Do You Speak Czech?

After Budapest, we went to Brno in the Czech Republic. This is the second largest city in the country and is quite charming. The inner city is cobble stone streets flanked by old buildings and spectacular cathedrals. Arriving at a new city is always a little hectic. Brno caused a higher stress level for me than Budapest. The train station was all in Czech...no English or German. When we finally found information, the people working there only spoke Czech. We found this to be a pretty common theme throughout the city. We finally found someone who in broken German was able to tell us our hotel was only a block away. Our hotel is again in prime location in the middle of the city. Everything is literally within a short walk. Luckily, the receptionist spoke English. She was a young woman who told us our accents were fantastic and that we spoke like all the movie stars. She explained that the only American accents she hears are from films. This was the first time someone has complimented my accent. She was very helpful in explaining the layout of the city and telling us some fun places to visit. Our hotel (only 10 Euros a night) was two rooms that could sleep six sharing one bathroom. We lucked out and had two rooms for just the three of us. After sharing a hostel room for 8 for the past three nights, this was a nice change.

Parnassus Fountain

Exploring the city, we found a pub that served traditional food. Pork medallions in a sweet plum sauce is a speciality here and it was very tasty and very cheap. The Czech Republic is not part of the EU and therefore they do not use the Euro. Instead, they use a crown. One Euro is worth 28 crowns. All the museums and places we wanted to visit were closed for the day, so we just wandered around after dinner. We stumbled into the main square and found what is called the Cabbage Market. This is the location where farmers would gather to sell their wares. It still is a farmer's market today. The main fountain, Parnassus Fountain, in the middle is gorgeous and this was where live fish used to be sold from.

Later that night we found a pub and stopped in for a few drinks. Czech is famous for it's beer which costs 25 crowns for a half liter. A very good deal! I am not a beer drinker, but I actually liked the taste of what I tried. It was very light and had a sweeter aftertaste. Hannah, a beer conosur, believes the darker the better and she too was very happy with her beer choices. So there was something for everyone. Afterwards, we went to a dance club. This place played the best music. All classics in the US. They even played Katy Perry's California Girls and Lady GaGa. We had a lot of fun dancing and trying to talk to people.


Yum!

Wednesday morning we got up and headed out to find a place for breakfast. Unlike our last hostel, our hotel did not include breakfast. Breakfast in Europe is not the same thing as breakfast in the US. Crepes and pastries are offered as well as fruit and cheese plates. When ordering toast, don't forget to order butter as well for it is not included. There are no eggs or bacon, no oatmeal or hash browns. So finding a place open was difficult. Most cafes don't open until 11. Brno is not a huge tourist destination so the menus were only in Czech, which is nothing like German or English. We had to rely on the pictures. I thought I had ordered a fruit and muesli bowl with yogurt. What I actually ordered was fruit with sorbet. I'm not complaining! It was delicious, I just wasn't expecting ice cream for breakfast.

Next we headed to Spilberk Castle which was founded in the 13th century. It was converted into a citadel during the 17th century and political prisoners were imprisoned there. The case mates were converted into cells which were later used during WWII by the Nazis to hold Czech prisoners. The castle was not exactly beautiful, but very study and structurally sound. Since it was built so early and later used as a prison, it was never spruced up. There was not need for the flash and flair of other castles. The castle now houses the Brno City Museum. We learned about the history of the city and about all the people imprisoned there. Many famous writers and artists were imprisoned for a time, as well as nobility. Anyone seen as an enemy to the state. Once again the English translations were comical at times. There were also displays of Czech art and a whole section devoted to architecture in Brno from 1919-1939. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I did peruse it so I could report back to Dad. (I don't want to disappoint my father the architect :) ) The case mates is now the Museum of Prison Life. It was very interesting to see where prisoners were housed. There was a section on torture and another on how the Nazis used the building during the war. The case mates were very cold and dark being built underground. Prisoners were crammed in and kept in awful conditions. 



Spilburk Castle

 

For Dad

 

What will happen to Elizabeth if she ticks us off

Abby of St. Thomas

Our next destination was waited for with great impatience and anticipation on my part. Brno is home of the Abby of St. Thomas, which doesn't sound like a big deal to most. But those of you who know your science history are probably already bouncing with joy. (I know the phrase is typically jumping for joy, but I assume most of you are reading this sitting down and therefore bouncing is more probable) The Abby of St. Thomas was were Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics, conducted his research while working as an abbot. The Abby now contains the Gregor Mendel Museum!  I was able to see his greenhouse where he grew all his peas and his beehives!  The museum was full of all his personal things.  I loved it!  It was a science nerds paradise!  Once I got my fill of all things genetics, we found a place for dinner.  We made our night a little more exciting by switching restaurants for before dinner drinks, dinner, and then desert.  This gave us the opportunity to wander the city and make sure we could try a little bit of everything.  

The next day, our train for Prague left at one, so we had the morning to get one more place in.  We went to the Capuchin Monastery.  This monastery has a very unique crypt.  Bodies were placed in this crypt as is.  They were not embalmed or mummified.  Rather they were allowed to decay naturally in the dry air underground.  The best part was that we actually got to see all these bodies!  They were in glass coffins really well preserved.  They had fingernails and teeth still intact.  One even still had an ear!  It was so awesome!  It was definitely one of my favorite visits!  After the crypt, we grabbed some lunch and got on our train.  Now, off to Prague!   



Dead Baron



Dead Friars!  How Cool!