Rest Stops are Important

When you travel for a few weeks or a month at a time you can usually plan things out in advance pretty well. But when you are traveling for a year, there is no way you can plan too far in advance. Before we left we had booked about 15 days of accommodation and transportation because of the time of year, and we continue to try to stay a few weeks ahead to ensure we get the places we want. It’s not easy trying to be present and enjoy the places we are in, while moving every 4 days, and also taking time to organize and plan, so Brno is sort of our first rest stop so to speak. Some places are full of things to do and see and you can feel a sense of pressure to check things off the list, but you still need down time to plan. We chose Brno because we heard it was a really chill place, had a similar charm as Prague without the crowds, and there wasn’t much to see. Literally, our host wrote that there wasn’t much to see (but a great place to live) in our welcome notes!

Planning

So much time goes into planning. The computer is a black hole. We are looking at Croatia right now. How is the weather going to be at this time? Where exactly should we go? We consult Google, read reviews, ask friends via Facebook (usually the most helpful), and then research places based on their recommendations. Then look at accommodations. What can we find within the budget we set? Where are the Airbnbs located in terms of the city or town center? What are the hotel costs relative to the Airbnbs? So far we have gotten way more bang for our buck from Airbnb. Are there a good selection of restaurants and shops within walking distance? How close are they to public transportation? In other words, exactly how long am I walking with my thousand pound pack on?? What type on Neighborhood is it? What’s the easiest and most economical way of getting there? Check train and bus schedules. Are bags included in the cost? Are you allowed bags (we just ran into a bus company that did not allow any baggage, which was a first)? You need days where you can just relax in a place that offers the comforts of home so you can focus on making things happen. Summer in Europe is not a fly by the seat of your pants type place, unless perhaps you have an unlimited budget, but even then I would be worried about availability.

Some websites we have found useful are Rome2Rio, Getbybus, Flixbus, and Omio.

Holy Shit “Real” Pillows

Andre could not have been more excited about this. Aside from our stay in Antwerp we have not had supportive pillows. Imagine a water bed that has a slow leak and when you lay down in it your ass hits the bottom. I speak from experience. I once had a waterbed (when they were cool). It did get a leak. It was terrible… like the pillows in Europe. The entire place was well thought out and had everything you would want. Our host even arranged for us to be picked up and dropped off from the station by a friend. We were very happy with the flat. Unfortunately there was construction going on right beside us, but that’s what earplugs are for.

Remember When I Talked About Planning?

Inevitably you forget to check on something. There are so many things to consider. Our flat, although outstanding from the inside, turned out to be on the periphery of a less than ideal neighborhood. We took a walk soon after our arrival, and as we wandered into the center we noticed a fairly significant difference in the landscape. Brno has a beautiful core and the vibe is similar to Edmonton. It’s a working man’s city and still has the charm of a place that hasn’t been overrun with tourists. If Brno was Edmonton… we were living on Stony Plain Road. Andre did some investigating the next morning and basically read that we were living in an area which contained pretty much all the streets the internet says you should avoid. Ha! What does the internet know? I don’t always believe everything the “Truth Machine” tells me. We didn’t have any problems, but I will say we didn’t carry much on us when we did trips to the shops.

Planning Requires Wine

When you’re traveling it’s fun to try new things, but sometimes you want something your familiar with. I’m not overly fussy when it comes to red wine, however, when we travel I find it really hit and miss. Mostly miss. I’ve had a few decent bottles while in Europe, but it’s always a guessing game. I try to test out wine at restaurants, rather than buying bottles from the shops. That said, I like to check out the shops to see what’s on offer. We searched on Google Maps for the closest wine shops and found one down the road. Well, on the map it was down the road. We never did find the one we set out for, but on the same street we noticed a sign on the sidewalk pointing to a door that seemed to lead to a private dwelling, not a shop. Desperate times. We slowly opened the door to find stairs leading down to a cellar where there was a wall of wine bottles. Success! There were 3 people seated at a table and one woman behind the small counter. They all looked very surprised to see us. It looked like we had walked in on a family get together, although we didn’t feel unwelcome. Thanks to Google Translate we were able to ask some questions and were guided to a bottle that we may want. But then it was brought to our attention that there was another option. The bottle was 200 Crown… or we could take what was behind door number three, from the keg behind the bar. We tried a sample and it was completely drinkable, and 80 Crown. Sold! My favorite part of this experience was when the lady grabbed a clear plastic bottle and filled it up. No, cancel that. My favorite part was walking down the street with said bottle. Just strolling home with my pop bottle of keg wine. Now I fit in here.

