Walking in the steps of Caesar

No, despite the title, I am not in Rome. Julius actually helped to found the city that I am in called Olomouc in the Czech Republic. Since then it has becoming a thriving university town and is well off the beaten path. None of the guide books we looked at mentioned it, we just heard about it from some fellow travelers and decided to come. Getting here was a bit of a problem. The train took 9 hours to travel a short distance across the Czech Republic. Trains here are not great. It took less time to fly from Toronto to Prague, but I guess that is part of the charm. We just arrived, but there is a big festival starting tomorrow that should be fun. Also the Czech Republic plays in the World Cup tomorrow. Yeah Czech beer and soccer!!!!

Before leaving Cesky Krumlov we had a nice relaxing day at a tea house in Cesky with an Aussie girl called Ry, and English guy called Peter (who had just quit his accounting job in Hong Kong and was returning to England the slow way) and a Kiwi called Jess (from New Zealand, not the fruit bowl). It was very relaxing. This place had the atmosphere of a tea house in China with lots of different tea to choose from. I tried one called Silver Monkey's Paw, it was a green tea and was really really good.

Afterwards we returned to the place where we watched the Polish soccer defeat (I have to keep bringing that up, sorry Dzido) to watch the England game that was a snooze-fest (despite the win). 2 Americans from Texas that we met in the hostel had invaded teh kitchen of this little cafe and had made Chilli and were selling it. England soccer game, texas food and Czech beer, quite the cultural fusion we are working with.

After the game we spent the night at the hostel on the patio drinking with Ry and Peter. Great people. We talked for hours as it got colder and colder. By the time we quit at 2am we could see our breath. There was a full moon over Cesky Krumlov and we had seen the fireworks coming out of the castle. Why were there fireworks? because a baby had been born in the town. Such a cool place. While I was talking with these two, it made me think about how cool it was to sit in a place like that, with people from all over the world, talking about everything from terrorism to movies to favourite beers. The buildings and museams are amazing, but I always remember nights like that. Meeting new people. Both of them are going to be in London and have offered to help us get aquainted with the city once we get there. I really look forward to it.

Best wishes to all of you!

Paul

PS- I hope to get some pics up soon.