Day Two: Benesov to Tabor, 39.6 miles (64 km), 4h 13m, 2991 (911 m) feet of elevation gain (climbing).
After yesterday's realization that it wasn't going to be a nice easy ride to Passau, I gritted my teeth, whined when I needed to vent my frustration at the difficulty of the route and got on with it. I also ate a behemoth-sized breakfast, something that went against the weight loss mentality I've been living for the last year or so, but absolutely necessary on this tour.
We made a brief stop at Konopiste Castle so I could at least see the outside close up. It wasn't open for the day yet, so I didn't get to see the inside, but they had a bear in a pit and a peacock running around. Peacocks sound like a giant cat meowing when they cry out. It was loud and quite startling to hear that. I'd seen peacocks before but never heard them cry out like that.
It took a day or so to realize that riding through this part of The Czech Republic was like riding in upstate Vermont. The landscape was comfortingly familiar to me, having grown up in New England. It looked like home, except for the architecture. Since our summer camp is on the Vermont border, we had ridden our bike on a few rail trails in Vermont last year. Many times, while cycling in the Czech Republic, I wished for a rail trail. At least our climbs today peaked at vistas with clear views of rolling green pastures for miles. Those back roads were peaceful and quiet. We passed through several small villages. At one of those, we noticed a giant swarm of bees next to an apartment complex we rode by. I'd never seen a swarm of bees before. Luckily, we were far enough away and going fast. As we crested the top of a hill in the middle of two giant fields of wildflowers, the hum of bees was so loud I was able to record it on my phone.
It was also a day of varied and challenging surfaces. We ended up riding on a dirt track with two ruts along the edge of a pasture. If it hadn't been downhill, I would have had a tantrum. And then we came across things like this:
We came into a town around lunch time and for some reason, we couldn't find a place to eat for lunch, so I decided to brave a Czech grocery store for some lunch food.
The Czech grocery store was kind of like shopping at an Ikea. There is one flow of traffic, narrow aisles, a lot of people just shuffling along, a long line at the register, and you better know what you want and how to grab it without being rude. I had no clue what I was doing but ended up with two oranges, two donuts, and two sausage-filled kolaches. I figured that was enough carbs to get us through the afternoon. I hoped they took credit cards. At the register, I asked if they spoke English....That would be 'no'..... No one spoke English. My lunch stash came to under $10 US. I whipped out my credit card, hoping it wouldn't be a problem, and I could tell the cashier wasn't happy. There was a huge line behind me, for one thing, midday on a Thursday (no one shops on the weekend). I hit a button on the card machine, which I should not have done, the cashier said something harsh but the manager next to her gave me a kind smile and waved me off while the cashier was chirping at me about God only knows what. It's probably better I don't know what she was saying ha ha. After my dubious success, my husband decided we needed more stuff to drink so he braved it and went into the fray himself and came back with some Czech sports drinks and two bottles of water.
Several people stopped to look at our parked bike, while we sat on some stone steps, dressed in our weird riding gear, eating. Most were stoic, a few smiled.
We arrived at Tabor in the afternoon, showered and headed out to explore the town. We ate dinner and went exploring. Dinner for me was some sort of beer stew with mashed potatoes. After dinner, we decided to take a look inside the Dean's Church of the Lord's Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. It was really beautiful inside. 
I apologize for the resolution of the photos. I had to resize them to load them up on this website, which meant reducing the resolution.
If you would like to read more about our three week-long bicycle tour starting in Prague, Czech Republic and ending in Budapest, Hungary, here are the links to our entire adventure:
Day Zero in Prague (Weather or not I wanted to)
Day One.... The Hills are Alive .... and I am not
Day Two....Vistas and Grocery Stores (and an angry cashier)
Day Three.... Are we Hiking or Cycling? (Today it was hard to tell....)
Day Four.....My Favorite Place on the Entire Tour (and a nod to the Beer of Kings along the way)
Day Four and a Half (I couldn't do it justice in one post)
Day 5 ...... Will This Day Ever End???
Day Six... Pausing in Passau (AKA This is the way we wash our clothes.....I think....)
Day Seven - Off down the Danube (If we'd only had that meeting.....)
Day Eight - We needed a day like today.....
Day Ten Cycling the Danube - Cloudy With a Shot of Melk
Day Eleven Cycling the Danube... A rare short mileage day!
Day Twelve Cycling the Danube - Aahhhh Vienna!!!
Day 13 - Our Day in Vienna (It's not supposed to be this HOT)
Day 14: Vienna to Petronell-Carnuntum (Apparently, I can speak some Italian.....)
Day 15 Petronell-Carnuntum, Austria to Bratislava, Slovakia (Rain and broken Chain...)
Day 16 Bratislava, Slovakia to Gyor, Hungary (There's a snake in the grass....)
Day 18: Komarno, Slovakia to Esztergom, Hungary (A tense tummy and a tense moment......)
Day 19: Esztergom to Budapest, Hungary (A long ride for the last day)
Day 20: A Day in Budapest (We had to see the last of the "Stevens/Stephens")
