We are happy taking the back roads...

We did a fair drive yesterday, again on the backroads. One thing about Czechia is that there are lots of paved backroads that are easily passable by all vehicles. No need at all to get on the freeways if you're not in a rush to get anywhere.

And, the freeways in Czechia are all toll roads. You need to buy what they call a "vignette" in advance. It's essentially an e-pass that registers your vehicle's licence plate. Many European countries have this system in one form or another, but sometimes it's just for heavy trucks, and sometimes it's for all vehicles. You need to check each country in advance to see what the rules are.

We are happy taking the back roads...

No idea what this field is. Anybody?

There's a small village nestled in these trees.

This village has a small fair set up in the square.

We arrived in the town of Dobris and found a good overnight spot. We could hear music in the distance and it sounded like something was going on, so we went for a walk to check it out. It was a big amusement park fair type of setup. Really busy with people having fun and enjoying the day.

Kids having fun.

Everybody loves the bumper cars.

Typical amusement park stuff.

But I took a video of this one ride for you... crazy stuff! And no, we didn't go on any rides!

We went for a walk through the forest near where we were parked...

Interesting fountain statue.

Ruth, checking out a small cave.

My view from the inside looking out.

This is an old castle. Apparently not in very good condition, and privately owned.

We came across this ancient bridge.

Can you see Ruth in blue?

If you were walking across, you wouldn't even know it was a bridge.

Me on the bridge.

Pretty flowered trees.

Weird yellow fungus.

More fungus.

These tree branches fell during the storm the other day.

Today, we are meeting young friends Jana and Lukas who hosted us during our visit to Slovakia ten years ago. They now live in Prague, and we are only 50 kms (30 miles) from the center of the city so they are coming out to go for a hike with us. We haven't seen them in ten years, but we have kept in touch through facebook. Looks like another beautiful day in Czechia!

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Digital Meat Thermometer.