Bohemia Orienteering 05. – 09. 08. 2015

This is story of Marja’s and Jukka’s road trip of summer 2015. This time it was a bit hard to figure out the goal of the trip. Luckily we came across with the web page collecting all the European orienteering competitions: http://cal.worldofo.com/ .

Due to our close relationship with Czech Republic, we ended up to enroll into Bohemia Orienteering: http://ok-bor.cz/bohemia2015/en/

Our way there was a bit more complicated, let’s start from the beginning…

As the cheap airline Ryanair operates from our home town Tampere, we decided to pick up whatever destination we could find the tickets with reasonable price. Bergamo in Italy is very beautiful town next to Milan.

So, off we go, on 29th July our friend takes us to Tampere-Pirkkala airport. Tip! Fly from Tampere to keep our airport alive! In Bergamo, we had Fiat 500 waiting for us. It was the cheapest car available, but did the trick. We could fit in perfectly with our luggage. We stayed the first night in the town itself in order to meet friend Michele. We went up to Citta Alta (old town) and found a food festival in a park. There was plenty to eat and cool atmosphere. TIP! To survive the Italian food, eat slowly!

The next morning Marja had some problems with start-up, too much of Limoncello last night (but that’s the crucial part!). We drove to Turin, where we stayed at Nicky’s lovely place. Turin is definiately worth to visit! Beautiful old buildings, easy to orientate and lots of shopping. With the food it’s always a bit hard, how to find a place which is not too touristic, but genuine Italian.

On our third day, we drove to Switzerland. First from Turin to Aosta. It was such a pretty little village, we highly recommend to visit! On our way there were many castles, and we visited one, Fenis. The guided tour was only in Italian, so we paid attention for example on checking the height of the chimneys. TIP! In Aosta we found a lovely restaurant for lunch http://www.la-dolce-vite.com/home.html If you like wine, this is the place to be!

From Aosta, there are two options to cross to Switzerland, either through Great St Bernard Pass or the tunnel Mt. Blanc. Besides that the tunnel costs 44,20 euros to go through, the road in the mountains was far more attempting. After the Pass, we needed to find accommodation. TIP! The Vignette to enter the high ways in Switzerland costs about 40 euros (valid one the whole calendar year), so think if you really need to go there.

We found accommodation in La Tzoumaz (http://www.latzoumaz.ch/), which was a small (and silent) village, obviously full during the winter season. TIP! The Swiss are careful with the money, so be prepared that whatever thing still functions, it’s still in use (like the CRT-TV’s, the furniture from 70’s…). It’s not any problem, but just hilarious.

Our fourth day we noticed that we would actually rather be in Italy. We talked to the restaurant owners of our hotel, and they adviced us the nicest things to still see and do and how to drive to Italy. The villages which are ski resorts are really expensive and classy. If you are not interested in higl level shopping, it’s not really worth to visit. We anyway wanted to go up to the glacier, and in Fiesch, there is an access to the view point, Eggishorn. More information: https://www.aletscharena.ch/en/ Unfortunately it was really cloudy, and we didn’t see much. The visit was anyway worth and the funicular taking up was scary enough!

On our way towards east we came up with hanging bridge in Bellwald! That surprised us, it was even for free to enter! Down in the valley there was a stream, and it was all in all pretty scary place! Marja was about to drop from the bridge once an unknown grandmother suddenly made some ”boo” to her while she was holding the fence of the brigde.

We crossed the Alps back to Italy through Nufenen Pass. There we found snow, our favourite element! As it was the holiday season, the hotels were quite booked, but we found a really nice place nearby Lago di Como, in Brunate. TIP! When making the road trip, you never know when you will end up in the evening. Don’t book too much beforehand, you always find accommodation on the road.

In Brunate, we went in the morning to run. It was hard after all sitting and drinking beer. It’s anyway always good to have the running shoes along, it’s easy to access the places and sightseeing spots, you are much faster than just by walking.

We decided to relax the rest of our trip in Italy, and head to the east coast, to Lido di Jesolo, where we stayed two nights. On our way we stopped by (in the end for five hours) in a outlet village near Brescia called Franciacorta (http://www.franciacortaoutlet.it/en/home). TIP! This outlet village was full of Italians, and we felt it was even cheaper than another village we have visited ( http://www.mcarthurglen.com/it/noventa-di-piave-designer-outlet/en/ ).

Jukka found the shop of his ski “sponsor”, Salomon.

In Lido di Jesolo the world was again very different. It’s a paradise for families with children and has a beach of 13 km! And we did enjoy! We got the bikes from our hotel, and went to see the big beach volley ball field (one of the sports Jukka can play well). Then we just rent the chairs and an umbrella (10-15 euros per day) and showed our white fat to all the tourists. We thought that Lido di Jesolo was anyway more “normal” Italian town with a big beach, different from ie Rimini, which is all touristic.

After having a grappa-drink (terrible, sorry), our journey in Italy was behind, and we flew to Prague. TIP! The one way flights are cheap only with the certain airlines, such as Wizzair, Ryanair and Norwegian. For example with Finnair is basically the same price with one way or with return flight.

In Vaclav Havel airport we took the Opel Adam-car. We drove right away to Mladá Boleslav to visit Skoda factory and museum. For the factory, you must book the tour beforehand, and also the opening hours of the museum are limited (not in the evening). The museum cost only less than three euros and it was definitely worth to visit! Besides the cars, there was plenty of information about the lifestyle Skoda has brought along.

Finally, we will reach the competition information center in Hamr na Jezeře. The road was small, but the scenery beautiful. We got our information package, and visited the camp site where the orienteering people (what is the noun for a person who is doing orienteering?) stayed over. We stayed in a guest house about 20 km from the competition center (in Kryštofovo Údolí). The hotel was held by a Dutch couple, and was perfect to stay over! TIP! Recommended accommodation: http://www.pensionrokytka.eu/?lang=2

To survive the next day competition, we of course took some beer in a local pub in Kryštofovo Údolí. In the village there actually wasn’t too much else but the pub.

At the competition center everything worked like back in Finland. Few differences there were. The competitors left to the forest with timing which didn’t have any pattern (at least what we think). Not like in Finland, every minute one person of each series. So, there might be two hours between the first and last in the forest among the same class. At least you didn’t freak out from the people in the forest if you have caught up somebody or if you have been caught yourself! Also, you got the map one minute before the start. You have time to put it to the plastic cover if you wish. And the most important difference! There is a restaurant with beer in the finish! What could be better after running in the heat (it was really hot)! We were happy with our results. The running was more like two elephants on the move, but at least we passed the whole race!

After the track there was a chance for a shower, but we didn’t try, instead we went to the camp site Hamr na Jezere and “washed” ourselves in a lake.

The next night we stayed at our friend’s place in Desna, at the Czech mountains. We got to sleep in a tent, and was afraid to go out in the night to pee, the hedgehog was haunting our blood.

The last night we stayed in Prague and had two days to spent time with friends. TIP! The Vietnamese nail shops are nice to relax and have pedicure or manicure with cheap price. This time Jukka used a barber on the street!

All in all, not too much about the competition itself (one day of our ten day trip), but it’s always nice to have the goal to travel, even a small one. Bohemia orienteering was a nice and well organized event and next time we hope to take part all five days.

Life is made of small moments like these!