Polyglot Gathering 2025 , Brno and new friends

After days of worrying about connections via Munich to Brno, I opted to buy a brand new ticket directly from Zurich to Vienna, connecting to the original train from Munich. It meant a very early start, leaving Seengen at 5.30 to get all the connections. It was worth it for the lack of stress early in the day! 

The 10-hour journey to Vienna was very scenic, passing through the Austrian Alps and reminding me of visits to David when he was working there as ski instructor. 

The journey went a little quicker thanks to an incredible lady sitting opposite, who I discovered was actually 94, originally from Berlin and had been 15 when war ended. She had plenty to talk about, of course, and was as sharp as a tack! She was elegantly dressed and had bright red hair, with matching lipstick, perfectly applied! I was in awe of this remarkably self-assured lady who had endured the horrors of war.

After a wait at Vienna I headed to Breclaw, my first introduction for a while to not being able to communicate with others. Amazingly, few spoke English. Finally, a Polish lady put my mind at rest when she spoke in German and confirmed I was on the correct train. What an interesting compartment we were in - a rather snappy Czech woman, an older Austrian guy who must have been a weightlifter in the past( he put everyone's luggage up on a very high rack, risking losing his trousers each time,), and the Polish couple and me. 

At Breclaw I got out, to find myself on a platform with a lot of lost souls waiting for the train from Germany, which was 50 minutes late! I had made the right decision. Luckily, I could get a local train to Brno. More issues at the station when I couldn't find the taxi, but eventually two business men took charge and I finally arrived at 18.30 at my accommodation. If appearances had counted for anything, I might have turned around and gone back, but luckily inside this building was my super clean and comfortable apartment. The toothless man showing me around had two words, light and key. I have three keys and inside each door there's a light!

I definitely should have learned some Czech! I felt lost with no way to communicate. 

Boy, did I sleep well after the long day. 

Next morning, armed with my fantastic Maps Me app offline, I easily found my way through a beautiful park towards the uni. First choice to be made was steps or longer gentle slope up to the university. I can't believe I chose the steps!

A young lady climbing with me tried to make conversation! Not my thing so early in the morning! I could 

hardly breathe.

What an amazing day it was, with so many fanatical language learners around me, many with literally dozens of languages. It was very humbling, actually. What friendly, outgoing people they are. The noise of excited discussions was sometimes deafening. In the center of the reception room are language practice tables where you can go if there aren't talks or workshops you want to go to. 

I chose loads of great talks and a really exciting, but exhausting and loud workshop, speed chatting. We spoke to 6 new people, each time chatting for just five minutes in whatever language both chose. French, Italian, Swedish, Spanish and Japanese, all in 45 minutes. Many of those I spoke to I met up with many times around the Gathering, so it was a brilliant way to get to know new people. 
 

Sergio from Madrid in Spain was one of my partners at speed chatting and became a great friend. We enjoyed many great meals together, chatting about so many different topics and savoring the different foods.

He had a very healthy appetite and ordered this incredible dish with absolutely everything that the restaurant offered, I think. Somewhere among all that meat was a Moravian Sparrow. We weren't sure which it was, or if it was too small to see well. Actually, we did notice there were no sparrows around the tables (they usually hang around to clear up dropped food), so decided they were either all in the kitchen being prepared for the next order, or had cleverly decided to go elsewhere! 

Anyway, Sergio and I certainly enjoyed each other's company and I was thrilled to be able to enjoy meals together, and meet other friends of his for drinks . I was a bit lazy with my Spanish, but honestly, I was often pretty exhausted after 8 hours of frequent language changing, but am now absolutely determined to rekindle my Spanish.

Astronomical Square - what a magnificent place to sit and stare. Everything was so clean, and everything seemed so calm. Brno old city is pedestrianised so apart from the bells of the trams, it was so peaceful.

The other main square with the cathedral in the background was also the scene of local buskers playing to an audience lounging in deckchairs. Very chilled atmosphere indeed. 

As the sun went down, the beautiful towers and balconies way up high were lit up, contrasting magnificently with the blue skies.

Such a colourful city.

I feel so safe, whatever time of day. Apparently there is virtually no crime.

People on trams stand to let older people, pregnant women and women with children sit. Crowds at tram stops let those people get into the tram first. It's fantastic. So civilised.

Interesting artworks

Narrow streets with impressive , colourful buildings on either side.

And quiet courtyards, reminiscent of those in Córdoba, which I visited only a year ago!

Farewell to my apartment, with this unintelligible notice on the door!

A last walk through the lush green park to the Polyglot Gathering 

900 of us trekked down the this fabulous park overlooking the city for a group photo, Quite remarkable how organised we all were. What a marvellous event with such interesting talks and people. 70 nationalities or more, in perfect harmony. New friends, new ideas and renewed energy to learn more languages ​​before next year, I will certainly be back if I can.