Today was really shitty; not only did we have to say goodbye to our room at the very atmospheric Hotel Růže in our beloved Český Krumlov, but Eloïse didn’t sleep well on the way, waking up after just half an hour’s kip. Add to that the fact that today’s drive was significantly longer than usual and you’ve got a recipe for motoring misery.
We had decided to drive south-west to reach the Národního parku Šumava (Šumava National Park) and then head north-west along its edge for a while. The diversion was beautiful, but it added quite a few kilometres to the clock.
I had no idea that the Šumava was so popular with the Dutch. Once we were in the vicinity of Lake Lipno, every fourth car or so was Dutch. I couldn’t believe how many of them there were. As we drove past a supermarket, virtually every car parked outside was Dutch; presumably the occupants were inside, stocking up on groceries to take back with them to the camping. Odd that I’ve never heard of the Šumava’s popularity with the Dutch.
Later in the day, with about 90 km still to do, Eloïse became inconsolable, so we had to stop in the next town and find a patch of grass on which to let her play. Between her crying, her CD playing and the air-conditioning blasting away, I failed to hear the rear parking sensor beeping away at me and managed to reverse into a tree, putting a nasty dent in the bumper of the car. I’ll have to see about getting that fixed when we get back. I didn’t even see the tree looming up in the rear-view mirror. What a twat.
We eventually drove into Plzeň at about 17:30, allowing just enough time for a quick walk around the town’s main square, before heading off to dinner.
Plzeň is the birth-place of pilsner, the original pale lager. Beer is cheaper here than a soft-drink or even a glass of water of the same capacity. That fact’s not peculiar to Plzeň, though; the same is true all over the country.
There’s no driving on the menu tomorrow, a fact that pleases me no end right now. We’ll be exploring Plzeň on foot.