Last night's spot was another winner and as well as spotting fallow deer and a non-cuckooing cuckoo there this morning, we also had the privilege of recovering the trail cam to find it had captured a family unit of six wild boar overnight.
The morning's drive saw us again making very, very slow progress on steep, narrow, twisty lanes that were very fond of doubling back on themselves and thereby frequently actually taking us further from - rather than closer to - our intended destination. Compounding progress, we also came across no fewer than three full road closures and as many low bridges that we just couldn't fit under.
Lovely countryside, though!
Post lunch we did, thankfully, pick up on a few roads that were flatter and more or less straight. These allowed for much faster progress, so we really let rip and cruised for a couple of hours at a heady 35mph.
Apart from the cuckoo, fallow deer and boar, we haven't spotted any more new 'trip' bird or animal species today, but have chanced upon a few points of cultural interest. We've casually observed some interesting architecture, fine churches and a decent castle or two. I was particularly impressed by one example of thinking outside the box that saw some architect / builder creating a floating front door access that even Daleks would have found agreeable (pic).
Another point of cultural interest has been spotting numerous upturned cups / mugs balanced on the fences of dwellings. Whilst out for a run this evening, Emma tried to ask a local (who had many such mugs so arranged) what the Dickens was going on. Suffice to say Emma's Czech and the upturned-mug protagonist's English did not unravel the mystery, so Mr Google was called upon.
Apparently, the most reliable explanation is that the caper started out as an altruistic Slavic tradition signalling that water would be offered for free to needy travellers. These days, though, it's seemingly morphed into a simple aesthetic feature, designed to give a traditional and rustic look to property.
This evening's stopover is another forest-track job giving good open views. Unfortunately there hasn't been anything much to see thanks in the main to a huge downpour that started about half an hour after we'd parked up. Emma was just caught out on her run and took a heroic soaking of about two minutes duration; that she since hasn't mentioned at all...
Post composed at 21:40 on Monday 28th July from our intended overnighting spot N 49.43718°, E 15.01668° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:49.43718%2C15.01668