Czech Replublic 06: The search for the perfect Schnapps

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Ride to Prague Sep 2006

Five bikers, ten days, six countries and sixteen border crossings. Our main objective was to reach Prague by road. A detour around the Austrian Alps would be a nice bonus

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Day 1: Cardiff via to Ypres, Belgium (286 miles)

We’d booked a Channel crossing on the Norfolk Line because of the economic prices. Unfortunately one of the party, John, couldn’t leave until later that day, so we rode as far as Ypres, Belgium and searched for a hotel.



We’d hoped that travelling outside the main tourist season would make finding a hotel relatively easy. We hadn’t bargained on tourist destinations that had a long season and non-tourist destinations that had limited hotel capacity. Difficulties finding a hotel would become the norm for this trip. We eventually found a good set of rooms in the Hotel Regina on the main square. (TripAdvisor)

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Day 2: Ypres to St Hubert (161 miles)

We’d planned on a relaxing morning to allow John to catch up. Rich, Richard and Frank visited the In Flanders Fields museum of the First World War. I’d visited there on a previous trip so after looking at the Menin Gate I indulged in some relaxed shopping and people-watching.



John had stayed near the ferry port the previous night so he reached Ypres by noon. A quick lunch and we hit the road. Crossing Belgium can be a boring affair, but Rich found an interesting variety of Autoroutes, national and local roads.

The N40 across southern Belgium crosses the pretty River Meuse at Givet. Obviously when the governments were sorting out national boundaries the French decided Givet is too pretty for the Belgians and nabbed it for themselves. This means that we crossed two national boundaries (once into France, then again back into Belgium) simply to cross from west to east.



After numerous stops to check and re-check maps we eventually arrived at St Hubert. Two hotels there had closed for the duration, putting pressure on the others, but we found some good rooms in the Hotel de l’Abbaye where we ate that evening.

The promised secure parking proved to be somewhat less secure than we’d imagined.

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Day 3: St Hubert via Luxembourg to Cochem, Germany (126 miles)

It’s a short hop from St Hubert into Luxembourg. Almost all roads in Luxembourg are billiard-table smooth, and most make for an interesting and picturesque ride. We followed some minor roads that only flesh-wounded Luxembourg, but the one from Clervaux to the border has surely the only rough road surface in the Principality!



At a road-side stop Rich removed his helmet only for his spectacles to disintegrate. We got on our hands and knees to find the missing screws and reassemble the glasses.





An afternoon visit to the Nurburgring proved a slightly frustrating affair. We followed all the road signs and ended up in the main car park. Unfortunately we were in the car park of the closed “Grand Prix” circuit, when we’d have rather visited the public Nordschleife circuit. Nevertheless, a couple of hours were whiled away watching sport bike riders enjoying a track day.



We pushed on to Cochem, a pretty town on the Mosel.







Although we had to ask at a few hotels to find some rooms, at least there were many close together. The Hotel Burg had good rooms, arranged a garage for the bikes, and even allowed free access to their indoor swimming pool.





Richard was very selective in choosing a restaurant that evening, but found an excellent place a short walk away.

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Day 4: Cochem to Schwabhausen (204 miles)

We had a leisurely ride to Koblenz, at the confluence of the Mosel and Rhein, and the group rendezvoused at the monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I, better known as “the geyser on the ‘orse”. The monument is a symbol of Germany unity.





Time was moving on and we’d hoped to reach Colditz Castle by nightfall, so we hit the Autobahns into what was East Germany. The Autobahns took us right past the town of Bad Hersfeld, a place I’d visited as a kid when it was dangerously close to the old Iron Curtain.

Late in the afternoon we stopped at an Autohof (motorway services) for a drink, which turned into an evening meal, which turned into a search for a hotel. We were directed to Schwabhausen, a small town in the middle of nowhere that didn’t even feature on our maps. At the only hotel – the Hotel Landgasthof – we were greeted by the proprietor’s girlfriend, Maria, who managed to rearrange rooms to accommodate us all. Maria and Christoph introduced us to the pleasures of well-distilled German schnapps that evening. East German schnapps is available in a variety of tasty flavours and is fairly strong, at about 15% proof, so a great time was had by all. I preferred the fruit-based schnapps, though John and Frank particularly liked the mint-based one. Maria warned us that some Czech schnapps was up to 40% proof.

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Day 5: Schwabhausen to Prague, Czech Republic (238 miles)

To make up for lost time, we needed to hit the road early and hammer down the Autobahns. 9:15 would have to do for an early start, and maintaining 130 kph or so against a strong head wind proved difficult. We decided to miss out a diversion to the V Bomb factory near Nordhausen in order to visit Colditz Castle and still reach Prague at a reasonable time.

Colditz proved to be fascinating. The tour guide’s stories were great fun as she recounted how the inveterate escapers – all grouped together and inspiring each other – kept the guards busy. Over the years they made some 180 escape attempts, but there were only 31 “home runs”.









