Day 16 More holiday in Prague

In which Sid and Doris visit the Czech National Technical Museum and think about how to travel on.

Today mixed holiday with planning for the next few days while Doris’s leg gets better. Despite thoughtful suggestions that we should go for amputation or a tandem with foot pegs we have come up with something else that keeps the Journey Epic. Just as an aside, Doris could not handle the loss of control involved in tandem riding. Her previous experiment, with a trusted helm (not Sid) lasted, ooh, twelve seconds.

So first part of the day was a taxi (not something we generally need in a small city) to the National Technical Museum. Oh yes, when Sid and Doris need cheering up there is nothing quite like a good Technical Museum. Even before buying the entry ticket aero fans will thrill to this double banked radial engine.

Museums reflect the life around them as well as displaying the exhibits. We naturally start with the Czech motor industry. In the period before the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 this was part of the Austro Hungarian Empire (RIP). This was never acknowledged in the very good captions where the area was called ‘in the Czech lands’. In more recent times there is no mention of Slovakia, they can have their own technical museum if they  have anything to put in it, hah.

In the period 1918 to ’38 and ’39 the industry grew and was pretty advanced, this was an industrial economy. They have an unrestored late ’30s Mercedes 154 driven by Rudy Caracciola. Is there some irony that after the war he sold Mercedes cars to NATO troops in Germany?

There is a lovely run of Aeros, Tatras, Lauren and Klement, Pragas and Jawas. This pretty little streamliner had 750 storming ccs but must win cute of the day.

The post war cars were produced under the next occupying regime included the Skoda rear engined cars that won the 1300 class on the RAC year after year.

Paying close attention to some of the commentary in the museum, we did wonder if Sid had been allowed to write any of it…?  This is the description of the Mercedes Benz 540K.

Skipping lightly over the aircraft, MKIX Spitfire flown by Czechoslovak squadron and all the MIGs produced by Aero we go up to the civil engineering and architecture session. Utterly absorbing. I pick out this design for a pillbox. The Czechoslovaks expected war with Germany and were planning their own Maginot Line. It was planned to be finished by 1948.

In summary this is a fab museum, so once you have had a couple of churches and ground your teeth at the gormless crowds thronging around the astronomical clock you should clear off over the river.

The epic journey has a new chapter thanks to Lizzie’s encouragement to keep the journey going. Tomorrow we and the bikes are on the train to Linz, Austria (it seems I was only there a few weeks back). From there Sid will ride along the Danube meeting Doris (moving by train or whatever) in the evenings. Even Sid should be able to follow the Danube. Using the flat route means that when Doris recovers we are not immediately hitting the hills again.

The Epic Journey continues. Plans meet reality. We adapt and go on. Simples.