Just Czeching in

Today’s plan was to get to Prague. We’d visit the big-ass Jesus and head south. We’d be in Prague by evening.

I really thought this trip was going to be roughing it, but we seem to be staying in a hotel every other night (or so it seems!). I’ve hopefully made it clear to Tony that I’m very happy to stay in the van (it’s so cosy, with the trucker style night heater!).

I guess yesterday was a pretty rough day though (lots of driving and lots of emotion). Tone suggested we find wifi after having dropped off Julia to seek out a hotel. There are a few things that one must know when being on the move and seeking out hotels using temporary access to wifi:

1. It’s important to make a note of the address (I did not do this the first night and felt like a right schoolgirl errorer)
2. It’s also important to understand how to get there (the instructions last night explained we should take “the exit” from the motorway, which meant we were kind of chancing it).

I’ll surely learn other tips, which I’ll be sure to share when Tony highlights them to me! :-D

The hotel we’d booked looked incredible in the pictures and we found ourselves in a little village in the middle of nowhere – though some way towards the big-ass Jesus. We managed to drive past the restaurant linked to the hotel and had to be redirected round the back. As we turned the corner into the car park, the hotel just wowed us. (I think Tony was resigned to the fact that we weren’t going to get to where we needed to get to so he was especially wowed! Ye of little faith.).

Tony, Smiley and Hotel Toscania

Romeo, Romeo...?!

We’d ordered breakfast with the hotel receptionist when we arrived last night. She gave us a list of different bits and said “tick what you want”. When I hesitated for just a millisecond, she said “just tick everything”. So I did. This was the result…

 

I am a squirreling padawan. Tony has been trying to wean me in gently. But today he confirmed that I have mastered the art. I’m so proud. Breakfast has fed us for morning, lunch, tea and will keep us going into tomorrow evening too! :-D

After a few shots outside of the incredible hotel, we hit the road and got to the big-ass Jesus just before midday. The drive was so lovely in the morning sun. There wasn’t a sky in the cloud.

Smiley and Jesus

Today's sky shot #notupskirtingpromise

After a mooch around Jesus’s tootsies (how did they even make such a monument? We need to read up more on this!), and a sup up of the sun on our faces in the fresh wind, we were Czech Republic bound.

 

The road to Prague seemed a bit out of the way so our Stace decided to navigate through smaller town roads. Tony’s patience lasted about an hour on this and then Stace admitted she’d royally messed up. We hit the motorway after about 2 hours of messing around in little villages.

Once on the motorway, we made good progress. This highway eventually turned into a main road that meandered and weaved through mountain villages nestled in beautiful snowy valleys. Before we knew it we were back surrounded by scandi-like climates, passing Polish ski towns, climbing uphill and holding up trucks as we increased altitude.

Smiley looking fabulous <3

We didn’t quite make it to Prague, but we did make it over the mountains and into the Czech Republic. The sky was red tonight so it promises to be good weather tomorrow. We’ve stopped at a services for sleepy byes in the Transit Hotel tonight and we’ll head to Prague for a snoop around tomorrow.

 

In non-geography-related news, Tony and I have now spent one solid week together. We finish each other’s sentences, often communicate with looks rather than words, and understand what a lick of the lips/intake of breath means. I'm proud to say he's mastered the art of connecting to wifi via browser validation but seems to always ask his phone what the time is in Manitoba for some reason...

P.S. Hoping you're OK, Garlick. 

P.P.S. Thanks to all for positive encouraging comments on the blog. We're feeling loved out here on the road.

P.P.P.S. Tony has suggested two theme tunes for today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQfxi8V5FA (hauntingly accurate in some regards and a great, poignant share!) and https://youtu.be/cBj1jumXiwI. Enjoy!