My family and I were looking for .... (Clark Griswold)

A much quieter getting from A to B kind of day.  Didn't rush out of the hotel in Brno, I did a bit of time on the treadmill, even though there was a park opposite that probably would have been the nicer bet.  Took some advantage of the large buffet breakfast, but more thirsty than hungry, so drank a large selection of their fruit juices.

Packed up and packed the car, we are pretty proficient at doing this now, years of practice.  Our route today:





Not much mileage but smaller roads, driving through lots of pretty little villages, and lots of pretty ordinary villages.  At times we could have easily been in Wales on the Machen to Caerphilly road.  The second half of the journey was through some very tidy forests, something I hadn't necessarily associated with the Czech Republic, but worth a mention for the general aesthetic appeal.  We didn't have a guide book for Czech so were unable to make sense of everything that was around us but did pass from Moravia to Bohemia, and through a recommended UNESCO Heritage site Litomysl, that is seen as artistically inspirational, if you stop, which we didn't.  Apparently there is some view of further separatist movements in the Czech Republic, feels like global politics forever a game of nationalist contraction and expansion.

small breakfast

only 3rd petrol stop of the journey

small roads

bigger roads

tree lined avenues

heading for Poland

Crossed the border to Poland and hit our sixth different country of the trip.  Chrissi missed the moment which has become a tradition, the border town of Nadchod  not particularly impressive, glad we hadn't chosen to stay there which was seen as an option for the parkrun we have gone for.

oh right so we are in Poland

too late for all the photos now

Couple of miles into Poland we turned left into Kudowa Zdroj, chosen because of its parkrun and proximity to the Czech border.  Had done absolutely no research into the place, expected a small village, turns out its a spa town, one of the oldest in Europe, very touristy, with wall to wall restaurants, people, activities and the lovely park that we will be running around tomorrow a centre piece.

Checked into our apartment, after a few loops looking for a parking space.  Didn't have to knock on any doors and utter the immortal Griswold line 'my family and I were looking for sex' (the number of the house) although it has brought a smile to our lips many times on this trip.  Ellen Griswold is the car name BTW.  Drive today took it out of me, but a little bit of exploration required. Some grand oldish hotels as befits a spa town, and the park, we walked around, knowing will need to go a bit quicker tomorrow.  Spent some time chilling in the apartment, then popped out for food.  Only exchanged about £50 into polish money so working to a budget, had sweet waffles this afternoon, pizza this evening, and bought a plaster as need some adhesive to mend my suitcase.  Couple of chocolate bars and probably enough for a coffee in the morning before we skedaddle.

bath spa

waters preserve people well here

waffles preserve people well here

tinkling the ivories at tomorrows start line

pierogi, the only one eating local tonight

comfort food

-Carys-

Dad was off to the gym when we woke up, so the rest of us had a lie in to energize us for the day. When we were all dressed, it was breakfast time down in the buffet. I made the mistake of eating too many mini donuts because I got excited that they were there, and then felt a bit ill. I still managed some yoghurt and dried fruit though.

It wasn't long before we were on the road, saying goodbye to Czech, for now, and driving to Poland. Our stay there is short but sweet, and I'm sure it would be nice to go back in the future. The drive took a few hours, and we were all starting to feel the annoyance of a lot of travelling. Especially Dad, since he was driving.

The apartment is one of my favourite places we've stayed in! It's absolutely beautiful, just like the kind of apartment I'd like to have when I'm older. It's really modern, a little short of space and me and Bryn have to share a sofa bed, but it's conveniently just a stones throw away from Parkrun, and has character to it.

Most of the afternoon was spent chilling in a room, and I went next door to the convenience store where I bought some chocolate for us to eat. Milka, it's been eaten quite frequently on this holiday - I think it's Austrian so it's quite relevant. Or it was at least, when we were in austria.

We went for a wander around the smallish town, which mostly consisted of the park and lots of cafes and restaurants. It was a bit like a resort, in some ways. There was an icecream stand which sold hot waffles though, so we each had one with strawberries in cream and sat in the park. They tasted perfect. After finding the start of parkrun (so we knew for tomorrow) and explored the park some more, we sat back in the room for a while.

park walk

Later on, Dad had to buy some plaster band aid thingy in the pharmacy - to save his suitcase from ripping apart any more - so we waited outside and then deliberated where we should have dinner. The restaurant owned by the people who also own the apartment was an option, but in the end we chose a bistro-style restaurant. I had a pizza, it tasted really good. Carb-loading for Parkrun tomorrow! Now to get some more sleep for our run, and final full day on holiday.

more interested in the waiter than pizza eh Carys?