Brno

Its nickname is "Moravian Manchester". It is the second largest city in Czech Republic and it was dead the day we arrived.. I don't know if someone warned them we were coming but hopefully it was due to it being a Czech public holiday. This first day was largely taken up on the search for a chocolate crepe. They seem to like crepes here in Czech and as I do not share the obsession with Nutella with the rest of Europe, I dragged Stuart around the streets until we found actual chocolate.

On the second day we did our first "free" walking tour here. Where you basically tip what you feel like. Definitely helped to add interest to the city and we learnt quite a lot about it and Czech humour. We saw a statue of two people fornicating on the side of a church, a huge horse that when you stand under it and look up it looks like a giant penis and their modernist astronomical clock which is shaped like a bullet but people think that it looks - again - like a giant...

In Brno they ring the noon day bell at 11am and have done since 1645. The weary Swedish were close to conquering the city but agreed that if they had not done so by 12pm then they would leave and not return.. the sneaky Moravian Mancunians therefore decided to ring the bell at the Cathedral of St Peter and Paul an hour early at which point the Swedes promptly left and the city was saved.

On the tour we met a lovely Finnish girl called Hanna, who was in Brno for a Bachelorette party. We ended up having lunch together and visiting a crypt under the Capuchin Monastry with Hanna. We also enjoyed a free Birdseye view of the city which we had learnt about on the tour.

In the evening we headed to the coolest bar called Super Panda Circus. It is found behind a curtained doorway and you must ring the doorbell to be let in. You are then met by a doorman who explains how the bar works, shows you to a seat and brings a display of random items on sticks. You choose your drink by instinct (but you can see how much you are paying and the alcohol content!!).

The drinks themselves were like works of art. Mine came accompanied by a lime and coriander ice lolly.. Hanna's had a marshmallow and an ice block branded with the bar's logo.. Stuart's came accompanied with a dish of enoki mushrooms.. All of this in a completely non-pretentious atmosphere. The bartenders were really friendly and the doorman didn't bat an eyelid at us in trainers and rainmacs. To top it all off the prices were half of what you'd pay at home. I would say this place is reason enough to stop over in Brno, and I don't even like cocktails!Read more