JOURNAL - DAY 5

DAY 5:

Following blog was dictated by the paddler on the phone:
"Paddled 18.1 km.
Started 0730.
Finished 1430.
After a night of continual rain delighted to say all's dry (inside the tent). On the water at 0730 for a weir-hopping trip around Ceske Budejovice. Delighted to be a subject of spectator's sport while moving the kayak on wheels around some of the weirs. Then to find a monster from the deep excavating the river in the middle of Ceske Budejovice bringing earth from one side to the other in his snorkel-breathing caterpillar tractor beast. No warnings were given of this obstacle but it was negotiated safely. Just.
The river got very dirty past CB because of the earth-moving work in town. Even more importantly, there was hardly any current at all as the river was dammed in the centre of the town to allow the monster to do his work. I hope that this changes, i.e. that the current comes back.
Staying the night at Ceske Vrbne. An excellent campsite – it is empty. But the bar is open and it also has a white-water course which is being used at the moment. However, I will resist the temptation to join in.
I've had a hot shower and cheese and chips (not together). Currently it is not raining. Long may it continue. But oh well."

… the next morning Petra received the following text message: try to find a good weather forecaster and tell me that there is going to be some sun – even if you have to make it up. This rain could turn me into a duck!

He would not be the first bigger-than-life duck on the water… this quacker is French and resides on the Loire River.

Little bit of Geography education:
Ceske Budejovice is yet another town with history going back to 13th century. What is probably more attention-catching is the fact that it is the home of the world-known Budvar a.k.a. Budweiser (THE REAL THING) beer. The town has been well known for brewing it for quite a long time, that is if you consider EIGHT CENTURIES a long time – oh yes, it has been there since the 13th century! For a time the town was even the royal brewery for the Holy Roman Emperor, and Budweiser Bier (beer from Budweis) became, along with Pilsen's Pilsener, one of the best-known lagers. Brewing remains a major industry.
The largest brewery, founded in 1895, is Pivovar Budejovicky Budvar (Budweiser Budvar Brewery), which has legal rights to market its beer under the "Budweiser" brand name in much of Europe. The same product is also sold elsewhere under the names "Budvar" and "Czechvar" due to legal squabbles with Anheuser-Busch over the Budweiser brand. The American lager was originally brewed as an imitation of the famous Czech original but over time has developed its own identity and attained remarkable commercial success. Anheuser-Busch has made offers to buy out the Czech brewing company in order to secure global rights to the name "Budweiser", but the Czech government has refused all such offers, considering keeping the Budweiser name Czech to be a matter of national pride. QUITE RIGHT, TOO!!!