Day 19: Mikulov Here We Come

Alarm was set for 7am with a departure time from the Pension at 9am. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! I stuffed clothes into my backpack, showered, and even had time to eat breakfast and make sandwiches for the road.

The first thing that was planned for the trip was going to Brno, the second largest city within the Czech Republic. We had about an hour break between that and an organized tour so a bunch of students went to go find the "hospoda"(pub) for a quick drink. 

At 1pm we tours this house that was built in the 1920s. Very art deco! It was called the Tugendhat House, home to Greta and Fritz Tugendhat and was built by the famous German-American architect Ted Mosby...I mean Ludwig Mies van der Rohe! Before we started our tour of the house we needed to step into these contraptions that had plastic on them. You pushed your foot down and the plastic conformed to your shoe. It was epic! There was no way to sneak around that house, your feet made so much noise whenever you walked plus, it was a prevention so that none of us tracked dirt into the home.

The house was super special because it was the first time in the history of architecture that a steel load-bearing structure was used in a private house. The house featured a large spatial floor plan with built-in furniture. It is also built into the side of a hill. There were also huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows on the bottom floor that opened electronically! They opened up to a beautiful garden.

After touring the Tugendhat House we had about an hour and a half left to explore Brno. Naturally, Eliza and I wanted food so we ventured out to find a bowl of soup, after our coffee of course. 

NOTHING! No soup anywhere! What a catastrophe! We walked around like street urchins sharing the one apple Eliza brought between the two of us as we scavenged for a place to eat. There were tons of places to drink but virtually none that served food :(

Eventually we stumbled upon a square that had a live orchestra playing and a McDonalds. Yes, the American tourists got McDonalds. And you know what? Best McFlurry of my life! 

After visiting Brno we drove to a small Moravian town called Pavlov, which is in Southeastern Czech Republic. Pavlov is in the countryside so it was a nice escape from the city life for a while! At Pavlov we went to an exclusive wine tasting. 

SWEET BABY JESUS! I don't know what they do to the grapes in Pavlov or Moravia but DAMN! Best wine I ever had I had on this trip! We tried maybe 9 different wines and all were excellent. They gave us a bowl of bread and a plate of cheese to cleanse our palate between wines but...we ate four plates of cheese...you can't put cheese in front of me and not expect me to eat it! I'm sorry.

And of course, they saved the best wine for last, and it was called "Ice Wine." Or "Mouth Orgasm"...the vineyard owner's words, not mine! But my god, it was! I would have bought a bottle if I brought more money but it cost 800 CZK and I had only brought 1000CZK for the whole weekend. I soon hated my life for not bringing more money!

Here are some pictures from the mini excursion:

The Moravian countryside

On our way to the wine cellar to taste some amazing vino!

The cutest little vineyard town

The sun setting on the amazing Moravian hills

Even the Microsoft computer background made an appearance!

Our final stop on the day's journey was Mikulov, where we would be staying for the next two nights. We went out exploring the town a little and grabbed some food. It was an early night because we had to get up super early the next morning if we wanted breakfast.