I don’t think I have blogged specifically about this delightful town – well worth the stay and recommended. A brief blog then pictures!

Litoměřice (Czech) ; German: Leitmeritz) is a town at the junction of the rivers Elbe (Czech: Labe) and Ohře (German: Eger) in the north part of the Czech Republic, approximately 64 km (39,7 mi) northwest of Prague.

The area within the Ústí nad Labem Region is called the Garden of Bohemia thanks to mild weather conditions important for growing fruits and grapes. During the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, many pensioners chose it over more southern areas of the Empire. However I don’t think I would settle here in my twilight years.

There are two relatively significant periods in modern history with respect to the Czech Republic – the German occupation during the Second World War and then even more recently that by the Russians as part of the Eastern Bloc. In terms of the War, there is much to still see and contemplate serving as reminders of those devastating years. Surprisingly there is almost nothing that remains or is maintained with respect to the Russian occupation. I am not sure why this should be.

Part of the ancient walls and battlements.

The Litomerice. square

Cafe Bongornio – Litomerice style, sadly without the coffee at least in quality.

A Jesuit church and monastery !

The quaint church of Saint Wencelas , who I guess is somehow related to the Good King? He seems to be a significant historical person.

Crumbed bull’s testicles …. A man has to eat!

The signage for the trail was mostly excellent and equal to that on the Camino. The cycle route was numbered 2 for most of the journey although at times on the Czech part it became route 7…

Ignore the fact that my cycle is facing in the opposite direction. It’s an optical illusion.

Below are several pictures that demonstrate the variation in the Elbe cycle path especially between Melnik and Prague… A picture is worth a thousand words!

The above picture is of recent upgrades near Prague itself

Last stop before Prague. My initial reaction is that one could miss Melnik or at the very least not stay. The castle is well worth a visit and its on my schedule. But Melnik is basically now on the industrial outskirts of Prague and it has that frenetic feel with pot holed roads and big trucks belching exhaust fumes between large graffiti ruined factories

The accommodation was also the least enjoyable. I had some difficulty in finding a bed and breakfast, not helped by a curt Tourist Information officer, who shoved a list of hotels and a map of the city in my direction.

The Hotel Ludmila is on the outskirts – a typical 10 story box. They had rooms! In fact according to the reception lad, he shrugged and said they were “empty”. I had a sense of foreboding, magnified several times over when he went through the room choices of which there were 4. The “basic”, then the “special”, and so on up to suites. When I asked the difference between “basic” and “special”, he became somewhat flustered and obvious had difficulty in explaining the specifics in English. ( price difference about 10 Euro), finally he resorted to the statement that ” well somethings may not work.” I was flabbergasted. What did he mean?

Well for a start the hallway lights did not work… At all! The breakfast was abysmal, the so called “Wi Fi lounge” was half correct. There was a lounge seat. Others in Trip Adviser have summed it up as a typical old fashioned Eastern European hotel.

Pictures show the “breakfast buffet, – its a “spot the missing bits” competition,

A bus load of Belgian cyclists decamped at the hotel…

And the rivers at Melnik