Wow, Brno!

Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014--Bratislava, Slovakia to Brno, Czech Republic

What a difference an hour and a half can make!  That's how short the train ride is between Bratislava and Brno.  But there is a BIG difference in the two cities.  First, however...

Saturday is NOT a good day to travel by train during August in Europe.  August is probably the most popular month for people taking vacations.  And it showed on the trains today.  Just 20 minutes before our train was to depart, one headed for Budapest arrived.  Many people got off, but probably more got on.  Then the platform filled to overflow again in anticipation of the arrival of our train which was headed to Brno, Prague, Dresden, and Berlin--all VERY popular spots.  Wes and I quickly moved to the end of the platform to try to have a better chance at getting a seat.  But as we entered that car, it was already full!  A few minutes later, after Wes and I had deposited our luggage in the area between cars and were standing there with it, there was still a jumble of people headed each way trying to find seats.  We, along with others in each car, stood there between cars for the entire 1 1/2-hour trip.  I'm glad it wasn't a longer one.

We had to walk all the way through the old center of Brno to get from the train station to our hotel, the Europa.  What a change Brno is to Bratislava.  It is clean, the pavements are smooth and attractive, almost all buildings have been restored, etc.  And what buildings they are!  This city is filled with massive buildings with ornate construction details.  It's a beautiful place.

Our first order of business was to exchange our leftover Hungarian forints for Czech Korunas.  We had been unable to get rid of the Hungarian currency in Slovakia.  We found only one private exchange place in the whole city, and it had a wide range between its buy/sell quotes.  Here in Brno, we passed 7 exchange houses within the first 3 blocks of leaving the train station.  They are easy to find.  We went out shopping for a good rate.  The first one wanted to pay us too little--80 koronas for 100 forints.  I had checked the official exchange rate online, and it is 88 koronas for 100 forints.  The second booth quoted us 85 koronas for 100 forints.  We figured that it wasn't worth the effort to try to improve on that, so we took it. 

From there, we went exploring town more.  It's larger than I expected, and it is more elegant looking than I expected.  We were pleasantly surprised at every turn of the corner.  It was quiet all over, because most shops were closed and most people were either in their homes, gone to their summer houses, or gone on vacation.  We eventually explored one street which continued for many blocks north of town with nice, old buildings.  Then we turned from it into a nearby park.  We sat on a bench there for an hour watching people go by, listening to a group of musicians playing, and watching a woman practice walking on a taught rope stretched between two trees. 

Around 19:00, we realized that we only had HUGE bills from our money exchange and that many restaurants would not want to accept them.  Normally, we go to a supermarket and buy something each day with our large bills until we have smaller one.  We just hadn't thought about it yet today.  We rushed to a Tesco we had seen behind the train station where Wes bought a 16 korona bottle of cola with a 1000 korona bill. 

Returning toward the apartment, we each got a kebab plate.  We were too tired to search for a better place.  Tomorrow night we will, though.  I've done some research and have found a place we hope to try.