Basil’s head is in a spin. First he was told to go to Prague, then he was told to go somewhere in Germany, then he was told to go to Prague again and finally to go somewhere in the Czech Republic, but not Prague. What’s going on?
It had been our intention travel from Dresden to Prague today. I had also seen that there is a small area on the German border with the Czech Republic called “Saxon Switzerland” so we decided to take a small diversion to admire the countryside.
First we needed to stock up on a few essentials from the only shop that seems to exist for us – LIDL. SatNav, who of course has a database of every LIDL in Europe, told us that there was a LIDL only 5 miles into our route and so we were soon parked in familiar surroundings, with Sarah mowing people down with her trolly while me and the dogs sat in Basil twiddling our thumbs.
The day had turned out beautifully. Cloudless skies and a temperature of 22 degrees. On her return Sarah suggested we find a nearby campsite, to make use of the good weather, and travel to Prague tomorrow, when rain is forecast. Luckily there was an ACSI campsite nearby, so off we set.
On arrival the campsite barrier was down and it said reception was closed from midday to 2 pm. The time was 12.10! A young man came out of reception and I asked if we could come in. He was clear that nobody came or left between 12 and 2 and we would have to park up for the next two hours. Sarah and I quickly agreed there was little point in sitting on his tarmac drive for 2 hours and so started to reprogramme SarNav for Prague. Before we had finished this quick task the young man reappeared, telling us we could not stop in front of his gate and we would have to move. We did – we know when we’re not wanted.
So we progressed down the Elbe valley as it got more and more steep sided and entered the area known as Saxon Switzerland. I have to say we were both a little disappointed. Yes, there were a few hills and some forests, but Saxon Switzerland, I think not.
We crossed the Czech border on a side road alongside the River Elbe and as we entered our 17th country of this trip with, as usual, barely a sign of the border.
The so called Saxon Switzerland with the River Elbe in the foreground
As lunchtime approached we were having no luck finding a suitable stopping point, when, as we entered our first Czech town of Decin, I suddenly remembered that I had noticed an ACSI site in the general area when I lasts looked at the database. We had a quick discussion at a set of traffic lights and I pulled over at the first opportunity to check the whereabouts of the campsite. It turned out to be only half a mile away and so Basil was instructed to yet again change directions.
Kemp Decin ( 50.774585, 14.208447) is a strange little site. Essentially an enterprising Czech presumably owned a piece of land next to the River Elbe which was blighted by a flyover leading to a bridge, bisecting his land. Not to be discouraged he has built a campsite with caravans and motorhomes on one side of the flyover and tents on the other! At €13 ACSI rate it is good value for money, but not much more can be said in its favour. The buildings are essentially adapted lorry containers, although the site does get top marks for free, good, wifi.
View from Basil of the campsite and flyover
It has suited us fine as a place to laze in the sun, but we won’t be staying for a second day. At one point I got very exited when I thought I heard the whistle of a steam train, but when I eagerly peered at the nearby railway bridge I found that Czechs must put a fake steam whistle on their most pathetic diesel trains. The site is good if you are desperate enough to do a bit of lorry spotting, due to the constant traffic jams on the flyover. I managed to spot an Eddie Stobart truck earlier!
Tomorrow we finish our journey to Prague.