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Brno and mysterious Olomouc – weekend break in Czech Republic

Gosia — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 14:11:03 +0000

I visited Brno and Olomouc in one day. I have a special sentiment for these cities because I visited them during my first solo trip 😉 My sightseeing plan was quite intensive. On Friday after work I got on Lux Express bus, which on Saturday morning brought me to Brno. In Brno I had a quick coffee and switched to a bus going to Olomouc. For 230 CZK, in an hour I found myself in this tourist-forgotten city. When I got there and saw the Olomouc train station, I thought time actually stopped there. However, when you go a little further from the station you can see a completely different reality. Walking down the empty streets, I was most surprised by the lack of tourists. However, after a while I realized that Olomouc was on the list of 50 most beautiful unknown cities in Europe according to Lonely Planet. Surprisingly, the second largest historic urban area, just after Prague is located in Olomouc. The old town of Olomouc is indeed quite extensive and consists of two squares – Upper and Lower. The most important monument of the city is richly decorated Holy Trinity Column, reaching over thirty meters. It was built in the first half of the 18th century as a thanksgiving for the recovery from the plague epidemic. The column is the largest sculpture in the Czech Republic and surprises with the amount of details Olomouc is also famous for the turtle figures, located right next to the column. They’re mysterious creatures because nobody knows the reason why they reside in the main square. Moreover, not only Prague can be proud of the famous astronomical clock – orloj. The clock in Olomouc has a unique, socialist character because instead of religious figurines it presents workers. So forget that at noon you will see angels’ figurines here, Olomouc orloj tells the time only shock workers! Olomouc is also a city of baroque fountains. We can see here: Hercules, Julius Caesar or Neptune one. There’s also no shortage of surprising murals. One of the most interesting can be seen on Denisova street. Presenting King Edward VII, who holds a selfie stick instead of a scepter. Not so far from the mural, you can visit Saint Wenceslas Cathedral, one of the highest sacred buildings in the Czech Republic. You can see the organs which were used by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. However, the biggest attraction of Olomouc is walking through the charming streets of the old town. Brno meanwhile, welcomed me with a relaxed, student atmosphere. The second largest city in the Czech Republic is an important scientific and cultural centre. It’s best to start visiting Brno by seeing the city from a slightly higher perspective. I recommend two hills. The first one – Petrov, where the famous St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral is located. There’s an interesting view point for the city. Don’t miss Denis’s Gardens, located right under the cathedral, it’s one of the most beautiful parks in the city. The second place is the hill where the Špilberk Castle is located. In the times of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there was one of the toughest prisons in the country where political prisoners were held. Currently you can admire here the panorama of Brno, with St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral in the background. It’s worth visiting Zelný trh – the Cabbage Market. In the morning, the square is filled with colorful stlls offering various vegetables, fruit, spices and local products. Right next to it is the Old Town Hall – Stará Radnica. Remember to go through the passage, there you can see the two Brno’s symbols – a dragon which resembles a crocodile and a wooden wheel. Being in Brno, it’s also worth to get lost in a maze of paved streets and secret passages. You can then see a lot of interesting details that create a unique character of the city. The best place to relax after intensive sighting is Freedom Square – the main meeting point. At the central point of the square, there’s a characteristic black clock that resembles… of course I mean a bullet, what else? 😉 The bullet is a symbol of the city’s defense against Swedes during the Thirty Years’ War. More interestingly, this clock strikes at 11 am. instead of noon. This is related to a legend, according to which, during several-month siege of Brno in the mid-17th century, Swedes decided that if they fail to conquer the city before noon, they will stop attacking. Having known this the city’s defenders, struck the bells of St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral at 11.00, thus interrupting the Swedish siege. Freedom Square is an excellent place to try famous dumplings and drink local beer – Starobrno.

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Dublin – city in the green island, flowing black Guiness…