I should have had Andre take a picture of me with my wine bottle. I was so happy. I don’t have a picture but I do have a video of myself starring the bottle which I sent to our friend Alex. We found out that day that Alex had just won the Canadian Death Race. Alex is an amazing athlete, and he also really enjoys wine. He once told Andre that he really liked one race in particular because at the end they had an outstanding beer Garden. He’s awesome. Click his pic to read about him.

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Mluvíš Anglicky?

We’ve now learned how to say “Do you speak English?” in four languages. For the most part, so far everywhere we have been we have found a good amount of people speak English fairly well. This was not the case in Brno. Most did not speak English, so Google translate was super helpful. 

Other than learning how to ask people if they speak English, we have also had some other learning experiences. As mentioned in a prior post, some grocery stores do not take credit card, and at some shops (Billa) you need to weigh out you fruit and veg on a scale and print out a sticker to put on your items. We learned this the hard way when our check out gal had to run over to quickly do it for us while some lovely old ladies behind us in line shot us dagger eyes. We felt better the next day when we saw some European travelers make the same error.

Also, (this was in Prague but I forgot) do NOT question a money exchange guy about his terrible rate that is clearly ripping off customers (1 Euro for 16 Crown versus everyone else trading at 1 Euro for 24 Crown) unless you want to get verbally accosted. Thank god for plexiglass barriers.

Random Observations

There has been way less smoking in the Czech Republic. France was by far the worst. Every meal we ate we inhaled smoke non-stop. Germany was also up there and Belgium was moderate. It’s nice to eat and smell your food!

Big sneakers. Really big sneakers. They are everywhere so far in Europe. I would say the soles are a good 3 inches. They can be worn with anything, even pretty little dresses. If I had any room in my pack I would buy some. I’d love to be 5’9.

We Love Company!

Before we left we told friends and family to feel free to meet up with us along the way and we just found out that two of our friends are going to meet us in Croatia. We are so excited! I am excited to spend time with people we know and love and I’m also excited to send a bunch of shit home with them. My lightweight backpack fantasy is going to become a reality. Most things I don’t mind walking away from, but I brought some things with me that I would like to keep, but in retrospect were poor choices due to size or weight.

We Did See Things

During our aimless wandering we did happen upon some interesting things like the Simpson’s Bar. Freedom Square was beautiful and had lots of little cafes to hang out in as well as beach chairs around a large fountain where you could enjoy beverages. The side streets around Freedom Square (Náměstí Svobody) are full of places to eat, including a restaurant named Forky’s (it was pretty average). My favorite was Go Brno, a little Vietnamese place. We were even treated to some sort of street performance. We thought it may be some sort of celebration or kick off to something but nobody working in the area had any idea what it was about and seemed equally as amused and puzzled as us.

We noticed that parking is pretty much do as you please. Doesn’t matter which way your facing or if you’re half on the walkway.

The Moravian Gallery had a book display in the entrance that we tried to inquire about, and from what we could gather it had something to do with a 100 year celebration and the university…

The Best Train Ride Yet

We are currently on the best train yet, heading to Vienna. The company is RegioJet and it’s delightful. Bar and food service to your seat. We have some extra Crown that is of no use anywhere else we are going so upon perusing the menu have decided to buy all the things!

My favorite ended up being these little gems. Despite the language barrier I can assure you that sadly they are not as healthy as eating real carrots and parsnips.

35 days in…

Next stop Vienna.