The campground supplied breakfast for a small fee, so that’s what I did. All my favourite breakfast food was there so I was ready for the day immediately. This place has something. It’s the constitution, … it’s just the vibe.
I left the campground and took the path into town then continued over the bridge. There’s plenty to look at here in Děčín and the morning light showed up things quite differently to yesterday.
I had a call with Minou from beside the River Elbe on the Eurovelo 7 and it gave me the opportunity to see the volume of cyclists and skaters on the path. I know it’s Sunday, but the infrastructure that the Europeans have built is being put to good use – by every man / woman and his / her dog. It must be a major boon for all of these local economies. Makes me think about certain parts of Australia where rail trails are opposed on ridiculous grounds like farm security. Just wake up.
I’m writing this in Dresden looking across the river at the old (well, rebuilt old) town. The place is full of cyclists and pedestrians getting on fine. The last 10kms to here were quite crowded but I never heard any frustration or raised voices from anyone. It’s also good to see so many eBikers out and about. It felt like because the sun was out, everybody was.
I think I was only 10kms from the start when I got another call from Martin who is also bike touring and currently in Switzerland. It turns out that the rain that affected me in Northern Italy has made the mosquito situation there unbearable, so they trained it to CH – good move.
So, back to Czechia – after two calls, I hadn’t even made it the 13kms to the German border. It was 11:30am and I had more than 50kms to go, which is not an issue with the long days here in summer. It’s just that I like to get somewhere at a reasonable time and have a look around. It turned out to be a fast run into Dresden, but so beautiful. The Saxon-Schweiz area was amazing with steep cliffs and rocky outcrops as well as the number of cyclists. Some of them looked very very unlikely, but it was fantastic that they were out there.
I passed one guy about four times. Every time I stopped for photos, food or directions he seemed to go past. By the fourth time we were both smiling and waving.
I booked a hotel in Dresden. When I first looked, they were all super expensive so I slept on it. Good job I did, because an apartment became available for a very reasonable price. I could smell the home cooking, if only there were some supermarkets open late on Sunday afternoon.
Rest day
First up I went to a bike shop, where the young mechanic and I serviced the squeaking bottom bracket. It was dirty, dry and had grit in it after nearly 18,000kms. He was a great guy who spoke little English, so it was fun doing the work. He wouldn’t accept any payment either. That’s a story I’ve heard many times about small bike shops and travellers, but it was especially nice to experience it myself.
By the way, the squeak is still there a bit. Grrrrrr. At least the BB is in good order and covered in grease now.
I went home via the supermarket and cooked up a great omelette, toast and coffee.
I spent the rest of the day shopping for stuff. I needed a new merino ride shirt, as the Macpac one I had looked badly the worse for wear after only two months. I also got a slightly larger backpack which will streamline how I pack the bike. You won’t believe how much I agonised over the choice. I went to every store in Dresden and looked at everything. In the end, I went for the least worst of all – should be fun. The old one owes me nothing. I bought it for twenty bucks in Chiang Mai last year and I’ve used it well – both on and off the bike.
And some comment on Dresden… Oh wow, I thought places in Czechia were absolutely stunning, but this place is amazing. Part of that ‘amazing’ rating is what they must have done to rebuild. Another part is – if it looks like this now, how did it look before. Much of it is complete, but I also spent time looking at some of the ongoing work. The area around Dreaden Zwinger Museum has a large square being redone. It’s surrounded by amazing buildings. In the late afternoon light, it was stunning and I want to come back here when it’s done.
There seems to be music everywhere in the old town and tonight there are a number of rallies, one in support of the Ukraine.