Znojmo

Twee and I have been on many adventures, especially in Bohemia, or the western part of the Czech Republic, where both of us live. Therefore, we decided to venture over to Moravia, or the eastern part, which is known as the wine region last month. Another Fulbright Scholar lives in a town called Znojmo, so we picked that as our destination, however, Mariel was off on her own travels at the time of our visit.

We had a pension, or low-key bed and breakfast, picked out prior to our arrival, but we were unable to make a reservation online in advance. We decided that was perfectly fine because it was still early in the tourist season. We would just wing it once we got to Znojmo. Well, low and behold, the place we picked was all booked with students from a school trip for the weekend. We were bummed, especially because it was one of the cheapest places in town, but the owner was amazing!

Some things to note here:

His accommodation was booked, but he made sure we had a place to stay by calling his friend who owned a nearby pension and inquiring about a free room. In my opinion, Czechs are never bothered by inconvenience. They are selfless and help others without question and at a moments notice.

He asked us to get in his car so he could drive us to the other pension, and without hesitation we simply got inside. Never in my life would I do this in the U.S., particularly New York. Big cities everywhere are a potential danger zone, however, these small towns in the Czech Republic are quite safe. People literally just want to help you out with no ulterior motives.

He knew there was a language barrier, and translated and asked/answered all of our questions for us with the other owner, who didn't speak English. We even got the room for the same price as his pension!

After unpacking a few things, we set off to wander around and explore all that Znojmo had to offer. We first came across Masaryk Square, which had a lovely monument in its center. This type of monument is very popular in many towns, as it signifies human strength and defeat over the Bubonic Plague, or Black Death, that destroyed much of the European population throughout the 14th century.

Twee loves to jump in pictures.. 

Since it was a Saturday morning, there was a farmer's market happening in town. We didn't buy anything, but it's always fun to look around and browse at the selection of goods.

After visiting the tourist information center, we decided to take a tour of Znojmo's underground.

Underground Entrance

We wound up taking Tour 1, which discussed the previous uses of the underground, such as for storing wine to keep it cool throughout the middle ages, to becoming a hideout during the Thirty-Years War, which saved thousands of people from the enemy, to becoming a bunker and bomb shelter during WWII and the Cold War periods. 

Tunnel to the Street

One area of the underground was dedicated to a former dungeon and torture techniques.

Just Chillin' With a Skeleton

Help Me!

A Stretching Machine

Then there were sections dedicated to former legends of the town, including hauntings by the dead.

Headless Soldier

Skeletons & Coffins

Monsters

According to legend, these weird rock face statues came to life due to an alchemist...

And broke out of the underground, to help rule the city.

Broken Mirror   

Alchemist Studio

After the tour, we thought it would be a great idea to see Znojmo Castle. Well, we never actually found the way to the castle entrance because we became entranced by the views from the castle's grounds.

One of my favorite photographs of the day, below.

We proceeded to follow paths throughout the castle grounds and wound up hiking for over two hours.

Znojmo

Admiring the River

Climbing Rocks

Twee!

Fairy Tale Picture -- Patiently Awaiting a Prince's Arrival

Going Up...

The hike was no joke!

Here's a plaque of part of the castle fortifications, from 1973.

There used to be a door near the plaque..

This led us to a dead end slightly around the corner, where we had to turn around and find a new path. We found these bizarre creatures in trees and various other places. It was rather strange, but we're sure they belong to another town legend of some sort.

The hike made us pretty tired, so we spent the night people-watching at The Bowling Club. It was actually a pretty popular place. Many people just hung out and drank or ate. We eventually bowled.

I'm not an amazing bowler, but I did happen to get my best score ever that day-- a whopping 128.

We met two brothers, one of whom looked very familiar, at the bowling club. It turns out he's very famous for playing water glasses in Prague. Twee and I have actually seen him play a few times, and he tours all over Europe doing it! Here's a video clip of him playing in Prague...

The next day, Twee and I toured Louka Monastery. Today, a wine company owns part of the monastery and keeps it running, however, much of it is dilapidated due to lack of funds and its extensive property and building sizes. 

Front of Church

Back of Church

Old Religious School Buildings

There were two parts of the tour we truly appreciated. The first was a gallery which contained paintings involving grapes or wine in some capacity. In the past, many artists were commissioned to create the pieces, and received bottles of wine as payment. Here's some of the pieces we found most intriguing:

Cork People in a Cork Town

We then saw various parts of the building where wine is stored and exhibitions take place.

Wine Cellars

Hunter's Animal Heads

Wine Bottle Pyramid

At the end of the tour, we got to do some wine tasting (our favorite part)!

We took the slightly untraditional tourist route in Znojmo, but we had a lot of fun enjoying the local culture and people. We've found that its really important to just enjoy nature and the scenery sometimes, instead of doing tour upon tour upon tour of monuments, castles and other attractions. It's important to take the road less traveled...