DAY 4:
Richard is braving the river on his own again. Started from Branna at 0730 and finished at 1700 having covered 40.9 km! Only one weir got the better of him – the one at Vetrni Paper Mill (288.2 km marker). I have seen this weir described as the concrete ghost. The actual weir is divided into four parts: from the left side, the water facility of the paper factory, then the slanting wide part of the weir, a gravel sluice, and completely on the right, the longest concrete water canal for boats on the Vltava river - a depressive retarder, about 90 m long, with a difference of levels of about 1,8 m. It may not seem like much but obviously it can take advantage of a minor distraction!
Oh well, thanks to well-packed kayak, dry suit and helmet this whole episode did not merit to be called even a minor nuisance. By the way, Richard has apparently no sense of entertainment and timing of this kind of events either - there was nobody to watch! Hopefully he will learn from this.
However, the pearl of the fourth day paddle was undoubtedly the town of Cesky Krumlov.
The survey of most authentic historic destinations conducted annually by the National Geographic Traveler magazine lists only one Czech town. And yes, it is not Prague.
A body of almost 300 panelists has selected top one hundred historic destinations around the world for the National Geographic Traveler magazine. Cesky Krumlov took 16th spot, beating famous destinations such as Damascus, Sydney or Verona.
According to legend, the name Krumlov is derived from the German "Krumme Aue", which may be translated as "crooked meadow". The name comes from the natural topography of the town, specifically from the tightly crooked meander of the Vltava river. The word "Český" simply means Czech, or Bohemian. In Latin documents it was called Crumlovia or Crumlovium. The town was first mentioned in documents from 1253.
The flow of the Vltava River has long been a natural transportation entrance to this region. The area's oldest settlement goes back to the Older Stone Age (70,000 - 50,000 B.C.). Mass settlement was noted in the Bronze Age (1,500 B.C.), Celtic settlements in the Younger Iron Age (approx. 400 B.C.) – THERE'S YOUR REASON WHY RICHARD FEELS AT HOME HERE… AMONG THE CELTS… and Slavonic settlement has been dated as from the 6th century A.D.
For more about the colourful and rich history of this town click here.
To top off the lovely day full of excitement and culture, Richard decided to add a bit of adventure in the end spending the night in wild campsite by the river. His timing was impeccable here – the moment he pitched his tent, cats and dogs started plummeting.
(Probably the same wave of inclement weather that broke off the tree in the courtyard, thus blocking the main door and almost preventing me from leaving the house for work in the morning… tonight I am planning a long session with my pocket saw trying to cut the three metre log branches and trunk into smaller and manageable pieces. That is my kind of adventure… in Prague, too).
Richard is braving the river on his own again. Started from Branna at 0730 and finished at 1700 having covered 40.9 km! Only one weir got the better of him – the one at Vetrni Paper Mill (288.2 km marker). I have seen this weir described as the concrete ghost. The actual weir is divided into four parts: from the left side, the water facility of the paper factory, then the slanting wide part of the weir, a gravel sluice, and completely on the right, the longest concrete water canal for boats on the Vltava river - a depressive retarder, about 90 m long, with a difference of levels of about 1,8 m. It may not seem like much but obviously it can take advantage of a minor distraction!
Oh well, thanks to well-packed kayak, dry suit and helmet this whole episode did not merit to be called even a minor nuisance. By the way, Richard has apparently no sense of entertainment and timing of this kind of events either - there was nobody to watch! Hopefully he will learn from this.
However, the pearl of the fourth day paddle was undoubtedly the town of Cesky Krumlov.
The survey of most authentic historic destinations conducted annually by the National Geographic Traveler magazine lists only one Czech town. And yes, it is not Prague.
A body of almost 300 panelists has selected top one hundred historic destinations around the world for the National Geographic Traveler magazine. Cesky Krumlov took 16th spot, beating famous destinations such as Damascus, Sydney or Verona.
According to legend, the name Krumlov is derived from the German "Krumme Aue", which may be translated as "crooked meadow". The name comes from the natural topography of the town, specifically from the tightly crooked meander of the Vltava river. The word "Český" simply means Czech, or Bohemian. In Latin documents it was called Crumlovia or Crumlovium. The town was first mentioned in documents from 1253.
The flow of the Vltava River has long been a natural transportation entrance to this region. The area's oldest settlement goes back to the Older Stone Age (70,000 - 50,000 B.C.). Mass settlement was noted in the Bronze Age (1,500 B.C.), Celtic settlements in the Younger Iron Age (approx. 400 B.C.) – THERE'S YOUR REASON WHY RICHARD FEELS AT HOME HERE… AMONG THE CELTS… and Slavonic settlement has been dated as from the 6th century A.D.
For more about the colourful and rich history of this town click here.
To top off the lovely day full of excitement and culture, Richard decided to add a bit of adventure in the end spending the night in wild campsite by the river. His timing was impeccable here – the moment he pitched his tent, cats and dogs started plummeting.
(Probably the same wave of inclement weather that broke off the tree in the courtyard, thus blocking the main door and almost preventing me from leaving the house for work in the morning… tonight I am planning a long session with my pocket saw trying to cut the three metre log branches and trunk into smaller and manageable pieces. That is my kind of adventure… in Prague, too).
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