Week 4: Europe Part 2 (Brno)

This week was spent mostly in and around Brno.  Benjamin, Papi and I went to a tea bar and met Papi's friend Tina on Tuesday evening to play Settlers of Catan.  The tea bar was amazing - there were board games everywhere!!!  They were all in Czech, but we already knew how to play Catan, so that didn't matter.  I ordered a lovely cup of apple and ginger tea, and then shared another one with Benjamin.  The tea was full of loose apple and ginger chunks floating at the top, served with a spoon and something I've decided to call a 'tea pipe' (which consists of a tea ball like strainer at the bottom, attached to a metal straw with a tip at the end).  I was so impressed with it, that I bought one to take home!  

On Wednesday evening, Papi and Benjamin took me to the ballet.  It was in the Mahen Theater built in 1882 after the Brno city theater Reduta burned down in 1870; Benjamin shared with me that it was one of the first public buildings in the world lit entirely by electric lights!  The building was beautiful, and our seats were excellent.  We were in a private box, at the back of the seating on the main floor, in front of the stage, with a fantastic view.  The ballet was Sleeping Beauty, and was very impressive.  My favorite dances were in the second half, during the wedding of Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming, where guests were celebrating with dances.  There was a couple of cats with a faux fighting and frolicking sequence; then a pair of swans with impressive leaps, spins, and lifts; before Little Red Riding Hood took the stage followed by the Big Bad Wolf with a cute routine where she runs and he chases her.  The dancers were lithe and graceful, the costumes beautiful, and the music from the live orchestra was wonderful.

Ben and Papi's friend Tony arrived on Thursday evening,  and we celebrated by having dinner at a delicious devil themed restaurant, where we shared a trough of different meats.  There was so much food that 3 full grown men and I could not finish it completely, so we took the rest to eat later.  Then we wandered through downtown Brno, walking towards a bar to play Carcassonne and enjoy some beverages.

On Friday evening we all went to watch an ice hockey match.  Our tickets were for standing room only, but that's the area where the biggest number of fans seemed to be concentrated.  There were so many people crowded in, but we managed to find space for all four of us.  It was very exciting and we all enjoyed it.  Every time they scored a goal the crowd went wild! Brno won 5 to 0.

On Saturday we experienced a wonderful comedy of errors.  We had thought to take a bike ride together, and as we were preparing to go for breakfast, Papi was putting air in the tires.  Unfortunately the tube in the bike tire burst, so we had to change our plans.  We headed outside the city, intending to take a boat to a nearby castle on the lake. We made it to the dock just as the boat was leaving.  So we decided to walk around the lake instead, and on the way we found a mini-golf course.  We played a round, and then kept walking around the lake.  We stopped at a little pub to have a few drinks and play some cards, and then headed back to Brno.  We ate dinner at the same Czech restaurant, and then to an absinthe bar where we played Catan, but many of the pieces were missing so I managed to make some new ones that worked.

Sunday morning we attempted our bicycle trip again, this time with great success!  We went to breakfast while Papi rented a replacement bike, then we met Anna at her flat before riding across town to the bike trail.  The fall colors were brilliant, and the weather was perfect.  We pedaled along a canal for a while, stopping to try out a mini zip-line and have a few pints, then followed a stream past lots of quaint homes.  We paused by a little lake and found a memorial where someone had left some mushrooms.  Then we headed back to Brno, stopping at the same pub for a few more pints along the way.  We ended up back at the Music Lab for Board Game night, only to learn that it was being cancelled.  We stayed and played cards anyway, before Benjamin and I left for a Zouk Party.  The studio was across town, but we eventually found it after getting only a little lost.  The music was a mix between Lamba-Zouk and the Zouk mixes I was used to, and we danced.  Ben worked with me on connection and I followed his lead, grateful for my patient and persistent partner.  After an hour or so be both admitted to being tired and returned to Papi's flat.

We began our trip back to Toulouse on Monday afternoon.  After a lunch of Indian food, we took the tram to the bus station, then the bus to Prague, then a flight to Toulouse and an Uber back to the flat.  The whole adventure took about 9 hours.  I spent a quiet Tuesday recovering my energy by sleeping most of the day.  Benjamin made Ch-Ch-Ch (chevre cheese, chorizo sausage, and champignons mushrooms) for dinner and we watched a couple of French movies - one about life and death, the other a love story.  It was a relaxing evening!

This week I'm looking forward to visiting the circus and a weekend in the Netherlands.  Have a wonderful time - I'll post again soon!