Aldi no-Talk and Skoda

25^th July

I came back to the house yesterday, and Honsa and Jana were away in the forest, so I had free time.

Communication has always been an issue regarding travel. At very least one needs a phone for emergencies but more broadly, use of the Internet helps you to do so much, especially arranging one’s next port of call. In hindsight, I wish I had set up a phone contract before I left the UK but instead just bought a sim pay-as-you go. This has proved almost useless and too problematic. There is too much to tell about this but I’ve had an English sim and telephone number, a Dutch one, a German one and now a Czech one. The biggest problem has been getting enough data. In Germany, staying with Angelika, I told her I needed a sim because I had been travelling without the use of the phone for some while and if something happened I would be stuck. She told me about Aldi-Talk and insisted it was very good. I was reluctant to get a sim from Aldi but there seemed no choice. Then began a long a complicated process of getting connected. Buying the sim was simple enough at an Aldi store but getting registered and connected was not; all to do with security. To cut a long story short, I had to go to the post office to show my identity, then wait for an email, then return to the post office with the email. An alternative was a video interview online but this was not available to me because I had an English phone. Anyway, this worked well enough, once we got data sorted out, until a few days ago when the month was up and no more data. I went online to renew it but because it was a German website – no joy, and no email from them telling me to renew. So Honsa took me to a town and I signed up with a Czech sim, and all was fine, until yesterday when I tried to call him but got a German voice telling me something. I later got a message when I tried to call, saying there was no network available. I then got a message from Aldi-talk, which I translated with Google, telling me that I must renew with them. So now I’ve got a Czech sim on a German network I cannot use. Scheisse!!

My job for today was adding mulch to young grape saplings. I had to tear the straw from straw bales and it was hard going, and it was very hot. Part way through the morning, I heard the sound of a very powerful engine, a car going crazy fast. Surely a car can’t drive this fast on narrow twisting roads; someone will get killed. The sound got very loud and then disappeared into the distance, but could be heard from a long way away. The sound then came back, louder and louder. Honsa had told me Czech drivers are crazy but this was nuts. I went down to the end of the big field to see, maybe there was a race track nearby. The roar came and then faded as the car drove further away. I waited to see if it would return. I was very near the road but a fence prevented me getting onto the road, which was a good job. I could hear the roaring beast coming back, crackling heavily as it changed gears, louder and louder, and then a flash of green and white, a car shot past; it was a rally car. It went a hundred meters up the road, did a handbrake turn in a cloud of dust and flew back down the road at full throttle. I had tried to take my gloves off and get my phone out of my pocket to take a video but it passed too quickly. Anyway, it came back and I got a video of it second time around. I wondered, surely they must have closed the road? I found out later, as I drove out to find a supermarket, the road was closed. The car was probably a Skoda because we are in Czech and the factory is not so far away. I’ve never seen a rally car racing up close and boy! I’d love to see more.

I gave up on the idea of going to the supermarket, as I’m sure Kate would press me to go this road. Instead, I went back and got on Honsa’s scooter to have a ride. He had kindly offered it to me. I had previously gone up the road to the pub to buy an ice cream but it was closed – it closes on a Wednesday. I decided to head to Kokořín, where I had previously seen a place that sold ice cream. It was a delight to ride a two wheeled machine again; I hadn’t ridden a motorcycle since I first left for China over ten years ago – something I had greatly missed. It was wonderful to ride through the beautiful wooded countryside on such a hot day. I got to the ice cream place but it too was closed, and so I went to the hotel restaurant and had a Cola and cream cake. I can’t remember the last time I had a Coca Cola, especially from a glass bottle. It was great.

It was about two when Honsa met me in the field and said it was time for lunch and time for a beer. I welcomed both but only got a cold beer from Honsa’s cellar, no lunch. It was non alcoholic because I would ride his scooter later. It is zero tolerance in Czech regarding drinking alcohol and driving. Not surprising really, considering the amount of alcohol they consume. I don’t know what happened to lunch but I never got it. On my way back from Kokořín, I took a wrong turn and found myself in Mšeno, the town Jana had met me in. I found a small shop which was open; the rest were closed. The shop was owned by a Vietnamese and so no wonder it was open. I bought some packet noodles, some cake, crisps and some candy for the children. When I got back, Honsa and Jana were out; they had taken the kids to see Peter Rabbit at the cinema, a visit I had declined. At seven, I realised that no dinner would be forthcoming and so ate noodles and cake. I will speak to Honsa tomorrow about the food arrangements. In exchange for may labour, they should give me food and accommodation. I don’t need accommodation but I do need food. I haven’t slept in the yurt of my own choosing. In the van I have everything I need.