Gosia — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 02:14:18 +0000

Dublin like the whole Ireland, surprises by its diversity. There are certainly more Polish people than citizens speaking in native Gaelic language. In this city we can experience every possible atmospheric phenomena in one hour. Dublin isn’t only a city of economic wonders but it’s also the place where tradition merges with modernity. Dublin Castle and Christ Church Cathedral are the oldest buildings in Dublin. But the most famous building is the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. The most surprising is the fact that St. Patrick who is mainly associated with dancing and beer didn’t like this alcohol and to make matters worse he wasn’t even Irish. He had been held captive in Ireland and after a short episode of escape he decided to come back to the green island where he spent the rest of his life on missionary work. The symbol of the Ireland is the clover which is connected with St. Patrick. He used this plant to explain local people what is the Trinity. It’s well worth seeing the Trinity College. It was established by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592. Among a lot of famous people who studied here, we can list: Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde. In the library you can find beautifully decorated manuscript – Book of Kells which was written in 800. There’s beautiful boulevard, close to the Trinity College, on the Liffey River. Here you can admire modern buildings with Samuel Beckett’s Bridge and Convention Center. There’s also the monument which was built in the memory of thousands casualties of the Great Hunger. It was caused by a mushroom strain which damaged potato crops – the main Irish staple. Between 1845 – 1849 the population of the Ireland decreased by 20% and resulted in great emigration mainly to the United States. The biggest monument is The Spire of Dublin, called also the Monument of Light, which is located at the O’Connell street in the city center. With the height of 120m it’s one of the biggest sculptures in the world. The Spire is the symbol of 21st century. It was built in the place of former monument – Nelson’s Pillar which was destroyed by IRA attack in 1966. Obligatory point is also Guinness Storehouse – the place of the production the most famous Irish alcohol. In this building we can learn about history of this beer which has been producing there for 250 years. In famous bar called “Gravity” which is located on the top of the factory, we can feel this history on our palates and admire Dublin panorama. Guinness factory is one of these places, which are worth visiting in Dublin. It’s not only the place of the beer production but also it is inseparable part of the history and identity of the city. This Brand became famous, not only in view of stout beer production, but also on the editorial ground. „Guinness Record Book”, has come a long way from the secondary book to widely recognized publication. Obviously Guinness tastes the best in a real Irish pub. During our trips I like observing people and their habits. These are elements which determine the uniqueness of the place, its culture and people who live there. Every visited country has had different so called “drinking culture”. Irish variation reflects people’s way of life which can be seen in their optimism and openness. In this so called “round system”, newly met pub friends buy each other beer. The popular Irish saying is derived from this tradition. It is said that: “it’s impossible for two men to go to a pub for a one drink” Pub crawling is widely practiced at St. Stephen’s Green and Grafton Street, with the most famous Temple Bar, located at the street of the same name. Also Irish cuisine deserves attention. Its main ingredient are potatoes which are prepared in various ways. Very popular dish is also “fish and chips”, which is served with vinegar. To my mind Guinness tastes the best with Irish stew. Ireland is famous for whiskey production. This 40% alcohol is made from: barley, wheat, oats and rye and in contrast to Scottish whisky it is distilled three times. Name whiskey is used solely in relation to alcohol produced in Ireland and USA. On the basis of whiskey, they produce another popular Irish alcohol – Baileys Irish Cream and Irish Coffe which consists of this alcohol, coffee and wiped cream. There’re a lot of “Dublins” in the Word, especially in Irish enclaves in United States and Australia. Nevertheless only one Dublin with its diversity, capricious weather and wonderful, outgoing people, is unique. ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]

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Vietnamese alcohol…

Gosia — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 01:50:38 +0000

Vietnamese beer is connected with colonial times. Then the first brewery was established in Hanoi. Its products were intended for wealthy elite. Before the beer was introduced to Vietnamese bars people had drunk mainly rice wine, which was popular till 1960’s. During the American War, its production was banned in view of depleted rice production. From that time beer was getting more and more popular. Additionally close cooperation with Czech Socialist Republic (which was the part of USSR) popularize traditional brewing methods. Vietnamese beer – Bia hoi is brewed every evening, matures through the night and it’s delivered to nearby bars in the morning. Unpasteurized beer without any preservatives is drinkable only for one day. It consists of hops, malt and rice which gives it light and transparent consistency. This beer is sometimes tasty, sometimes not… but always and everywhere Bia hoi is cheap! It’s one of the cheapest beer in the world. It price depends on location, but on average it costs 3 000 – 5 000 dong (VND), which means that for one glass you will pay 0,15 -0,25 USD! This beer is the most popular in Hanoi where in so called Bia Hoi corner, located in the Old Hanoi District. There sitting shoulder to shoulder you can savor this famous beverage from cursorily rinsed in the bucket glasses. What is more Bia hoi it’s not only a beer, it’s also the quintessence of Vietnamese way of life and interesting social/culture experience. After a few glasses, language barriers don’t matter in an animated discussion. All of this takes place in the very center of lively Hanoi. Traffic chaos or haggling street vendors give a countless amount of attractions. Drowning sorrows there is impossible for sure! So bottoms up and chúc sức khỏe! Another popular Vietnamese alcohol is a snake wine called Ruou thuoc. The main ingredient of this special liquor is a snake dipped in rice wine or vodka. This alcohol is connected with traditional Chinese medicine, which used it in pain management and rheumatism. It’s also a valued aphrodisiac in Vietnam… Snake wine should consists of venomous snakes but in practice it’s made from innocuous species, birds, insects and herbs. Fortunately alcohol denatures proteins and makes snake venom harmless to health. Another way of serving this tipple is based on fresh snake blood and alcohol. Snake blood is seeped to the glass before clients eyes. During our stay in Vietnam we had opportunity to taste first, lighter option of snake wine. Taste was interesting… we can say that it was similar to cognac but its health benefits are questionable because we had only headache. There are more than 100 types of Ruou thuoc in Vietnam, unfortunately some of them are made of endangered species. ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]

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