Picnics, tea, and ice hockey...

Morning view











They say that when people travel to Olomouc, they often end up staying there longer than they intended. I have been seduced by the place! Initially I was going to head off today, to Poland. But, with the relaxed, friendly atmosphere of the town and the hostel, and on discovering that there is a cool Jazz gig on tonight, I decided to stay another night.
Yesterday was a wonderful day. I woke early, after the first night of unbroken sleep (woohoo!) and headed out to watch the town come alive. The hostel is right in the centre of the old town, a great spot!
Inspired by last night’s communal dinner - and how food mysteriously brings people ‘together’, I offered to share some of my porridge with those that were up. The Irish guy Seamus rejoiced at my offer - and launched into how much he loves porridge, and how much he’s missed it while traveling, and how great it is for you…I had an immediate affiliation with this guy! And over our porridge, we talked of many things - cultures, industrialisation, economy, religion, global warming and Black Books!
One of the girls staying here, Rebecca, is from Randwick in Sydney. We hooked up yesterday to explore a historical museum in the city. I discovered that Rebecca learnt saxophone at school with my good friend, Bec Grubb from Uni. Confirmation that our world is small! The museum was fascinating, a walk through time - from C11th to about C19th - putting the town Olomouc in it’s historical context.
It was a gorgeously warm day, so we had a picnic lunch in ‘Smetana Gardens’ - apparently where Smetana (a composer for those not musically inclined) used to visit frequently. To finish off the day, we went to the cozy local tea house for some DELICIOUS tea!












The day hadn’t really finished, because the owner of the hostel took a few of us to the local home-game Ice-Hockey match. That was very exciting! It was a close match, and Olomouc won. The crowd was wild, chanting with drums and trumpets. (I guess resembling the football matches back home!).
We came back, pumped, cooked dinner and then Beck and I on energetic inspiration danced to some funky music in the hostel.

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Today Rebecca and I took a bus out to a forested area outside of the town. It was only when we got off the bus and started walking into the beautiful pine forest that we realised we didn't have a map with us, and with no real plan of what or where we were going! I had a vague-enough map inside my head, and was sure we wouldn't get lost. But we took care to note which paths we took and what directions we were heading. We eventually came across a sign-posted pathway, and decided to follow it. It lead us through some wonderful bush-land, tall trees, branches arching over the path, gorgeous country-side and eventually into a small quaint village. After a while, we came across a sign that said to Olomouc, 8kms. That was promising! So, we made the trek all the way back. We got back without getting lost, and suitably, happily exhausted! (but not like doing 100kms!).
The concert at the jazz club was well worth the extra night! The band was fantastic, each musician an artist! Electric, bass guitar and drums. Their influences were quite eclectic - jazz, middle-eastern, eastern european, celtic, funk and country. It's been great to see some awesome live music.