”

Their answer:

”Absolutely. Those trees are planted in pubic spaces. You can eat all the apples you want . . .”

I’m thinking about going back to the crazy-plum-lady town (or maybe she was just plum crazy?) – just so I can pick some more right in front of her . . .

Seriously, they have so many apples and plums and pears around here. Never seen anything like it. Feel like Johnny Apple Seed must have been born here . . . The only bummer is that the apples aren’t real ripe yet. And Schengen doesn’t give us enough time to hang out until they are . . .

Sadly, we just crossed the border into Poland. Not sad to reach Poland – but kind of sad to leave Czechia. Such a nice country.

Tomorrow is also going to be a sad day. 

We are planning to stop at Auschwitz. Not much to say there except that we’re bracing ourselves for some sobering reality. 

After that, the next stop is Krakow. But right now – with Auschwitz between here and there – it feels like Krakow is a long ways away about now . . .