Posts

Znojmo

Image
 Travelling by train and bus is remarkably cheap, and would be easy with the language. Anyway, I really enjoyed the comfort of the little train taking me to Znojmo, the third most historic city in Moravia. The trip today was through an agricultural area where towns and villages were few and far between. People got off the train at stops which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, I was hoping mine might be different. It was an overcast day with light drizzle, so the scenery wasn’t too exciting, but I did see some white herons or egrets and several deer in one of the fields, so that was fun.  I used all the Czech I knew today and certainly got great reactions from otherwise somewhat unfriendly people. I was pleased to find public transport in Znojmo was free for seniors and there’s a good system linking train and city. Well, I have learned here never to rely on first impressions! All okay with accommodation, although the check in wasn’t easy with a receptionist who only spoke ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mikulov, close to the Austrian border.

Image
 Wow, what a beautiful, luckily not  so well known gem. Only kilometres from the Austrian border, surrounded by vineyards, bio tops and hills, Mikulov is the perfect place to get your breath back after four intensive days of languages! I arrived in light drizzle, very refreshing after the searing heat of the previous week. Of course the picturesque, colourful , Renaissance style houses didn’t have the same brightness they had the next day. It’s the perfect place to savouring a glass or two of local wines, whilst watching locals, cyclists and a few tourists meandering across the gorgeous pedestrian main square. It was as if life had suddenly stood still a moment, after the bustle of Madrid and Brno. However, on the down side, I missed the laughter, the huge smiles from young and old and the feeling that people were enjoying one another’s company. Maybe it’s after the years of repression. One lady I chatted to a little in English told me during communism she couldn’t even go to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Polyglot Gathering 2026, 27 May - 1 June.

Image
 It was a good plan to wear a Polyglot shirt from last year when travelling to Brno, as it attracted people, like bees to a honeypot. I had a brilliant trip from Vienna in first class, which was cheaper than 2 nd class on an earlier train! I so enjoyed the lounge at the station, I lost track of time and ended up racing for the train.  Wow, the hotel was many steps up from last year’s accommodation. It was fantastic. The Polyglot Gathering was massive. 910 people from 67 nations. I was the only person from New Zealand, and certainly it was never hard starting a conversation with someone new. Books galore, in a multitude of different languages. I always enjoy the display of interesting linguistic features. The opening ceremony started late and was horrendously noisy. The floor was sticky from spilled‘pivo’, beer, that everyone squelched along. Pretty gross really. However, it was good to pick up information for our subsequent days. We certainly built many bridges. Perhaps none s...
Post a Comment
Read more