The Czech Republic is my home, I’ve lived there for my whole life (if I don’t count the many long-term international stays abroad). But still, there are many places I haven’t visited in my country. It’s not always easy, not always close, and certainly not always cheap.
The other day, my boyfriend & I visited the city of Olomouc. It is located pretty much in the center of the country, and it only takes up to 2 hours to get there by train from where we live. Plus, we had a voucher for a dinner in a fancy restaurant owned by a jury of the Czech Masterchef show, so this city was an obvious option for a weekend getaway (although we’ve both been there before).
It was one of the last warm and beautiful days of November. We started the tour at one of the city’s cafés – we needed to wait for our hotel to open check-ins and didn’t want to drag our luggage around too much. The coffee was very good, and we had a funny experience watching a crazy-looking dog. He was tiny, super hairy, and had this wild look on his face that we just couldn’t stop laughing.
After that, we went to check into our hotel. It was located in the very city center, next to a beautiful baroque church. We didn’t intend to spend that much time there anyway, but it was nice and pleasant to get anywhere we wanted on foot.
So we took a walk around the city. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and we started the walk by the church and the former city walls. Under the walls, the river flows and there is a beautiful park with a pedestrian & cycle area and it seems people really like to go there, especially on one of the last sunny days.
Then we turned into one of the city’s squares: the Lower Square. Everybody around the town was strolling with wine glasses in their hands and we were wondering where did they get them? Well, at the Lower Square. It was the St. Martin’s celebrations, which in Czechia is famous for eating goose with dumplings and cabbage, and St. Martin’s wine. There were many stands from local wineries that offered tastings of their wines. Aaand we couldn’t resist, obviously. So we tasted a glass of red and a glass of white and then went back to our hotel to change into something more appropriate for a visit to a fancy restaurant.
And I gotta say, I’ve never been to a fancier place. And if it weren’t for the voucher, I would probably never go there, as I just wouldn’t want to spend SO much money on a single dinner. But we did have the voucher and the experience was amazing.
First of all, the whole place was designed beautifully: a lot of different lights and lamps, many plants, and beautiful designer furniture. Right at the entrance, we were greeted by staff who took us to our table. Everything was taken care of: our coats, water, and prosecco as an entrée. Then we were offered a degustation menu and wine pairing (which means you get a glass of wine paired with every meal). The menu had 5 courses but as with all fancy restaurants, the total amount of food wasn’t that big. But the food was amazing, and the whole service in total as well. We enjoyed it a lot and spend around 3 hours tasting, drinking and talking and it was amazing.
We came back to our hotel very tired but happy. The next day, the weather wasn’t that good anymore, so instead of going for another walk, we went for another coffee. We found this amazing place called Long Story Short, which is the old barracks turned into a restaurant, hostel & a café. The coffee was amazing and we also had a great soup for an early lunch. In the meantime, the weather improved a little, so we went for the last walk around the city before getting back on a train home. It was all around an amazing and very pleasant experience.
Here are some tips on what to see in Olomouc:
- The Lower & Upper square (Dolní & Horní náměstí)
- A UNESCO heritage plague pillar at the Upper Square
- St. Michael’s church
- The cathedral
- The city center
- Entrée restaurant
- Long Story Short hostel & café
- Kafe jak lusk café
- Svatý kopeček shrine & zoo
So which of these places would you like to visit the most? Let me know!
