2013

This was maybe my best shot of the three.

This was the rental bike, which I acquired from the Hotel Golf. It appears to be a make called 4Ever and a model called Galant. I'm never sure with bikes. In any case, the hotel appeared to have two of these. I made two trips over almost the same route on different days, and this one, the first one that I used, seemed to run better. In general, while I've never heard of the make "4Ever," this was a relatively smooth-running bike that was easy to get up and down hills quite quickly.

This was my favorite part of the bike, a Shimano shifter that accurately locked the derailer into each gear. It would be one thing if this notched shifter were the same as all the others I've tried, which have never worked, but this one worked perfectly.

This is the Hotel Golf itself, which is located not in Nymburk, but in Podebrady. Our bike trip took us primarily along the River Labe between the two cities, and then back via the opposite bank.

After the Podebrady-Nymburk-Podebrady bike trip, we went to the Zamek Loucen, which is an old castle, or by some definitions chataeu, in Loucen, obviously. Today it's used for many different purposes, most of them to do with tourism. There are extensive gardens all around it, as well as labyrinths and mazes.

Here's a head-on view of the zamek.

This was on the next bike trip, on a slightly less-well-tuned, but still useable, rental bike of the same model. These medieval ruins are a national cultural landmark of the Czech Republic, and include several farmhouses plus a church, which is the easiest to recognize as the alter has been replaced, and a cross installed, even if the church hasn't been rebuilt.

This is the main railway crossing that I found while biking in Libice nad Cidlinou. Although it's hard to see, there's a branchline, apparently out of use, that turns off on the other side of this mainline and passes the building in the background. I don't know exactly where it leads, but I noticed some industries in the area that it probably served at one time. It would be an interesting trip in and of itself, particularly with a bike.

This is the station at Libice nad Cidlinou.

This was my first view of Vesely Kopec. Supposedly, Vesely Kopec is a "village," or maybe "hamlet" would be a better word in English, as it is a constituent part of Chrudim, which in turn is a district of Vysocina, technically another village, which is part of Pardubicky kraj. A further complication is that this "Vesely Kopec" isn't a real village. Basically, it's a reconstructed 19th Century village similar to those that can be seen in the U.S. Think of the Erie Canal Village in Rome, New York, or the Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. So, what I don't know is whether Vesely Kopec has been given an official status as a village (or hamlet), or whether it is a constituent part of a real hamlet with residents, businesses, etc. One way or another, this historic reconstruction of buildings moved from elsewhere is very similar to what you can see in the U.S., with the difference being that the buildings are Czech. It's also different in that it's not common, but one-of-a-kind in the Czech Republic.

I don't know much about this chapel (or possibly church), as it lacked a historical marker.

This was the interior of the chapel (or church).

I didn't know what these were, but the guy I was traveling with said they were seed hoppers.

This was one of several fire engines that they had stored in a barn. There were also several buggies and wagons, as well as a hearse. This was similar to what you could see at an American historical village, except for that the fire engines were unrestored, and as such lacked their hoses, which no doubt rotted off long ago.

This was a small collection of wooden water pipes that they had displayed on a wagon. Plumbing is a technology that has been introduced gradually over thousands of years, so in the 19th Century there was a certain limited amount of it, in spite of houses lacking "running water" in the modern sense in the first three quarters of the century.

Like American historical villages, Vesely Kopec has a blacksmith who demonstrates his traditional craft. This is obviously popular with the kids, but I've always liked to see old technology in use. For that matter, blacksmiths aren't obsolete for certain things, like making horseshoes, and let's face it, horses aren't going anywhere.

Ceramic stoves have been in use in the Czech Republic, both for heating and cooking, since at least the 17th Century. The older ones are extremely ornate, and not easily recognizable as stoves (which could be a safety hazard). However, they became much simpler in the 19th Century as they became more practical, small stoves for everybody, which is also when they were increasingly used for cooking. Usually, they've run on coal, and in spite of this you can still buy them.

Another industry that both 19th Century Bohemia and the 19th Century U.S. had, indeed, that much of the world had for several centuries, was the manufacture of wagon wheels. In the pre-industrial era, this was done almost entirely by craftsman called "wheelwrights" (in English, anyway) in shops like these. The equipment looks to be very similar to what was used in the U.S., although I've never learned how to make wagon wheels so I don't know all the details.