Running in to road works in Czechia – police called!

We were on our way back to Greece in our “land yacht” (aka camper van) to offload our remaining personal belongings from Sunday, our catamaran which was in the (very long) process of being sold. 

After Osnabrück in Northwest Germany, our next stop was Leipzig, home to one of the oldest universities in Europe and also to one of the largest collections of graffiti that we have ever seen!

We honestly couldn’t believe our eyes – the graffiti wasn’t just on walls of derelict buildings, it was everywhere – on perfectly nice homes, garden fences, as well as on bridges, student accommodation etc etc. 

One very good thing about the city was the number of waterways that run through it.   The White Elster River and its tributaries the Pleiße and Parthe rivers form an extensive inland delta in the city and and an artificially created river basin provides well used parklands and recreational spaces. 

We had a lovely walk along the banks of the Elster River basin to the Palmengarten Weir and back through the University grounds to our campsite. 

From Leipzig we headed to Prague, capital of the Czech Republic (Czechia) and surely one of the most breathtaking cities in Europe. 

We found a fabulous campsite on an island on the River Vltava which runs through Prague. From there we could catch a ride on a cute little ferry (free to us we found out as we are elders) to the bank on the city side. 

It was a reasonably long walk into the city but we saw lots of interesting things on the way including river craft, floating restaurants, and the Memorial Bell on a barge. 

This massive bell weighs 9,801 kilograms, and was built in remembrance of the 9,801 bells stolen from churches in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia by the Nazis and melted down to produce weapons during World War Two. 

It was a long hot walk so we stopped off for a cold beer on the outskirts of the old city before continuing on to the fabulous Old Town Square with its colourful baroque buildings, impressive gothic churches and the medieval astronomical clock. 

The Square was packed with tourists so we decided to continue on for a look at the Josefov area, the former Jewish ghetto and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Although many of the homes and historic buildings were destroyed before and during World War ll there are are still some stunning architectural pieces to be seen including the Spanish synagogue which dates back to the second half of the 19th century and is built in Spanish Moorish style on the site of a medieval oratory. 

From the Jewish quarter we walked towards the famous Charles Bridge which is a great favourite of the tourists!  In fact it was so crowded we decided to enjoy it from afar and skipped walking through the heaving throngs of people!

The  construction of this pedestrian bridge started in 1357 and was completed in 1402.  It’s main attraction is the continuous alley of 30 statues of Catholic saints. Most of them are in baroque style and were originally erected around 1700. Now all the statues have been replaced by replicas.

In the small square close to the bridge we heard the bright sound of fanfare trumpets reverberating around the buildings.  Two trumpeters were drawing in interest for a concert at the St Francis of Assisi Church. We were tempted but were concerned that we might miss the last ferry if we stayed. 

We left Prague the following day and headed for Svitavy, a relatively small town further along in Czechia, and famous for being the birthplace of Oskar Schindler, who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust.  

Rather than take the highways, we generally prefer to take the minor road routes so we can get the feel for the countries that we pass through.

This can lead to a few problems sometimes and on this occasion, a rather unnerving experience! The trip had started well enough – we had fine weather, pretty countryside and some lovely villages to enjoy. 

Around lunchtime we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere driving along (as you do) when suddenly we came across a team of road workers, no road and big trouble! 

There had been no warning signs, no stop and go person, no traffic signals, no flags or anything else – one minute we were driving merrily along the road and the next we were on a road with no hard surface and a road grader right in front of us and blocking the road.

The driver looked confused but manoeuvred to one side to allow us to continue along the now non-existent road. We edged slowly forward and as we did so we were enveloped in a massive cloud of choking, ultra fine, dense grey dust which we then realised, had just been spread and levelled by the road grader.  

A bit further along, still enveloped in a swirling, blinding, swarm of dust, we came to an abrupt stop as a massive truck had been drawn to a halt across the road in front of us.

The driver (who we assumed, was the foreman) walked towards us and even though we couldn’t understand one word of what he said, we could tell he was madder than a wet hen!

After listening to his tirade and trying to defend ourselves (he couldn’t understand us either) he uttered the word that is instantly recognisable in almost every language “Police”.

He proceeded to take photos of us and then appeared to make a phone call. What could we do?  Going back would only increase the damage to the road work – our only option was to edge around his truck and move slowly forward.

We were quite rattled by the experience but hoped that the police wouldn’t be interested in apprehending us – especially as there was genuinely no indication that roadworks were taking place. 

So we continued on with our van looking like it had been through a Saharan dust storm!

An hour and a half later we were stopped in our tracks once again with another complete road closure. Fortunately this time there were signs showing that the road was closed so we just turned round (not easy for a campervan the size of ours in a small road) and tried to find another way through.  

Although there were no diversion signs we muddled our way through and finally rejoined the road to Svitavy. We were very relieved when we finally arrived!