Czech Republic - Brno (21st feb)

So, after a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs Slovak Style (with the latter cooked on top of the former), and multiple iced coffees (having discovered them 12 hours before, I'm quickly becoming addicted!), I parted with James to head for the Czech Republic - Brno to be precise. The train ride was more interesting than usual due to the amusing Slovakian gentleman sat opposite me, who seemed to have an endless supply of sausages in his bag. Every now and then he'd just reach inside, pull one out, literally crack it open, and start gnawing away! (I realise that written down, this doesn't seem anywhere near as amusing as it was at the time...I think excessive train travel is taking its toll on my already amply-muddled mind!)

To be honest though, that did unfortunately turn out to be nearly the main highlight of the day. Brno, it has to be said, is nothing special. It has it's share of typical "sights" the same as any big city, but nothing to make it stand out from the crowd, especially compared to some of the places I've been, even in the UK. Still, there were always going to be some places that weren't going to be great, I suppose Brno's one of them! It did, however, have some redeeming features, and after freshening up at my hotel, I went out to find them.

A short walk led me to the city castle, which, although not outstanding in itself, has a nice set of gardens leading up the hill to it, and offers a good view over the city. From there I moved on to the Augistinian monastery, which was actually quite impressive as churchy buildings go, and its grounds also house a work-in-progress museum to the work of Gregor Mandel, a friar at the monastery now thought of as the "father of gene-technology", having made significant breakthroughs observing the humble garden pea in the 1800s.

Next door to the monastery is the Starobrno brewery, which looked rather interesting, though unfortunately tours had stopped by the time I got there, and the restaurant was a little too busy for my liking, so I ate elsewhere - a lovely little underground restaurant (they always seem to be the best!) where I experienced the novel idea of pork steak with bits of sausage embedded in it, in a peppercorn sauce. I don't know how these people think up their recipes, but they certainly seem to be onto something....