Bohemian Switzerland

Dobry den!

Most of the group headed to Berlin a day or two early so there are just a few of us in Decin today. Ken, Julie, and I took a short bus ride to a national park just to the north of Decin which straddles the Czech/German border which half the park in each country. The name of the park means Bohemian Switzerland, perhaps for the rocky, mountainous terrain and lush forests. We hiked down through a gorgeous gorge, complete with a little boat ride to connect two parts of the trail. It was a foggy, misty day so the atmosphere in the gorge was magical and drippy. We had time to hike up to a large stone arch after the gorge, but the high overlook was almost comically nothing but white with the fog.

The vegetarian fare here is quite sparse, mom. Luckily the hostel we're staying in has a kitchenette in our suite of rooms and there are a few large supermarkets in Decin. Most of us have been cooking at least one meal a day now. There is a good little pizza place in town which has a "vegetaria" pizza. Last night I ordered something off the menu which I could read should have been something with vegetables, and tofu. What came out on the plate was a large portion of canned veggies smothered in cheese, no tofu. All the carnivores on the trip seem to be happy with the large variety of meat dishes though. Laundry has been amusing so far as well. We've luckily had free laundry machines at both of the places we've stayed so far. The one machine here seems to take an average of 2 hours for one load, no dryer. Yesterday after checking back to see if the machine was open all morning and afternoon, a few of us horded the key to do some consecutive loads. I was up until past 1am waiting for my 2 hour spin. I must say the clothes get very clean though!

More on the trip to Berlin after tomorrow!