Bohemia and Saxony by bike
Tomorrow I’m off for week’s holiday in the Czech Republic and Germany with Explore Worldwide. I’ll be flying to Prague early tomorrow morning, then cycling north along the Vltava and Elbe rivers to Meissen in Germany, via Mělník, Litoměřice, Děčín, Pirna, Dresden, and quite a few castles, churches, cathedrals and palaces. After that I’ll go back to Prague by coach, spend a day there, and then return home.
The tour involves five days of actual cycling covering about 30 miles / 45 km a day. Most of the route is along rivers and is apparently flat or downhill, with only occasional uphill sections. So though I haven’t been doing much cycling since I moved to Brighton, apart from some semi-regular unicycling, I’m sure I’ll be able to cope.
I’m also looking forward to having a chance to try out my Czech, and to speaking some German as well.
suchosch on 08 Sep 2007 at 3:44 pm #
nepotrebujes pruvodce? :-)
Mike on 08 Sep 2007 at 8:32 pm #
Gute Reise!
BG on 09 Sep 2007 at 3:24 am #
Cycling seems like a good way to tour the countryside. Isn’t Sorbian also spoken in that area? Gute Reise!
Travis on 09 Sep 2007 at 7:13 pm #
Your trip really makes me want to hop on a bicycle. It sounds like an ideal vacation. Enjoy your Czech and aerobics!
P Terry Hunt on 10 Sep 2007 at 6:35 pm #
“. . . semi-regular unicycling.”
Err, Simon, you didn’t happen to live in Winchester a few years ago, by any chance?
Enjoy the trip and the sights!
retep57 on 11 Sep 2007 at 1:28 pm #
Hey Simon, i just uploaded my 24 + lines in Croatian, hmm Dobro yutro etc.
i have changed my sound file collection strategy, i am lending out a small tape recorder to multi lingual staff and friends to get some sounds, that way they can record rewind etc hear themselves back and then give it to me when they are ready. i then use the line in on the computer to capture and edit ( with audacity of course). i have a Cantonese speaker lined up so let me know if there are a few extra words you might like.
also i am downloading and clipping sounds from robert boland’s crelearning.com site for my personal use, he still has not answered to me as to give me permission or not to copy clip host etc.. hmm i might do it with the usual referencing protocol but i would really like permission 1st, his idea of 30 mins for basics of language seems quite good, let me know what you think, i listen to his Hindi on the walk to work,, next i will chop it up and extract, hello, how are you, etc etc instead of a full 30 min recording.. cheers, btw i have tried to reduce noise with audacity but sometimes it distorts and i rather keep the true sounds if possible
Jose on 12 Sep 2007 at 12:48 pm #
That sounds great. This summer, I visited Istria in Croatia and I noticed the bilingual Croatian-Italian signs in all the streets. Linguistic tourism always makes travelling far more interesting. So, enjoy your stay very much.
Daydreamer on 16 Sep 2007 at 11:13 pm #
Hey, Simon, I earnestly hope that you’ve returned safe and unharmed from your trip, since Saxony is a stronghold of German Neo-Nazis creating socalled ‘No-Go-Areas’ for anyone who is disliked by them.
If you’re o.k., you should give us the next language quiz; I’m starving for them.
Simon on 18 Sep 2007 at 10:21 am #
BG - I think Sorbian is spoken in parts of eastern Saxony, but not in the parts I visited.
Terry - I don’t think I’ve every been to Winchester - the mystery unicyclist must have been someone else.
Daydreamer - I did indeed return safe and sound from my trip and will have more language quizzes for you soon.