We’re a bit behind with the blog, again dogged by lack of wifi. The day before yesterday we said goodbye to the Danube. That was genuinely upsetting.
Sorry, Anne, still no map, even though this would be relevant here.
From the number of pictures shown here, you can guess this was an emotionally significant event.
There are 2 canals, on from the 1800s and one from last century. They are mostly flowing next to each other. The old one is no longer fit-for-purpose (sorry Rees Mogg) but pretty and, (sorry Rees Mogg) the new one wide and proud. We were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the surroundings still were and in that sense the loss of the Danube was easily compensated for.
Some interesting info about the canals: they were built to cross the watershed between the area from which water ultimately flows into the North Sea and the area that leads to the Black Sea (see more about this tomorrow). That means it goes up and then down again, and that means there are locks. Loads of them, some very deep. And pumps of course, to get the water back up the hill.
A fellow camper told us another, more juicy, piece of information: a secondary use for the new canal was as a protective shield against the Russians during the Cold War. Since apparently the rivers tend to flow East-West, a waterway that runs North-South would be just the ticket. Explosives were situated along the east bank to enable flooding of a larger area. The explosives have now been removed, hence we are still here.
Yesterday was a rainy day, the sort of day when really what you want to do is sit indoors in an oversized jumper and sip hot coffee (or so). We had kilometres to cover, however, so we packed our soaking wet tent, put on our ponchos and got on our way. Tough going, really. However, there was much to be enjoyed: the countryside was very pretty. No rain can spoil that. And then, after the sun came out, we reached the watershed moment we had been looking forward to.
The place has been marked by an artistic installation: a large granite wall on both sides of the canal.
