Sometimes travel blogs can lead you astray. From everything I had read online, Czech “wine country” sounded charming. Like an undiscovered Napa Valley just sitting there between Vienna and Prague. Articles talked about beautiful little towns dotting an area called Moravia, and I was seduced by the descriptions of a village called Znojmo, where I planned to stop for a night or two. Znojmo (apparently pronounced znoy-mo in reality) was fun to say (pronounced znoj-mo in my head). Armed with an image of rolling hills, scattered with quaint towns brimming with local cafés and inns, I left Vienna for Bruno, where I rented a one-way car rental to drop off in Prague (a one-way rental was significantly cheaper if the pickup and drop off was in the same country). Arriving in Bruno, I couldn’t wait to get on the road, and driving away from the city towards the small towns of Moravia, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I soon entered the countryside and wound my way around the country roads. No GPS, no signage that made any sense – it was incredibly liberating. Arriving in the town of Kroměříž, I thought it would be a good time to stop and explore. By that time, the overcast skies had given way to a steady drizzle. I parked the car and we jogged our way to the center of town. The little shops I came across were exactly as I had envisioned them – if not a little Disneyland-ish. I learned that the town was a UNESCO World Heritage site, and had recently been renovated to return it to its “original” condition. We then made our way to an old castle and walked through the soggy grounds. Stepping around puddles, I did not spot many other people.
In an effort to escape the rain, which was becoming steadier, we dashed into a small café. The hot coffee was most welcome, but the wall of cigarette smoke – not so much! Having walked down the one street in town, where most of the shops were closed, I continued to notice that the streets were fairly empty and there was a gloominess that hung over the town. Perhaps this was because of the rain, or perhaps it was just another indication of the “undiscovered” nature of this area. In any event, we looked at each other and looked towards the seemingly cute, but likely abandoned, inn on the other side of the square, and decided to b-line it back to Prague. We never did make it Znojmo after all.
The drive to Prague was quite lovely – the scenery was picturesque – but I was relieved to be seeing it from our rear-view mirror! On entering Prague, I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe someday I’ll come back to discover Czech wine country, hopefully during a warmer and sunnier day. For the moment, I was overjoyed to see streetcars and the narrow streets in Prague bustling with people. A nice cold Budvar would be the perfect ending to this brief adventure…