Day 19

122 km, Lauchhammer-Ústí nad Labem

Just after 9 o'clock we were on the road (our earliest start!) looking for a nearby shop to buy water and ice tea. We cycled past a Danish windmill manufacturing company, Vestas - those windmill wings look even bigger when lying on the ground!

After 30 km we had our first break, at a lake next to Zschorna. A road goes through the lake, and we were sitting on one side looking out over the lake and eating the bakery goods we had bought in the previous town. We left when Orsika discovered a small snake sliding past in front of us. It was probably harmless, but we had just finished eating anyway.

Next stop was Dresden. We first arrived to a part of town called Neustadt (new town), which was dominated by old buildings, young people, hip beer gardens, little shops, and quite a bit of graffiti. We cycled on and stopped in Altstadt (old town), dominated by modern architecture including a quite new shopping mall. Starbucks, Deichmann, H&M, and other brands like anywhere else. No graffiti. Of course, although *dominated* by glass and concrete, there were still surprisingly many old buildings restored after the bombings of the city during the war.

Leaving Dresden we could have followed the river for a flatter ride, but we went up in hills, despite the heat, around 30 C today, enjoyed a large meal an hour after leaving the city center, as a final preparation for the long hills towards the Czech Republic.

The thing about the area between Dresden and the north of Chech Republic is that you climb the same elevation more than once. Up, down, up, down. This was probably our first really hilly day since Norway. It was our slowest day,16.2 km/h on average, but also the one with the fastest descent, 59.8 km/h with tailwind but breaking. It could have easily gone faster without breaking, without the cart, and pedalling. One road sign read "12%,  next 3.5 km". Isak liked this, but it was too much for Orsika's taste.

The border area of Czech Republic looks like the Swedish side of the Norwegian-Swedish border, or the German side of the Danish-German border: large signs in the neighbour language about cheap cigarettes, booze, dentist services, and you name it... ;-)

The last ten or so km to our goal of the day, the city of Usti nad Labem, was a milder downhill ride, all the way, it was like riding a perfectly quiet motorbike. In the 13 years that had passed since Isak's last ride on the same road a lot had happened to the road quality. The pot holes were gone, and the asphalt was perfect.

Arriving at the same hotel as 13 years ago, Hotel Vladimir, one thing had changed: we were greeted in English as opposed to German last time. It is not clear whether this is because more young people study Engilsh instead of German nowadays, or because there more tourists from other countries than Germany.

After a well needed shower we withdrew some Czech Korunas and went to eat pizza.