Part I: Ketchup with you later!
So this blogging thing isn't going quite how I thought it would. I feel a bit like I'm playing catch-up all the time. So, no more of that. There's no need for me to write a whole post about every single place I go.
Right now I'm in Olomouc, Czech Republic. I came here from Kraków kind of randomly. The friend I was traveling with decided to head home early and skip Prague, so on our last day he was figuring out his flight and I was browsing the wall of hostel pamphlets, looking for a fun place to stay in Prague. One caught my eye because of the name - Poet's Corner Hostel. It was in Czech Republic, which was the right direction, and I really liked the name. So, why not? I booked a few nights and headed here on Friday. After 24 hours, I extended my booking. And today, my last day, I don't want to leave.
Part II: A Sunday Kind of Love
You know that person - everyone knew one, maybe in high school - who is constantly fickle in love, enamored with someon new every week? I'm like that. Only with cities. And languages. Everywhere I go, I say "oh yeah, I could live here." I fell madly in love with Portugal and Portuguese, Italian, Vienna and (amazingly) German, Ljubljana and ALL the Slavic languages, Budapest and Hungarian (the difficulty of learning Hungarian just makes it more appealing). The problem is that I fall in love with these places, decide I want to live there and learn the language, but fail to fall out of love with any of them.
I considered this to be both a good and bad thing - can't have it all, but making at least one work is more likely. So I figured I could find a job in my field after grad school and, depending where one was available, live somewhere in Europe for a couple years. Perfect.
But then I came to Olomouc. Have you heard the song Sunday Kind of Love? It goes like this (hear Etta James singing it, if at all possible):
"I want a Sunday kind of love
A love to last past Saturday night
And I'd like to know it's more than love at first sight
And I want a Sunday kind of love"
Olomouc is my Sunday. I don't know how exactly it's going to happen yet, but I am doggedly determined to live here.
Part III: Scavenger Hunt
I can't explain to you why Olomouc is so special to me. I don't suppose very many other people would have the reaction I did, but it really is a nice place to visit by anybody's standards, and deserves a detour if one is going to Prague or another famous city in the environs.
The hostel I stayed at is the only one in the city. Called Poet's Corner, it is geared towards individuals who would rather read a book in one of the many very comfortable chairs than stumble in at 5AM and vomit on one of them. And they have been quite successful in attracting those calmer types of people. I can very confidently say that it is the best hostel I have ever stayed in. Very clean, cozy, full of interesting and considerate guests, and amazing staff. Their book exchange library is the best I've encountered, and they have several large books of staff-compiled information on places to eat and drink, things to see and do, daytrips to take, cycling routes to consider etc. They also have a local scavenger hunt. 9 things around the historic center that, if you can find and identify them, will earn you a free night. Which of course means it's very difficult. I found 2. But, in the searching, I noticed many lovely things I would otherwise have missed. The staff are (I cannot overstate this) absolutley incredible, really nice and interesting people who often say "I'm going out for a drink after the last check-in arrives, would anyone like to join?" This is how I managed to "go out" for a few relaxed drinks every single night I stayed, and get to know some pretty incredible individuals. If you are ever heading towards the Czech Republic, you should definitely pay this place a visit.
Beyond the wonderful hostel, Olomouc is a great place. It's a university town, 25% of the population is students, and there's a very charming and laid-back historic center surrounded by equally fascinating and even LESS touristy bits. There are a lot of gorgeous parks (or maybe few but large and meandering?), one of which runs along the old city walls and feels a bit wild and unkept (a bit, mind you, but enough to make it really delightful).
There are quite a lot of churches and towers and fountains and monuments and statues and lovely things like that - and they're all free, which is nice. One fountain in patricular, Arion fountain in the main square, is absolutely enchanting. I literally could not take enough photos of it. I also wound up with dozens of pictures of street art, of which there are many great examples in Olomouc.
The cafes (and food in general) are delicious, and several microbreweries produce some very tasty beers. A fairly extensive selection of teahouses, where one can sit on comfy cushions on the floor and drink tea or smoke hookah for hours, provide an excellent place to relax with friends or read a book.
There are several museums, which are free on Sundays and Wednesdays, and the Modern Art Museum is quite nice, with frequently rotating exhibits. I went to see the František Skála exhibit they had, and was just blown away. This guy is super creative, I couldn't believe the kind of materials he worked with, and I really enjoyed it all.
This is kind of frustrating because I can't adequately describe how great this place is - I think you're going to have to trust me on this one.
Part IV: Sponteneity Revealed
It dawned on me that going to Olomouc was the first really spontaneous thing I've done on this trip. I guess I'm kind of growing into my title in more ways than one. I guess when I thought of it, it was more that the feeling of wanderlust had spontaneously hit me, sort of out of the blue. But now I'm actually being more spontaneous in my travels, which, I am discovering, just makes everything better.
Thanks to some of the marvelous people I met, I found out about two towns (perhaps one could even call them villages) in Slovakia, where I am going next. It's fairly liberating to just decide one morning you're going to another country and be there that night.
Part V: Wait, didn't you go to Poland?
Why yes, I did! And, interestingly enough, it was the one city I've been so far that I had absolutely no desire to live in. I did like it, however, very much. There were a lot of beautiful things to look at and delicious food to eat. But the gem of Krakow, in my opinion, was the people watching. It was, far and away, the best I've ever experienced. Poland and Ukraine are co-hosting the EuroCup games (semi-finals coming up!) and there was a lot of general revelry surrounding the games, though none were actually played in Krakow. The huge main square was the highlight of my experience - all the restaurants ringing it have large outdoor seating areas, so it was very pleasant to just pick one with a good view, get a beer, and watch the people go by for an hour or two. Another highlight was St. Francis church, which features quite a lot of art from a particular Polish art movement called Moda Polska (apparently the local answer to art deco?). I really enjoyed the stained glass windows, and the entire interior was just beautiful. It was also blissfully empty and cool on a sweltering day, so it was doubly enjoyable to sit and soak in the surroundings for a while.
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