Oh my word….but it seems like ages since I lasted posted. Well, actually it is. Since the last post we have already traversed 2 countries and are in our 3rd new country! It’s been really wonderful taking a break and just doing naught but it’s time again to update our story.
We left Czech Republic with a feeling of disappointment that we hadn’t really enjoyed the country and still now can’t fathom what our problem really was. But I guess it’s a case of you either love it or don’t, and in this case we didn’t. So we made a conscious decision not to go to Slovakia this time but to continue our journey through Austria instead. It was a decision we haven’t regretted. Not because we didn’t visit Slovakia – we will do that another time – but because we loved the bit of Austria that we saw.
So, to pick up the story again…..
We have left Prague behind and with our decision to go into Austria, we are heading for the border and to our next stop in Reingers just into Austria. But first we have to exit Prague and, by gum, it’s now a working day and although we have left it until after 9am to leave the Marina, the roads are heaving even more than on our arrival and the aggression still around in abundance. Tying to get anywhere is like trying to knit jelly! In fact, I think Instanbul may have been marginally better now that I think about it. We were trying to follow the GPS and Nora (again!) lead us up the garden path. Well, actually I must confess, that it was me but I blamed it on Nora!! Turning around was not an option so I quickly set in a new route but lo and behold there was a one way road that we couldn’t go up, so we let Nora re-calculated a new route to Reingers and off we went. Now remember that I said that we didn’t realise the issue that Garmin has when choosing to avoid tolls & fees but not motorways, but that it still feels that you want to use the teeniest country roads that you can fit down? Well, here’s where we discover this. Because as if by some miracle, we are now on a motorway (non paying of course!) and heading in the same direction as we were before (and following the same route that Google Maps said in the first place). Oh FFS! Why hadn’t we realised this before now. So with Google Maps and Nora now agreeing on a route, on a motorway, and our journey to Reingers set to be 1 hour 20 minutes shorter, we were finally off.
BTW I haven’t mentioned the weather, have I? The sun was out, it was blazing hot and set to be a fabulous day.
2 hours later we waved the Czech signpost goodbye and a quick hello to Austria.
And a few minutes later we were in Reingers, in the campsite, setting Kaya up, winding out the awning, loungers in the shade and the kettle was on. But it wasn’t to last too long because suddenly the clouds started to build and just as suddenly, the rain came. With that the temperature plummeted to below 15degC and for the first time we broke out our fleeces and switched on the central heating. Brrr it was chilly and I think our blood has thinned enough in the heat that we were really feeling it. At home we would have been outside, no jumpers, braaing in the rain – it’s only spitting!!! “My mother told me about you, you’re too sofffffft, Snoops!”
Undeterred, we broke out the gas Cobb and set about making supper outside under the awning – a Flammkuchen and a new German dish to try (another one for Supper Club), a bit like pizza but never, ever, ever call it pizza to a German! somewhat like their noodles not being pasta but made with exactly the same ingredients – with a few glasses of some Chateau Le Box red that we’d bought in Germany. And as we were sitting down to a brandy coffee and a few squares of dark chocolate, the Austrian chap across the way broke out his guitar and serenaded us with the most unexpectedly wonderful acoustic jazz. How could life get any better? And as I sitting in my suffused warm glow, up pipes the gorgeous Mr T, well, a bit of sun wouldn’t have done us any harm!!!!
We woke up the next day to the same grey clouds and rain but nonetheless donned our anoraks and set off for a ride on our bikes to try to find a shop or bar but with nothing to either end of the village, we stopped at one of the lakes to take stock. Now I don’t know if you know what a signal crayfish is? It’s a non-native freshwater crayfish imported from USA that is taking over our fresh waterways and lakes and killing endemic freshwater crayfish. A pest. A very, very tasty pest! And we have, sitting in Kaya, a trap to catch such naughty pests. Just one tiny little problem as a forager, you need permission to trap them.
The whole of yesterday afternoon and this morning we had been waiting for Astrid, the campsite owner, to arrive so that we could arrange payment & check with her about catching the crays. However, still neither hide nor hair of her and by 1 pm she still hadn’t arrived despite us phoning her and our next door camper phoning her. So even with the call of the crays still snapping in our heads and the fact that we hadn’t been able to pay for our stay, we decided that the rain was dampening our spirits a bit and so we set off for Vienna (although we’re still kicking ourselves about not staying for the crays!).
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