Last week, we left home in New Zealand and flew to Dubai where we stayed a few days en-route to Europe. Then we flew on to Europe where we will spend the next 6-months on a road trip. Our first destination in Europe, was the Czech Republic (Czechia), where we collected our motorhome called Vanni.
 |
| Vanni |
Vanni had been stored by our Czech friend Klara and her family in České Budějovice, in the southern part of Czechia’s Bohemia region. To get there, we first flew into Prague the capital of Czechia, and next morning caught a bus to a local Prague metro.
After getting our heavy suitcases down the long metro steps, we caught a train to the Prague main bus station, then we caught a Student Agency bus to České Budějovice. It sounds complicated but we are old-hands at this route now, and found it so much easier this time.
 |
| Town square České Budějovic, Czechia |
Arriving in České Budějovice, we were reminded of just how lovely this 15th century town is. The main square is huge and ringed with colourful arcaded houses, towers and spires, all surrounded by pretty cobblestone streets.
But we had to get Vanni so Klara’s husband Vasek, drove us to where Vanni was stored, then we drove to Klara’s house. After a lovely catch up with Klara and her family, we spent the next day preparing Vanni for 6 months on the road.
 |
| Marg in front of The House of Minutes, Prague (UNESCO), Czechia |
Twenty-four hours later, we were leaving České Budějovice and driving back up to Prague. We decided that it would be nice to spend some time exploring that gorgeous city again as normally, we go to and from the Prague airport and miss the city sights. So, after parking at a campsite, we caught a tram into the city.
Prague is known for its beautiful Staré Mesto or Old Town, that is full of historic and colourful Baroque buildings, grand medieval Gothic structures. It is stunning, and a UNESCO World Heritage city. We wandered around for ages, seeing sights we hadn’t seen on previous trips.
 |
| Leigh in the historic main square of Prague (UNESCO), Czechia |
A particular treat was spending time in Prague’s town square, the heart of the Staré Mesto. The square is surrounded by architectural delights that include the Tyn Church, St Nicholas Church, and the Old Town Hall.
The Old Town Hall has a beautiful astronomical clock mounted on its front façade. It dates back to 1410, making it the third oldest and still working, astronomical clock in the world. We climbed up into the Old Town Hall tower, which gave us great views of the Staré Mesto.
%20L-WIDE%202.jpg) |
| Leigh in one of the many quaint and narrow cobbled streets, Prague (UNESCO), Czechia |
Leaving the town square, we wandered down some of Prague’s quaint and narrow cobbled streets filled with people, colour, beautifully decorated shops, and vibrant restaurants.
We found a restaurant serving traditional Czech food where Leigh had goulash with dumplings, and Marg had beef with dumplings, plus a beer each. It was a huge lunch for us, and we waddled around a bit after that, so full of food!
 |
| View of the Vltava River, Prague (UNESCO), Czechia |
Later, we walked down to the river. Prague sits on both sides of the Vltava River, so we crossed the historic and ornate Charles Bridge to walk around the other side of Prague, into Nové Mesto - Prague's new town – it dates back to the 14th century, but its newer than the Staré Mesto or old town.
We’d seen many of the key sights in Nové Mesto on previous trips, but still enjoyed seeing Wenceslas Square again. We also saw some grand buildings such as the National Theatre, State Opera House, and the New Town Hall.
 |
| The beautiful Municipal House, Prague (UNESCO), Czechia |
An absolute highlight was the beautiful Art Noveau Municipal House. This building dates back to 1912 and is currently used as a concert venue. However, it played a key role in the history of Czechia as it was here that Czechoslovakia (now separated into Czechia and Slovakia), was officially announced as an independent nation in 1918.
By this time, we were pretty tired, and as it was our third time in Prague we decided to move on.
 |
| Marg in the main square of Pilsen, Czechia |
We drove west out of Prague and our first stop was in Plzeň, or Pilsen in English. It’s the home of the real Pilsner beer, created by a Bavarian brewer here in 1942.
Plzeň is a decent sized city of around 169,000 people. We stopped there for lunch, and had plenty of choice of eating places as it’s a very vibrant town. After lunch, we walked around seeing some of the main sights including the main square, the Town Hall, the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew, and more.
-resized.jpg) |
| Beautiful Baroque architecture of Stříbro, Czechia |
Leaving Pilsen, we got off the main road and took a leisurely drive on minor roads. We passed through some very pretty areas but our favourites were the towns of Stříbro, Horšovský Týn, and Bělá nad Radbuzou.
Stříbro (Silver) has an enormous square, that is lined with beautiful baroque style buildings, with an ornate Renaissance style town hall standing at one end. Stříbro dates back to 1131 when it was a mining town on the Zlatá cesta or Golden Road from Prague to Nuremberg, the route we were driving.
.jpg) |
| Town Hall and buildings lining the main square, Horšovský Týn, Czechia |
Thirty minutes later we arrived into the town of Horšovský Týn. The Town Hall there, in contrast to the ornate ones in other towns, is a simple, squarish, white Renaissance style building. Our final pretty Czech town before reaching the border between Czechia and Germany was pretty Bělá nad Radbuzou, a town that dates back to 1121.
By the time we left Bělá, it was late afternoon, so we carried on across the border into Germany. Our destination there is Nuremburg in Bavaria, but more about that in the next blog.
This blog describes part of our 6-month motorhome trip around northern and eastern Europe, which began in Prague.