There are a few immediate observations upon crossing the border. Firstly the highways are mostly concrete and exhibit that thump, thump, thump as you constantly cross the concrete slab joins. Even potholed Australian highways are better than this. Secondly the fuel stations are displaying ULP at about 38 ? per litre. Is this the cheapest fuel in Europe ? Thirdly everyone ignores the speed limits and lastly the road signage is unintelligible. In answer to a couple of these issues we discovered to our surprise that the CZ has its own currency (Czech Koruna - pronounced Crown) which converted meant fuel was about 1.54 euro/litre so comparable with what we had been paying. Although CZ joined the EU in 2004 they have not yet adopted the euro and have deferred a decision to do so (no doubt worried about the future of the euro). As to the Czech language we had become used to hearing and reading German and to a lesser extent French & Italian. Czech is so different to these but fortunately a lot of Czechs have at least a basic understanding of English.
The weather had fortunately cleared by the time we arrived in Olomouc a very old city dating to Roman times. The roads in the city are cobblestoned and trams are the main form of transport so a combination of cobblestones, tram tracks and rain would have been fun. There are two immediately apparent features of the city - graffiti which is everywhere and wheel clamping which the local Police engage in with enthusiasm. On more positive notes food and drink are as cheap as chips and there are many fine historic buildings across the 'old city' where we were staying. This is a University City and as it was summer break the city was very quiet. Apparently most buildings in the city are owned by the University or the Catholic Church. There is a lot of building restoration being undertaken but a lot more needs to be done. This city has not yet been 'discovered' by westerners so get there before it does as it still exhibits an unpretentious non-commercial simple beauty.
The rain had returned Sunday morning so we decided to forego the trip to Brno for the bike races opting instead for a closer look at the old buildings in the city. We left here headed for Prague and based ourselves out of the city but on the northern tram route. As seems typical of former eastern bloc cities the public transport system is cheap and efficent. We found this in Prague with a 30minute tram ticket costing 24c and trams running about every 10minutes. The system is well patronised. Something for our bureaucrats to understand. Unfortunately like Olomouc, Prague is plagued with graffiti - it is everywhere with no apparent desire from officialdom to combat the plague.
We spent a couple of days here and covered the more popular tourist spots - it is hard not to like the place. It has a good feel about it (scenes out of fairytale books) although some open displays of drug taking, alcohol abuse, begging in the streets and graffiti would turn many away. Although cheap food and drink is still to be had prices around the major tourist sites skyrocket so beware.
We thought we had left the Old City of Prague as we aimed for Germany but our GPS had other ideas as we ended up back at the Charles Bridge on cobblestoned roads dodging tourists on a hot Wednesday morning. More cursing at the GPS but we eventually found clear air and the road west towards our next destination, Dresden.
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