Parthemores in Poland

Well, OK, I hadn’t either, but it is the second-largest city in the Czech Republic.  And it was on our way to Budapest, so we decided to check it out.  It also had a bunch of neat buildings to look at and the lodging was ridiculously cheap. 

It always seems like the hardest part of traveling is driving in Poland.  There are very few interstates and most of the roads are analogous to the state highways in the US.  So you not only hit all the little towns, but you have to drive through the big ones too.  And every road has at least two names on the map, but only one on the signs.  It’s like a fun guessing game at every interchange.  Will it be Hwy 5?  Or maybe E67?  Your best bet is to assume it will be called John Paul II, because every single town in Poland has one.  Like Martin Luther King, Jr. in the US. 

Anyways… we arrived after dark and spent the evening wandering around and trying to find dinner; since it was the day after Christmas, there weren’t many places open.  Our hotel provided a great map that showed all the major sites, so we were able to identify what we wanted to do the next morning.  We also found the legendary “Brno Dragon,” which is just a crocodile hanging from the ceiling in entrance to the town hall.  Imaging turning the corner and suddenly having this thing looming over you:

We decided that before leaving for Budapest, we wanted to visit Spilberk Castle and climb the tower in St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral. 

The castle, on a nearby hilltop, was originally built to defend Brno, but it received much more use as a prison during Habsburg rule and later.  Our tour consisted of wandering guideless in a subterranean prison within the bowels and walls of the castle.  A few cells had exhibits showing how the prisoners and guards lived.  And of course, the requisite prison instruments. 

16^th century gimp mask?

Four star accomodations!

After Spilberk, we headed to St. Peter’s and Paul’s Cathedral, a beautiful Gothic church set on top of a different hill.  Two dozen flights of stairs took us to the top of the bell towers, giving us another beautiful view of the city.

Around lunch, we headed off for Budapest.  At this point in the trip, we were driving on divided highways, so we only had about 3 hours to go. 

When I researched the route, it appeared that there would be toll roads in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.  We decided it would be prudent to get a little bit of each currency prior to traveling.  So of course we didn’t hit any toll plazas.  Even better, Slovakia switched to the Euro on 1 JAN, so we now have some funny money that, hopefully, we can still exchange.

Ironically, we did need the Slovakian currency, even if we didn’t use it.  Entering Slovakia, we noticed a lot of signs alerting us to something involving a “vignette.”  Sure, whatever.  Turns out that you are supposed to purchase a “vignette” to legally drive on the highway.  Oops.  But since we made it through, I can only hope that there isn’t an outstanding warrant for our arrest in Slovakia. 

Make sure you check the “photos” tab for more pictures!