TRAINS AND BUS

Up early to farewell Prague, off on the tram to the main station, first train of the trip turned into a bus to get past some track works. We could almost be travelling with Vline at home. Loading and unloading our bags is such a treat. The last train ride was only a couple of stops.  The man sitting opposite me kept shaking his head and giving a slight frown.  Not sure if it was me or something else.  I thought perhaps he was a little unhinged when he leaned down and appeared to be listening to something unseen, then he produced his phone and got out his glasses. Pretty normal.

We know we are high up as it is colder than we are used to, but sunny so sitting outside and watching the long queue move slowly forward was a fun lunchtime activity. A leisurely lunch then we join D who is reasonably close now to the ticket office and head into the hills.  The rock formations are every bit as spectacular as we have been led to believe.  Several are named, some small, some large. It began to get a bit silly towards the end of the 6 km loop walk as they seemed to have named some just for the sake of naming them. It wasn't always easy to spot what was being referred to. Or maybe it was the altitude.

I am not surprised to see the occasional walker duck off behind a tree but am amazed to see dogs in the national park, some of them off leash.  Dogs here are often walked off leash but are for the most part pretty well behaved and in the cities people must clean up after them as the paths are clean.

We thought we were following a one way tour direction but kept coming across people going in the opposite direction.  Only once did I receive a good shove as an impatient man pushed his way past. He wasn't very tall so that may have had something to do with his attitude.  Fortunately I was through the snow which lay very thick on the floor of the narrowest gorges. This was not your lovely white powdery fresh snow, but old icy, worn very slippery nasty snow. Also very cold, I overheard a woman say to her friend 'Siberia'.  Not wrong, Narelle.

Nearly had to sit outside for dinner, but after a few minutes we were given a table inside for our barbecue. Pork, chicken or cheese - I selected cheese and enjoyed a couple of small brie like cheeses flavored with onions grilled in foil to gooey delight. Vegetables! Lots of delicious grilled vegetables! Wonderful I cry, and fell on them with gusto.  Good glass of red, nice cup of tea to finish, what more could one ask? Oh, yes, no crowds. Done, as the myriad day trippers had receded into the distance. Good bed, good pillow, nice room, sound sleep, early night - tick all. Good night.