After 45 minutes without seeing any sign of civilisation (save for the occasional lost-looking orienteerer soon to be devoured by vultures) and with the fuel warning light flashing rapidly I was starting to worry. Eventually my prayers were answered after finding a cluster of five, yes five, petrol stations in the middle of nowhere. At last I could enjoy the scenery without the panic which was firmly setting in.
When I reached the campsite, Euro-Air-Camping, it immediately trumped my previous favorite site in Warsaw. The campsite has it's own big swimming pool, bowling alley and, wait for it, airstrip! I was planning to cook when I arrived but after seeing the menu, decided to go for the not-so-local delicasy of kangaroo steak. Delicious, filling, unusual, and under £5. That's all the boxes ticked.
I turns out that once you get outside Prague, prices tend to be half what they are in the touristy capital.
In the morning I set off for Olomouc. On arrival I was directed to the university campus where you can (apparently) normally stay for free during the summer months - except this summer as all the buildings are being renovated. Damn. Instead I wild-camped as the nearest campsite is over 20 miles away and took my daily wash in the river - initially a refreshing change but the novelty soon wears off.
Unfortunately my second bike of the trip, and only a month old, was stolen in the night from a well lit area where it was securely locked up with two hefty chains. If I felt naive and partly to blame that I could have locked my first bike up better, I had no such qualms this time, only anger and the feeling that I had been wronged in a big way. All that remained at the scene was a tiny piece of plastic casing. Lesson learned... the hard way.
Master Lock my arse
As for the place itself, it is actually a great little Czech city with the Art Nouveau style of Riga and the dash of colour of Prague. The lack of tourists means that it has this nice slow pace of life which is a change from the bustling larger cities I have been spending time in recently - and the whole town is (thankfully) easily accessable by foot.
The city is centred around two squares (the larger Horni Nam and smaller Dolni Nam) and each is a wide expanse filled with cobbles, statues and water fountains. The main square features the Town Hall and Astronomical Clock Tower in the centre. The clock has it's biggest display at noon and gathers quite a crowd for what is actually a supremely dull show.
In the evening of the first night there was a brass band playing various showtunes outside the Town Hall and they did a truly bizzare big-band rendition of Old MacDonald entirely in Czech. The only english words were "Old MacDonald" and "Ee-Ay Ee-Ay Oh" and it was truly a crazy thing of beauty. Also in the square is a fountain with a man cuddling a dolphin. I didn't ask why.
North of the centre is St Moritz Cathedral which, although it doesn't look much from the outside, has a double-helix staircase leading up the belltower and giving a great view of the city from the roof platform. Heading east from here eventually brings you to the bigger and more impressive St Wenceslas Cathedral. The building is imposing and grand in equal measure both inside and out. There is a crypt below the floor filled with various cups and goblets (a la Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade) and under that is the crypt of the crypt with the tombs of some of the country's bestest bishops.
In the evening I visited a bar right near to where the van was parked up. It is an old aeroplane in the middle of the street which now serves beer from a bar while you sit in the authentic plane seats which are now arranged in groups of 4 around little tables. The cockpit is now a tiny dancefloor and they are even showing Terminator 2 on the old-school in-flight monitors. A really cool little spot to spend the evening.
On my last day, I went to visit the Olomouc Museum Of Art. It was way better than I was expecting with an impressive display of work from Polish sculpter Magdelena Abakanowicz. Her gauze torso sculptures are based on her upbringing of war and depressing Soviet domination. There is also plenty of local art with an exhibition of the work of local photographer Jaroslav Vavra. I then headed to St Michael's Church which looks very new and uninspiring on the outside but inside is full of detailed painted ceilings, gold leaf and glass domes.
The main city park is a big strip of grass and trees to the south-west. After heading there for a bite to eat and rest some weary legs, I watched an orchestra playing in the park bandstand to a crowd of old folks who were baking in the summer sun.
Later, I drank away the evening in Moritz, one of the city's best little bars with their own light and dark brewed beers. Make mine a pint of the dark stuff please. They have a cool beer garden which overlooks the Theresian Gate (the last remaining of 5 original city gates) and it was a fine way to round off a truly wonderful little place despite such an crappy start. Bring on Brno.
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