Well a lot has been happening these last couple weeks, as I have been taking advantage of the summer weather to do a little traveling and holidaying. So expect a few posts in the next stint!
I'll start with the good news: I 'ran' a half marathon two weekends ago. The bad news: my body was in a constant state of rebellion, bordering outright strike, the entire time and I ended up with a hugely disappointing performance, so the 'running' component of the marathon was highly debatable at times. By kilometer 3 survival was already the sole goal. However, it was a great experience and forced me to get into the habit of running while I was training for it, something I am very grateful for now.
On a different note, I will say that the touring of Olomouc (the city in which the run took place) was an unequivocal success. Olomouc is in the eastern part of the Czech Republic and is situated a little north of the country's second largest city, Brno. Similar to Prague, Olomouc is also a very ancient city and was the seat of church and politics for Moravia up until Swedish invasion in the 1640's, after which power was shifted to Brno. Olomouc is an absolutely gorgeous city and certainly rivals Prague in many ways. One element in which Olomouc wins hands down, however, is in the level of crowdedness. Many sites will refer to Olomouc as one of the "hidden gems" of the Czech Republic, or even Europe. One of my favorite aspects of the city is the open feel it gives. There are many different squares with ornate fountains and statues and it's often hard to tell whether or not you are in the main one or simply one of the splendid other ones.
Perhaps one of the most amazing tourism tools offered is the Olomouc Region Card. This brilliant little card can be purchased for either two or five day periods and grants the cardholder access to over a hundred different sites and attractions in not only the city of Olomouc, but the entire Olomouc region, which includes an extensive list of chateaus and castles sprinkled throughout the Moravian countryside. Within Olomouc the card provides access to museums, towers, churches, and tours virtually free of charge. It can be shown for a discount at many shops and restaurants as well.
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Perhaps the sign that the day's race was going to go
horribly wrong, when Daniel's donuts was spotted
on the scene |
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| Before and after photo taken by Vendula |
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St. Wenceslaus Cathedral, the oldest part of Olomouc and the site of a
museum containing historic artifacts belonging to the city |
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Those Catholics among the readers might find this
'tabernacle candle' interesting... |
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| Old archbishops' chapel in the St. Wenceslaus complex |
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| Archbishop's carriage |
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| Original statues taken from St. Maurice Gothic church in Olomouc town center |
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| Example of the Gothic architecture in the windows |
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| A Hapsburg ruler taking a quick selfie |
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Olomouc also boasts an astronomical clock. This
one, however has seen many changes with the times.
Its theme/design has gone from Gothic to Renaissance, to
Baroque, and most recently to its current Socialist Realism
style during the Communist period after being damaged
in the second world war |
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The Upper Square of Olomouc as seen from the tower of the city hall. The
column you can see is called Trinity Column and was built to Mary
in thanks for saving the town (at least some of it) from the plague that swept
through Europe. The column holds a small chapel within it and is on the
UNESCO list of cultural and historic sites |
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Like moths to a porch lamp, tourist swarm the small metal map of Olomouc
searching for enlightenment |
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| St. Maurice church claims to own the biggest organ in Central Europe |
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| Climbing the St. Maurice tower |
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| Street art |
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On Monday we went to Bouzov Castle, an amazing castle that has never gone
to ruin and was the headquarters of the Teutonic Knights for some time. Now it
is famous for the films and Czech fairy tales that have been shot there |
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| We arrived just a little too late for dinner... |
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| The castle courtyard |
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| Impressive chandelier in the chapter house room of the castle |
