Brno 1. Part
Because of work and college commitments for some time we hadn’t been on a long, much less a foreign journey. This is precisely why this short holiday came at the perfect time. Our friends invited us to visit them in the Czech Republic and this seemed like the ideal opportunity for this visit to finally happen. We agreed on the details in no time and that was it, we’re going to Brno! We left the planning to our friends, since they know better than us what we should see. In fact, the most planning time we dedicated to choosing the means of transport. Of course, the biggest wish was to travel by motorcycles. However, we gave up on that because we concluded that for me as a less experienced driver it would be better to gain a little more experience in Croatia, on a familiar terrain, and then go on a trip like this. Who knows, maybe already next year. Not maybe, but definitely.
The choice was either a car or a bus. We travel a lot with the car and it has been a faithful companion since the beginning of the whole project, but we still decided to let it get some rest and travel by bus. We gave up on some well-known European bus companies because they are not so cheap as advertised (Flixbus). We chose our already familiar Croatia Bus.
The choice was excellent. We traveled overnight and it was a direct line from Zagreb to Brno. We arrived about half past nine in the morning on the bus station. Our hosts have been waiting for us. We left our baggage in the car and immediately went on a tour of this city, the second largest in the Czech Rep.
Brno is a big city and the most important center of South Moravia. It has a really long and interesting history that we learned a lot about during this visit. I don’t think there’s any point in copying Wikipedia information here, so let’s get to the concrete details.
After the arrival, the plan was intense. However, the first thing-food. After a quick breakfast at the café near the Reduta theatre (I can remember the name), we went on a tour of the theatre. Our friend works in the aforementioned theatre, so we got a sort of VIP tour. I have to admit, I was thrilled. We’ve seen almost everything in the theatre, from wardrobe to spaces above, below and next to the stage. Here we cannot ignore the wikidata-this is the oldest theatre building in Central Europe, and it is a part of the National Theatre in Brno. It is located on the Zelny Trhu. It’s actually a square which operates as a marketplace during the day, so it carries that name. It translates as a green square or something like that.
After the theatre, which I liked more than I thought I’d like it, we visited the famous Brno underworld. Many, not to say most people, do not know that under the pavement they walk on there are the mysterious underground corridors. On your (and our) grief, the story of the corridors themselves is not terrible and creepy, but even a bit-logical. Namely, we are talking about underground areas that functioned as celars in the last few decades. The inhabitants were storing beer, wine, groceries and other things that couldn’t be in the warm. The whole story is particularly interesting because the underground is arranged just as it used to be, so you can really enjoy the history of this town.
We visited several other famous places in Brno. There’s a so-called Stará Radnica, whose tower offers an incredible view of this beautiful city, but I would emphasize a little creepy part of the underworld – the Ossuary of St. James. It is the second largest ossuary in Europe, and it was made in a really interesting way, because the lack of space. Before the ossuary there was a normal cemetery. However, the cemetery proved to be redundant, so it was demolished so that houses could be built. All the remains were buried in the ossuary, which was re-discovered in 2001. Today, the remains in the ossuary are no longer forgotten. Any visitor to Brno can see them, and in a way pay tribute to a large number of people, buried here practically without a name.
We’re not going to get too caught up in the bizarre, not to say sad, so after this, we continue on. After this truly special experience one can easily get hungry and thirsty, so we went for lunch tothe famous restaurant Pegas. It’s a restaurant where they produce their own beer and offer traditional Czech specialties. Of course, we couldn’t resist them, so we ate Goulash, Svíčkova na smetaně and Moravský Vrabec. I strongly advise you to Google the recipes!
Now we were already tired, so we went to go visit friends, have a beer at the local pub, and to rest. The second day of our stay was also very interesting and rich, so be sure to follow up!