(visited by Mark Pautz and Debra Childs)

11-Feb-2001 -- Débra and I returned from South Africa disappointed that we had not had the opportunity to hunt down a confluence during our two weeks in the sun. Nevertheless, back in the frozen north we decided to inject a bit of excitement into our lives and on our first weekend back headed east from Prague to find N50 E015.

The route took us in the direction of Kolin and Kutna Hora on national road 12 and the confluence of N50 and E015 was exactly 42.1 km from our front door in the superb of Holesovice in Prague. An easy Sunday afternoon drive.

The sun was out and it was a fine late winter�s afternoon - the temperature was below freezing, about -2°C. What we were heading for was the town of Kouřim (the "R" in the name has a "hacek" accent on it, which means that the name is pronounced "Koor-zjim") in what I believe is called the Stredocesky (pronounced "St-rzedo-chess-key") region.

Compared to our first confluence (N50 E014) finding the confluence was relatively easy, and it was superbly accessible, namely about 200 metres from the country road in a lightly ploughed field. With its light cover crop, it looked quite easy to walk to the confluence, but on entering the field, we encountered some of the most sticky clay imaginable! By the time we eventually found the confluence, our newly acquired mud-platform-heels had added 10 centimetres to our height!!

Just a few metres from where we marked the confluence, was a yellow stake in the ground - obviously the official marker beacon for N50 E015. I believed my Garmin GPS-III, and erected my tripod over the device which I had placed on the magical spot. I shot a number of pictures there, including a 360 degree panorama that I stitched together with Panorama Factory.

I was getting really cold out in the field, so we headed back to the car where we spent at least 20 minutes cleaning the mud from our boots before driving back to Kouřim just a couple of kilometres away. The village was founded in the year 1260 and the gothic parish church in the latter half of the 13th century. The old town square was quiet and beautiful, and I shot off a few dozen pictures. It is a place I would like to return to in the future to document more thoroughly.

A pleasant day in the country, and an easy second confluence!

In picture #4, there is a difference of opinion! Mark Pautz at the yellow stake in the ground marking the official position of N50 E105. The tripod on the left of the picture is rigged over the spot shown to be the confluence on my GPS.