Monday 7 July 2014 Telc - Brno

Hot 31C

We neglected to remember that European culture shuts down n a Monday and realised too late that Telc castle and museum were closed today.

This was disappointing as we had left the tour for this morning. So we changed our plans and after a short stroll around the Castle Park and some breakfast (once the first coffee shop opened at 9am) we set off for Brno.

The train trip once again took us to the middle of nowhere Jihlavy station 35 mins from Telc but this time we were lucky enough to make the a 3 minute transfer to the next train. Regardless, all the mainline trains seem to run 5-10 minutes late, so we were in plenty of time to catch the Brno train.

Further down the tack, Czech Rail was experiencing some signal difficulties, so we were transferred on to local buses to bridge the problem. Warm day, no air-conditioning and different hygiene standards are the rule in this part of the Republic.

After about 45 minutes, the buses pulled up at another station past the problem and we were soon on our way again to Brno - arriving to a warm 30C+ (at last) just after 1:00 p.m.

We arrived at our apartment at 1:30 and were told that it would not be ready until 2, so we gallantly offered to go and have a beer while waiting. 1 Litre later, we checked in and set about settling in to Brno.

Our apartment is very nice. It has 2 bedrooms and is on the top floor with a terrace that overlooks the church spires of St James Church. Unfortunately no air-con but lots of windows that open to catch the breeze.

We later walked through Freedom Square to the Brno Information Centre which is in the Old Town Hall and were surprised to see a crocodile hanging in the entrance! Silly us... it turns out the stuffed croc is the Brno Dragon (town mascot)! We passed by another large square under construction called Zelny Trn and then did a round of the Sts Peter and Paul Cathedral that stands on the site of the old Brno Castle and (Austrian) prison.

The bells chime midday from this Cathedral at 11am every day because in 1645 during the 30 year war the General of the Swedish siege said that they would spare Brno if they not been taken it by 12 noon, so the Brno townspeople rang the midday bells an hour early at 11am and the Swedish army missed the trick and spared Brno (or so the story goes).

We sat inside and admired the church. It had 7 beautiful stained glass windows, but you can only see 3 from the pews. On our way back, we wandered through the Denis Gardens and Fortification wall circuit. This is a very lively young town with 80,000 students (out of a population of 400,000) attending various universities here.