Brno, Czech Republic

This post is late and out of order, please ignore my tardiness. This is from Saturday, February 18.

Having received our Eurail passes, Hillary and I were anxious to test them and to leave the city for a little bit. This morning, we packed up with Hillary's roommate Cynthia (from Chicago) and hopped on train 275 to Brno (bound for Budapest) at 9:42 AM.

A short two and a half hours later, we disembarked disoriented and with no plans. Immediately, we started walking. In the wrong direction. Luckily, we asked someone who spoke nearly perfect English who helped us out and pointed us toward the main square of Brno. I was shocked at how quiet and clean the city was. A bit of a change from the bustling metropolis of Prague, Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, with a population around 600,000.

In the city square we snapped some pictures, but I was focused on how the architecture in the square varied from modern office buildings to gothic dwellings. After studying the map for a bit, we headed to a church (forgot the name) that was designed by the Brothers Grimm. We stumbled upon the new town hall and Brno Dragon (a crocodile). Making our way north, we also stumbled upon Spilberk Castle. Hiking up the snowy and icy pathway to the castle was somewhat difficult, and absolutely not worth it. At the top, we found nothing worth seeing, especially because all of the views that normally would have been beautiful were blocked by tree branches. Starving and already tired of the tiny city, we snapped a few pictures of some important landmarks before finally settling on McDonald's for a cheap lunch. We studied the map a little more, finding that we really had missed very little in the city despite seeing very little. After lunch we headed toward a secondary square in the city with some interesting statues. From the square we spotted the spires of the largest and most remarkable landmark in Brno: The cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul (Petr and Pavla). The church was remarkable and I really like the ribbed vaulting in the nave. Photos were not allowed, but I may have snuck one on the way out because of how much I like the interior.

Deciding we had seen what there was to see, we headed to the train station and hopped on a train back to Prague.

While it was not the most exciting or largest city in the world, it was really nice to get out of Prague for a day and just explore by ourselves with no plans or any obligations. I loved the freedom of the Eurail Pass and loved picking out what we wanted to see while reading about it on the walk. I am really looking forward to bigger and more extravagant adventures. Next week: Budapest, Hungary (If all goes according to plan).