We got out of our dodgy parking area before breakfast, and headed down
the hill to the Dyje River which borders the Czech Republic and
Austria. Once we'd eaten, we left the van on the Czech side and
walked over the pedestrian bridge to check out 'the smallest town in
Austria' - the very pretty town with the unfortunate name of Hardegg.
This town definitely has a castle that fits the perfect stereotype -
its high stone walls rising up like an extension of the rocky outcrop
sitting above the town.
We strolled around for couple of hours taking in the town and
surrounding forest, before returning to the Czech side. While Marea
rested, I attempted to scale the cliffs above the river to take in one
last view of the castle. I made it to the view point, but only after
a roundabout 30 minute walk, when the more direct return trip only
took 10 minutes!!
We were then back on the road again, but before we left the old
'eastern bloc' of Soviet influenced countries, we came across a final
piece of Communist history. A couple of kilometres from the border
lies the last remains of the Czechoslovakian section of the 'Iron
Curtain' - a barbed fence that used to separate the the entire eastern
bloc from their more democratic western neighbours. Often there where
two fences, with a strip of poisoned soil in between. The number of
people who attempted to escape communism through fences like this has
never been published, nor has the number shot whilst trying.
After taking in that bit of history we drove via Znojmo, and through
the now almost non-existant border controls and into Austria.
No comments:
Post a Comment