Brno Briefly

I didn’t spend much time in Brno. Not that it was a bad place. In fact it was rather comfortable and fun. The problem was that it took almost a full day to travel by bus from Cesky Krumlov on Czechia’s western border with Austria to Brno which lies in eastern Czechia. I didn’t arrive in Brno until dusk, and then spent at least an hour looking for my hotel. ( I really do need to buy a cell phone if only to help me find my way around strange cities). 🙂 By the time I got settled into my hotel I had only enough time to locate a restaurant where I had a pizza and a couple of dark beers. I then went back to my room, took a hot shower and collapsed into bed. The Courtyard Hotel had upgraded my room, and it was the nicest room I had stayed in at this point in the trip: marble floors, a heating coil under the bathroom marble, a goose down comforter, and a fantastic view over the city. The next morning I set out to explore the Brno’s “Old Town”. I came upon a farmer’s market in its central square as the vendors were setting up their stalls. I bought a home made pastry and washed it down with what I thought was home made grape juice. It was natural, unfiltered, raw wine instead. A young lady sold it in a plastic Pepsi bottle with a screw on top. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t grape juice, but after thinking about it, realized that the alcohol it contained probably killed any dangerous pathogens.

I wandered around the old town for a couple of hours but found few sights that warranted a photo. I had become a bit jaded from my recent exposure to the fairy tale buildings of Cesky Krumlov, and the impressive sculpture and architecture of Karlovy Vary. Brno does have some important things to see, but none that took precedence over other concerns I had on my mind. It does have a castle on top of a hill, (which I didn’t visit). There are catacombs under the plaza with the farmer’s market, (which didn’t open until long after I left that area). Brno also has a fine art museum, (which I didn’t enter). I can’t tell you anything about these sights, but I’m sure there are plenty of guidebooks which can tell you all you want to know.

Instead I spent several hours looking for a temporary train station that had been thrown together because the main station was under major reconstruction. The temp station was about 1.5 miles from the official station and hidden on a side street behind a parking garage. By the time I had gotten everything sorted out and bought my ticket for next day’s train to Bratislava it was almost time for dinner. For most Czechs, Prague outshines all its other cities as its bright emblem of culture and excitement. If you asked them what they thought of Brno, most would probably shrug their shoulders and reply “meh”. Brno, however, has one advantage over Prague, it is real life working city where most people have jobs not connected to tourism or recreating what have become moldy traditions. It is a rail hub that connects Czechia with the rest of Eastern Europe, and is the home of many of Czechia’s manufacturing and service industries.

As a working city, however, most people in Brno toil away at boring jobs and are ready to relax after work on Friday. I bought my train tickets and then circled back through the old town to find hundreds of people getting together for drinks or dinner. While walking along the cold, damp sidewalks and peering into the warm glow of restaurants filled with chatter, good humor, and maybe some innocent deception, I found I really enjoyed this after work Brno. I recognized it all and smiled, fondly remembering how, before my retirement, I would often relax in a similar fashion after a week of mind numbing work. I had dinner in a Tamil Indian restaurant that was just as spicy and just as delicious as any I had had in the U.S. The restaurant was filled with young people sharing dishes and laughter. Two doors away a Tibetan restaurant was serving whatever constitutes Tibetan cuisine. A Starbucks sat across the square where people were sipping their lattes and watching the Brno world and a tourist pass by through spacious floor to ceiling windows.

I ended up at a craft brewery that put Pilsen to shame. I walked up some steps into what looked like a Brooklyn townhouse and found a bar selling a dozen brews. The bartender spoke excellent English, and knew more about craft beers than anyone I had ever met. I had a rye beer, different but still not bad, and some sort of Berlin style beer that was the best craft beer I ever tasted. I sat there for about an hour sipping my beer and looking out the window down onto the street where patrons stood around chatting, smoking, and drinking their brews. (Almost everywhere in Eastern Europe you can take your open container out onto the street. I would think that the bars lose a lot of glasses due to this policy, but that cost is probably already built into the price of the beer.) As I sat there nursing my beer, I decided that Prague was probably a more interesting place for tourists to visit, but if I had to live and work anywhere in Czechia, Brno would be a much more comfortable and satisfying place to call home.