Brno Day 1

We thought we were so prepared for this journey from Olomouc to Brno. We were at the Olomouc main train station, hlavi nadrazi (means main train station in Czech) yesterday, and took bus number 364 back to accommodation. So this morning, just cross the road and repeat. Nope. The travel goblins were up to their mischief again. Overnight, they changed the name hlavi nadrazi to something else. So when we got into the bus and looked at the fancy electronic board in the bus that lists all the stops, hlavi nadrazi was not to be seen. We did not have time to be on the wrong bus! We had to catch our bus to Brno. Grace walked to the front of the bus to speak to the driver who spoke no English, I stayed with our bags in the middle of the bus. Then the old ladies on the bus started to get all excited and had a very loud discussion of our plight, shouting from one end of the bus to the other. The 2 old ladies sitting in front of where I was standing told me in Czech what I was to do. All I heard was blahblah blahblah hlavi nadrazi, shaking of head, blahblah blahblah hlavi nadrazi, more shaking of head and much gesticulation. Fortunately, hlavi nadrazi was not far from our accommodation, I recognised the approach, and so did Grace and she started walking towards me. The old ladies just about shoved us out the bus with much hlavi nadrazi-ing. In all our travels around Czech Republic, the main train station was name-of-town hlavi nadrazi. How did that change for Olomouc overnight? Who was to know that same bus number, called one name one way one afternoon, changed name in another direction the next morning.

Fortunately, check in at Brno was uneventful. We have a tiny little apartment here. Grace remarked she could reach most things from standing in the middle of the room. We explored soon after arrival as Grace was hungry. We went to the Cabbage Market for lunch as there was a much acclaimed hot dog van there. We were not disappointed. On the way, we stopped at the Visitor Information. When we were walking around Olomouc yesterday, we google translated a blackboard menu outside an eatery. It translated to ..... pepper..... doll. Unfortunately, we were not able to go there for lunch, and by the time dinner came, the doll special disappeared from their board. We asked the lady at the information desk about this dish of doll, and apparently, the Czech word for doll is also the word for pork tenderloin. One mystery solved.

We walked up to the Spilberk Castle as it was supposed to be open, which it was. However, only the grounds were opened. Entry to the castle, except for the infamous Spilberk Prison and Armoury of which we were too sqimish to visit. We walked around the grounds and marveled at the battlements and formidable double walls.

Dinner was at a Chinese eatery as Grace had enough rich heavy czech food.

Distance walked 13kmRead more