Overnight a new blister bulged on my left heal, on the site of an old blister which I thought had healed. Pain pierced my heel every time I put my weight on it which made me hobble down the road. Eventually, the pain eased and I was distracted by8 sunny skies, blue with scraps of cloud. Although the track was still dark and damp in the shadow of the surrounding trees, the promise of the rising sun, after a few damp days, filled me with happiness. Steam was rising from the ground where the sun warmed it, sunbeams shot through the trees.
Not having eaten anything when I decamped, my hunger encouraged me to enter the closed doors of a restaurant to see if they could offer breakfast. The answer was no, but they could provide soup with bread and coffee which I gladly accepted. I was at Nová Louka where once glass was made. Earlier I had walked through Kristiánov, another small settlement in the forest where a glass making factory once stood. There was now a Glass Making Museum at Kristiánov, which I passed hours before it openned. Over a hundred years ago both were run by the Riedel family, who still produce quality glassware in Austria. I was proudly shown a cabinet with glassware and a book signed by the latest Riedel when he visited to join the celebration of 250 years since glass making started in the area. Presumably the availability of wood was the reason glass was made here. Apparently a lot of it was required. A dam was built nearby to create a lake that powered a sawmill, needed to cut up wood for the glass furnaces.
I progressed to the village of Bedřichov. A large board described how the village was home to the Jizerská 50, which is now a series of cross-country skiing races. Czechs dominated the winners in the early years but as the competition became more international Norwegians tended to come first. Although to early in the year for snow and skiing, the village was busy with people this Saturday morning. Young children watched by a parent practiced on a climbing wall; cyclists gathered for a ride; families with children headed out with wicker baskets to pick mushrooms; another group of small children were each handed a clothes peg (for unknown reasons); older couples set off for walks; a group of men stood waiting to do something while buses brought more people up from the city of Liberec. I watched while enjoying a second coffee, this time with a pastry at a stall.
It was then downhill through the forest into the city. A confusion of tracks used by those walking dogs and children meant I had to pick my way carefully. Reaching the city by the zoo I continued along a strip of park until stopped by a sign for a Cukrárna. Another coffee with a cake followed. Following signs into the old centre of the city I had my final coffee with a filled bagel for lunch.
After shopping for supplies in a large mall I eventually reached my hotel on the outskirts of the city. After washing clothes and other chores, and a more pleasurable phone call to my wife, I decided to have dinner at a nearby establishment I had passed. I had thought it a more typical Czech establishment than the restaurant at the hotel, however it turned out to be Bulgarian!
No comments:
Post a Comment