Easter Sunday and more perfect weather. Left early towards Vranov nad Dyji, and the tough climbs of the Podyji national park ahead.
The trip through the park took a roundabout route through the forest. There were some steep climbs on poor track surface, then a sharp relief down to the village of Lukov.
I stopped there for lunch. You know you are close to Austria when the only food on offer is wurst, in this case a scary-looking but delicious blood sausage with mustard, horseradish and typically cardboard-like Austrian bread. Eaten with a fine beer whilst the speakers blared Black Sabbath. Perfect!
Feeling recharged (also by now the laptop & phone) I set off towards the border crossing at Valtice. Ahead is 50km of flat road through the vineyards.
But Podyjí wasn’t finished with me yet. I had to veer back into the park and tackle two arduous ascents on gravel tracks before it let me go. At the top came the money shot.
Then it was a pleasant descent to Satov, passing the first vineyards, where I stopped for another bowl of garlic soup. It’s tasty stuff!
On the way out of town my gears began to act-up. In trying to realign the rear derailleur I managed to slice the fingerprint off my thumb. Ouch. After stemming the blood I headed for the next town of Chvalovice.
I passed a ‘wine street’ where locals rent cellars to store the vast quantities of wine they make. Families were sitting out front, having their Easter dinner.
The centre of town was a completely different story. There’s a huge obvious brothel, and I saw signs for four more. So the Austrians can nip across the border, dirty buggers ?
I got some water and headed-out towards the next town, finding a hidden camping spot beside a cornfield.
Two deer danced in front of me and ran off when I went for the camera. They bark like dogs when they get spooked.
Epilogue: From my tent I am looking back across the valley to see that the Brothel is now covered in bright purple lights, with lasers coming out the top.