sabato 25 maggio 2013

Non solo praga...

Post in inglese (nel mio inglese...) preso da: http://budgeteurope.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/not-only-prague/



Prague, capital of Czech Republic (aka CR), is one of the most visited and beautiful city in the whole world, this is a fact, however only few travellers were (and are) 'brave' enough to discover the rest of the country, which is so far to be compared to its biggest and most important city.
Czech Republic is not Prague, at all, feel free to decide whether in a good way or not...
Below few pictures of my last visit in Czech Republic (not in Prague...).
2013-05-04 19.45.01Let's start from my arrival at Brno, the second largest city in CR, on Saturday at around 1930...well, this picture says a lot, I guess.
The church up the hill is called 'Petrov', one of the main attraction and this is the core of the city centre, almost no one around. This doesn't mean that Brno is a boring city, not at all!!!!Actually Brno is a vibrant university city. There are around 89,000 university students within a total 380,000 inhabitants.
Easily by that time people are having dinner at home, in restaurants or already started their intense weekend...
The pictures below says a lot about the city and the rest of the country too...food and hospitality!
On the left Sunday lunch, as tradition families prepare a tipical czech meal (roasted duck with stuffed cabbages and potatos dumpling), included soup; on the right picture, a dinner at another friend's home, ingredients are similar and note that the 'evergreen' and always present is the beer: Starobrno!!! :)

2013-05-05 12.21.05 2013-05-07 17.53.30
Beer that can be found in abboundance in the whole country and this is again another difference with Prague.
Quality of beer is much more appreciated and cared outside the capital city. Tourists and travellers are happy with the commercial brands offered them in prague pubs.
Czech people DO care about beer, a lot, as they consume the highest amount of beer in Europe, and czech people rather prefer small local breweries that offer highest quality and taste instead of industrial and commercial brands...As I have many local friends (I used to visit and live in Brno for several years) I follow their advises and I have to say, I enjoy the pure pleasure of good beers.
2013-05-07 22.33.35  2013-05-10 19.06.37 2013-05-10 19.06.11
2013-05-09 11.59.17 2013-05-09 11.52.16 2013-05-09 11.53.08  2013-05-09 11.57.37
2013-05-09 11.56.26
These last pictures had been taken when I was in Trebic (I spent there a week, after being the weekend in Brno), at one of my best czech friend's home.
Trebic, with its jew area rewarded by UNESCO in its World Heritage list, is a small city in vysocina region, just in the middle of CR, 100 km far from Prague and almost the same from Brno.
Visocina is a beautiful region, with cozy small towns, like Zdar nad Sazavou, rewarded by UNESCO in its World Heritage list, Telč, with a perfectly preserved Renaissance town centre surrounded by shallow man-made lakes, rewarded by UNESCO in its World Heritage list and Jihlava (the main city of the region), forests and lakes.
If you like hiking, fishing in relaxed small lakes, if you like peaceful natural environment, well, this is the place in Czech Republic you should go.
Eventually is not a coincidence that my long trip ended here, in my beloved Brno. I feel very close to this city and this part of CR, Moravia and Vysocina.
It means a lot for me, good friends, love (well, yes, I had a few stories here and almost all of them were with deep and sincere feelings), good life, fun, outdoor activities and relax and much, much more. Thanks to Brno and my czech friends!
2013-05-13 09.51.30 2013-05-13 08.42.49 2013-05-13 09.50.24