We had a drink of Svijamy (above) in a kebab house in the main square in Olomouc. This beer was very refreshing and seemed to have a gentle, slightly bitter aftertaste. I've also just read that it's brewed in a small Czech mountain village called Svijamy.
And the beer below, Holba? Well, we had this in the bar adjoining our hotel in Olomouc. This beer was extremely subtle and seemed to be neither bitter nor sweet, but definitely worth a drink, of course. Just read that this beer comes from the Czech town of Hanusovice.
Twenty-five minutes away from Olomouc on the train is the smaller Czech city/town of Sternberk, where the Cathedral (above) is one of the main highlights.
Upon closer inspection, the exterior of Sternberk Cathedral is both beautiful and somewhat dilapidated (possibly giving it an authentic touch):
In particular, the Gethsemane scene below caught my eye:
But more than anything, Sternberk Cathedral was spectacular inside:
On the outside, there was also this interesting side entrance into the Cathedral:
Absolutely loved the Main Square in Olomouc, especially the Astronomical Clock (below) on the side of the beautiful medieval Town Hall (above).
Always like to catch a person in the middle of experiencing aesthetic emotion, like with the girl (bottom left) looking at the Astronomical Clock above.
Have just read that both Olomouc Town Hall its Astronomical Clock date back to the 15th century. Also read that the Clock was almost entirely destroyed by retreating German soldiers during the latter days of the 2nd World War, and was then reconstructed in the style of 'socialist realism' after the War:
Of course, my good friend, Dave Dealy will love all this 'socialist realism':
As can be seen below, the back end of the medieval Town Hall is also well worth a close look:
We were walking up to Olomouc city centre from our small hotel when we came across the Russian war memorial below:
As can be seen in the picture above, four Russian graves lie in front of the memorial. After a quick internet search, I've just discovered that these graves contain the remains of four Soviet soldiers who died fighting in Olomouc on 8th May 1945.
Zoomed in on the red star at the top of the monument (below) so that I could send this shot to my old mate Dave Dealy who is intrigued by this kind of Soviet memorabilia:
Sometimes, I'm unfortunate enough to be at the computer for about eight hours a day, and this is when I appreciate the musical variety on Youtube more than anything.
While working on the computer, I often go Youtube surfing to cure the boredom caused by whatever else I'm doing (e.g. proofreading for EFL coursebooks or doing transcripts for postgraduate work).
While Youtube surfing last week, I came across Mary Fahl's version of 'Both Sides Now' which, for me, does full justice to Joni Mitchell's original:
In fact, it took me back to Joni Mitchell's original, which I distantly recall having heard as an infant on the radio on my parents' old gramophone in the early 1970's:
Definitely remember the old BBC 'In Concert' series from which Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now' is taken above, but it would probably be stretching my imagination a bit too far to claim that I remember this particular performance from when I was a four-year-old all those years ago in 1970, but who knows?
Anyway, through looking at this 1970 'In Concert' performance, I was also reacquainted with two other great Joni Mitchell tunes: 'Chelsea Morning' and 'Woodstock':
Over the years, I've never really given Joni Mitchell a detailed listen, and yet I recognise the three great tunes above as being canonical. Thus, I think this may demonstrate the aesthetic magic that real music can work on the human mind/soul.
While walking past a clutch of kebab shops on Al. Jan Pawel II the other day, I noticed the Benedictine food and drink shop sign above.
When I looked through the window, the shop seemed to mainly contain different kinds of health food and both mead and wine on the back shelves, so I must go inside for a much closer look some time.
Here are a few shots from a timber raft ride, which included listening to a Slovenian oompah band, on the river Drava in Maribor, Slovenia. Below, the leader of the Slovenian oompah band is organising things with the Polish tour guide, Ania:
And, after a hearty ham and cheese sandwich and a glass or two of finely chilled, dry white wine, one of the Polish tourists who I was travelling with, Leo Tom, gave us all a song:
At times, this venture down the river was quite picturesque as in the picture below:
Encouraged by the oompah band, Leo Tom took over lead vocals at the front of the stage:
Full credit to Leo Tom, without his singing, this trip wouldn't have been half as entertaining.
Was at a bit of a low ebb this weekend but playing 'Deep As You Go' by Mary Fahl (above) managed to uplift me, as beautiful music just works like this, as a panacea.
For me, Mary Fahl probably has the most beautiful/incredible female voice I've ever heard. Of course, I also love 'Deep As You Go' by October Project when Mary Fahl was the lead vocalist:
Had breakfast in the hotel early one day so I decided to have a quick walk round the local village (above), and first came across the war memorial below:
Then, inevitably, I came across the village church (below):
The exterior of which contained quite a few interesting frescoes:
My favourite out of the frescoes has to be the one below:
Having visited lots of tourist (-type) places in Slovenia, it was just nice to catch a sleeping Slovene/Slovenian village early in the morning.
When I was in Maribor last week, I thought: "Yeah, this is nice but nothing really special". But now, looking back at my shots from Maribor city centre, I'm starting to change my mind as the place does seem to have a certain charm:
In particular, I found the rugby ball-shaped structure below (which on closer inspection contains a myriad of faces) fascinating:
Also, couldn't help but appreciate the red-brick Gothic-type church below:
But still, it was the rugby-ball shaped structure that caught most of my attention:
Saw this (unusually-coloured) beautiful church walking towards Maribor Castle. It was a real pity that we didn't have the time or opportunity to have a look inside.
