Day 11 - 42.5 miles (66.6km)

Melnic to Prague
Woke up early to a cloudless sky. A cold night though so tents soaked with condensation and dew. Packed our tents away for the last time this trip as we are both looking forward to a bed in the Downtown Hotel in the centre of Prague.
Set off at 8am exactly, bought breakfast at the local supermarket and decided to get down to the river before eating. Melnik wasn't the easiest place to navigate when we arrived yesterday and this morning proved just as troublesome. Eventually got down to the river but could find no route signs. Did this deter us? No way - just looked at the map and took alternative route to try meet up with proper route 3km down the road. Stopped at Euro Velo route 7 board 'The Sun Route' (North Cape to Malta) and had breakfast at exactly -
50°19'12.988"N  14°26'59.170"E
Unfortunately the above sign was the last cycle route sign we saw for the next 35 miles. We assume they must have built a new one but we managed  to avoid it for the rest of the journey. We faithfully followed the route as depicted in our book. Unfortunately all signage as well as most tarmac had been removed. We doggedly overcame all obstacles including - the five flights of open metal steps to cross the river via an oil pipeline (we actually decided to cross at the next ferry), the non-existant next ferry, the dead end road with scramble up bank to dual carriageway, narrowly avoiding joining the motorway, too many to mention rough tracks, cobbles that had been dumped and laid by JCB, 4km steep hill until we finally sighted Prague. After some initial confusion we found a decent cycle path that led us into the heart of the old city and to our accommodation for the night.
Despite utter exhaustion we showered and shot out to engage with more cultural highlights. The
Church of Our Lady of Tyn, the Alfonse Mucha exhibition, the Old Town Hall with the astronomical clock. Then by underground to Malostranska where we visited the Old Royal Palace and St Vitus Cathedral. We finished with a fabulous view over the city before sampling typical Prague goulash and dumplings washed down with local ale. If we wake up tomorrow Derek has many more delights lined up.