We recreated a famous photograph of the original escape committee:



Part of the Castle is being converted into a hostel.



Time pressures also meant we couldn’t visit Dresden, but we reached Prague by about 6:00 pm. We’d been recommended to try the Hotel Duo. The hotel receptionist explained that the hotel was over-booked already, but the Information Desk tried to find us an alternative. After a few fruitless ‘phone calls, the receptionist called us over. A cancellation meant we had rooms for the night!

John insisted that we try Czech schnapps. Only one herby flavour was available and it was – as predicted – 40% proof. Interesting enough but not what we were looking for.

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Day 6: Prague

We took the opportunity to do the “tourist thing” around Prague, including a bus tour of the major attractions and some souvenir shopping.







At the Palace we saw the changing of the guard.

















In the old town is an “Astronomical Clock” that’s a big tourist attraction.







The Charles Bridge is another big tourist attraction.





John bought a bottle of what looked like mint-flavoured schnapps. That evening, back at the hotel, we tried John’s purchase. You are supposed to down schnapps in one swig, but this stuff nearly blew our heads off. It shows how little any of us know about spirits that the green-coloured liquid was not schnapps but 70% proof Absinth!

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Day 7: Prague to Saltzburg, Austria (216 miles)

The route from the hotel south took us straight through the city centre, across Wenceslas Square in front of the Museum. All went well until some of the group decided they wanted a late lunch. We got split up and – instead of returning to the last place we’d been together – some decided to go on ahead to the next town. Meeting up proved difficult but we met by chance 30 or so minutes later at the Austrian border.

We found a roadside place to eat, but the sky ahead clearly indicated heavy rain. We donned our waterproofs and headed for Salzburg. This was fortunate, because it rained stair-rods. We reached the city somewhat bedraggled as the light was failing. Navigating around the city was made more difficult by preparations for a world championship cycle race starting a couple of days later. But we found the place some of the group had stayed the previous year, [[Hotel Hinterbraun]] near the old prison.

We wandered around the city, and stumbled across a bier-fest, complete with long tables and beer served in steins. We opted for Austrian schnapps, which proved to be similar in flavour to Czech but not quite so powerful and certainly more palatable than Absinth!

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Day 8: Salzburg to Oberderdingen, Germany (278 miles)

Because I had to be back in Britain before the rest of the group, I needed to leave them and head in the direction of the ferry. Persistent rain persuaded me to spend the morning around Salzburg though. A tourist bus tour of the churches, abbots’ palaces and “Sound of Music” venues and Mozart’s homes gave me a feeling for the city.



On the way back to the city I saw the others riding away. After a tour of Mozart’s Life Museum I returned to the hotel to change into biking gear and hit the road. A few miles down the Autobahn I passed the others at an Autohof services. However, I was headed on a more direct route towards Dunkerque.

Intermittent rain soon cleared up and it turned into a pleasant ride across southern Germany. A few miles after removing my waterproof trousers and the storm covers from my throw-over panniers, dark rain clouds hovered over the city of Műnchen! Rain precautions went on and off again in quick succession. At least I was able to enjoy an autobahn that’s free of speed limits.

Finding a hotel that evening proved extremely difficult. Home had been unable to find a vacant room on the Internet, so I called at Pforzheim’s only hotel; no vacancies. “Try the next town, it’s only 7 kilometres.” So I tried the next town; neither hotel there had vacancies. I was beginning to get desperate. I started looking out for secluded areas where I could kip on the ground! None of the four hotels in the next town had vacancies either, but a helpful manager ‘phoned a hotel in yet another town and found a room for me. Profuse thanks were followed by another inter-town ride in failing light. Hotel Lindner is in the small town of Oberderdingen, hidden in a back-of-town residential street, but fortunately it was a fine hotel at a reasonable price.

Meanwhile the others were sauntering back through Austria and Germany at a gentler pace.

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Day 9: Oberderdingen to St Hubert, Belgium (264 miles)

I had hoped to set off earlier than 08:25 the next day. Fortunately little traffic, great roads and good weather resulted in a great day’s ride. To avoid repeating the previous evening’s difficulty in finding accommodation, I decided to ‘phone ahead to a specific hotel. Now, what hotel did I know about within reasonable distance from Dunkerque? Why Hotel de l’Abbaye in St Hubert, of course! I didn’t know its ‘phone number, but all I had to do was ask someone in the UK with Internet access to look it up and Robert would be my father’s brother. ‘Phone call after ‘phone call proved fruitless. Eventually my daughter sent the number by text… just after I’d arrived there and found it full. D’Oh!

As it happened, St Hubert has several hotels and the Hotel Luxembourg had a cheap room. In the evening I got talking to a couple of German bikers staying at the same hotel. Working privately in medicine they seemed able to pick and choose when to work and when to holiday!