Heading north

31 May 2018

We were all up in time to say goodbye to Grace and David, who left for school again, while we enjoyed croissants for breakfast. I booted Ian out of the door for a run, then went out myself when he came back. I went into the forest this time, but it was a much shorter route than yesterday, which was a partial relief because there were quite a lot of hills, but also partially a shame as it was such a beautiful place to explore.

It was time to pack up when I returned and we left shortly before 12:00. We tried to find the path up to the local ruined castle so we could have lunch there, but you weren’t allowed to take vehicles up the track, and it was a bit of a trek for the toddler, so we settled for cheese rolls at some Slovakian service station instead!

On we drove (or rather Ian drove) across the border into the Czech Republic, stopping only for the lengthy traffic jams caused by endless roadworks. The landscape is pretty enough but is incomparable to that of the Alps, and the drive was a bit dull once again.

All of a sudden, as we came off the motorway, just south of Prague, the landscape completely changed.  We were alongside the huge River Vlatava, with a steep bank of trees lining one side, and a wide cycle path and railway line on the other. We drove along a bumpy old road and into our amazing little campsite.  It’s probably our favourite yet!  Having been told there were no marked-out pitches, and that we could just set up wherever we wanted, we chose a spot near the facilities and next to a cherry tree.  It is a small campsite, and although there aren’t many people here, it feels lively.  It is run by a family, and there’s a real sense of that here.  The bathrooms come complete with cotton wool, shaving gel and razors, ear buds, shampoo, make up etc (all free of charge), and there’s a fully fitted kitchen area with two hobs, a kettle, a microwave, washing machines and more, together with a couple of tables with chairs, in case you decide to eat there instead of at your pitch.  It is really lovely!

Cornelia was stripped down to her pants within minutes of getting here, as there is a small patch with various fountains spurting out, so although she didn’t quite run through them (which surprised me!) she had plenty of fun jumping in the puddles, before testing out every item in the play park.

The campsite restaurant wasn’t open today, but only 100 metres away was a small restaurant, so we tried our luck there.  Cornelia ate a whole pizza (minus the crusts) which is another food first for her. The Czech beers are enormous and delicious, so we consumed those with our meals, whilst watching Cornelia on the trampoline in the garden, hoping she’d tire herself out after her three hour sleep in the van earlier.

Of course, no such luck… she was wide awake, but in that exhausted chatterbox state, and I didn’t manage to get her down to sleep (in her bed) until about midnight.  She has some stamina!