Blogs from Olomouc Region, Czech Republic, Europe

I think today I may have been closer to my “breaking” point than I have in quite a while. It’s unfortunate that I’m getting fed up with and frustrated by so many little things now, but I guess that’s a sign that it’s about time for me to go home. I suppose a bit of explanation would be helpful. To start off with, there is a hideously irritating song that one of the Czech students has been playing incessantly for the past few days. It’s absolutely maddening to me and it was played rather loudly directly behind me this morning. I think I’m nearing the point that I don’t even care about it anymore, but really I’ve tried asking him to not play it, turn it down, play something different, anything, but to no avail. ... read more

I got on the bus from Brno and when it stopped in Olomouc, I didn't know where the heck I was. I went up to the infor counter where the lady didn't speak English and asked for Olomouc centrum which she understood :) yay! so with some funky hand gestures (hilarious really) I got the gist of it - go out, turn left, go under the underpass, go up and take tram #4. A little more asking around and I was on the tram in the right direction. The bus station isn't actually all that far from the old town, it's walking distance - probably about 15-20 mins. I got off at the right stop thanks to some maps on the tram and the fact that every town has a town square. I saw the clock ... read more

This past week has found me sampling a slice of Czech life. I arrived in Olomouc on Friday and I spent 5 great days there. The family I stayed with consisted of a sweet old grandfather, mother, father, girl 14, girl 17, baby and my friend Martina so it was a bit crowded. However, I grew to love them all very quicky and most of them except the mom and baby spoke English. Voila! I was able to communicate with the mom using my Italian. Close to their house was a cathedral which was so beautiful! Lining the outside were shops which sold among other things, fireworks! So, you could have had a little fun duirng mass. haha. While I was there, I had the opportunity to attend an outdoor film festival, all in Czech of ... read more

Wow, two nights in Prague went by real quick. Arriving into town from the airport (which only took 20 minutes from the baggage claim - super efficient) I was suddenly greeted by the beauty of that town. The energy and vibe was flowing out of all who were around, smiling faces and loud laughter. That town was built for good times. There are more pub/restaurants serving great czech beers than I could even count. The fun in Prague had to end though, today I ventured onto a train for a trip to Olomouc, supposedly the other historic capital in Czech Rep. More of a student town, with very few tourists, haven't even seen a postcard yet. Time though to find a place to put the sore feet up and have a meel. Quick touring tomorrow before ... read more

holy moly i've been putting this off! first in a week? what are you doing man! well, it serves me right that i come to type this on the most confusing keyboard yet, so we'll see how far we get. not too far i would guess! so yes, as the bit at the side of this entry will inform you, i am currently in olomouc, czech republic. also, as anyone who has been bombarded with texts will also tell you, its pretty dang awesome. i wouldnt say its as good as slovenia, but it's miles above everywhere else. its just so relaxed here, so easy, i wake up and the only thing i think is 'where shall i walk today?'. thats a pretty cool position to be in truth be told. my only worry is what ... read more

So, 23 days since my last update? What have I been up to...? While a short question deserves a short answer, so does having to pay for internet. But I doubt that will happen. I left Znojmo on October 10th and made a very long and tiring journey to the student town of Olomouc (ollo-moats) via Brno with the expectation to be staying only three or four nights and a plan inmind to head to Kraków in Poland, having heard heaps of great things about it, before heading back to Prague and the North. Nope. I ended up staying a whole week. Olomouc is great. So great that if I hadn't already been to Melbourne it would be in my top two favorite and most likely places to live. It has that big city feel without ... read more

Groeten uit Olomouc, in het oosten van Tsjechië! Deel 2 van mijn reis door Oost-Europa is begonnen :) Zondag ben ik vertrokken uit Nederland, eind van de middag uit Groningen om in Arnhem op de nachttrein naar Praag te stappen. Yep, tijdens de EK-finale reed ik dwars door Duitsland :) Ik begrijp dat ze van Spanje hebben verloren... Maandagochtend met een ruime vertraging aangekomen in Praag, waar ik nog anderhalf uur of zo moest wachten op mijn volgende trein, een intercity naar Olomouc. Volgens de Lonely Planet heeft deze stad ongeveer alles wat Praag ook heeft behalve de enorme hoeveelheid toeristen: mooie gebouwen, kerken, een astronomische klok, grote stadspleinen. Dat klopt wel ongeveer :) Gistermiddag en vandaag van alles gezien en relaxed door de stad gelopen. Inderdaad, mooie kerken, de klok op het stadhuis die om ... read more

Once back on the more normal tourist trail, we spent a couple of days eating in Olomouc and then the better part of a week eating, sleeping, and drinking in Prague. We tried to offset the aforementioned activities by high intensity sightseeing activities (climbing church towers and the like). Unfortunately the beautiful narrow, disorienting Old Town streets of the two cities cleverly hide a plethora of cool little bars & restaurants, and it was difficult to build up enough momentum between stops to burn off the previous meal. It was probably Asia & my last week together before we fly to NZ in December, and while we did stuff like think about going to concerts, museums, and exhibitions - mostly we just relaxed. There’s plenty of Prague photos on my old blog, all the ones here ... read more