Hotel Zamek Olomouc

... be surrounded by loads of tourists in somewhere so picturesque. And it's so cheap here!

After lunch we came back to the hostel and sorted out our plans for the last few days in Eastern Europe. Sam's Mum had freaked her out about the rash that had broken out all over her body and she asked Greg if it was easy to get to a doctor here. She showed him the rash on her arms and he told her it was definitely bed bugs - just as we'd suspected! We did a bit of research on the ...

... joined us and we walked across the road to the grounded aeroplane. It was an old Russian Tupelov and original opened in the 70's as a restaurant for the communist elite. The entrance is a steel staircase with a locked security gate. You ring the bell and eventually, someone lets you in. It's a little seedy, pretty old, run down and dirty and you struggle for a gasp of fresh air as it fills up claustrophobically with cigarette smoke. They have a DJ (and a pretty ...

... for it, McDonalds Thick Shakes. The only place open. Honest! As we ordered a taxi pulled up and a couple in their late teens arrived for their McDonalds Date, straight from the stage of a Eurovision Song Contrest entry with spiky hair, jeans and more cool than I've seen since watching Grease. Quite a contrast to the bedraggled Roy lads.

Back at the hotel we looked up the weather forecast and it's rain for the rest of the week. There was serious ...

... plastic tricycles. But as midday approached a small crowd gathered outside the town hall to watch the once-daily chiming of Olomouc’s astronomical clock. We had already inadvertently witnessed the hourly chiming of Prague’s astronomical clock and afterwards were left scratching our heads at what all the fuss was about, and here stood the only other example in the Czech Republic – though the original had been destroyed in the Second World War ...

... for mobile phones and other consumables at an obscene volume from across the street, Olomouc just looked like slightly more populous version of the dreary towns we had just passed through.

We caught a tram to our hostel, where we sought refuge from the constant rain for what was left of the afternoon. Poets’ Corner was owned by an Australian couple (is there any corner of the earth where my fellow countrymen aren’t currently anchored? Hard to believe when ...

... as "not strong". But, maybe there is a third type of girl? On this night, Vika showed me that she needed someone. She said, sadly, that she always feels bad when she's alone. And yet, in a lot of ways, she certainly isn't weak. She always stands tall and puts her face right in front of mine when she talks to me. When I'd found her this night, we were on a stairway, and she stood on the step above me in a dark t-shirt, and put her arm lightly around me ...

... she´s happy. The kid´s gonna be great. And with her husband, Juan Gomez, (I made an agitated "grrr!" sound here for humor´s sake.) they´ll have a good family. And I´ll be a proud uncle. So, to Vanesa´s baby, let´s drink!) We happily stood and drank. My nervous speech had been imperfect. I´d left out details. In the interest of truth and open-ness, I would´ve liked to have revealed to my friends that I hold anti-family ...

... during class. Night fell. Some played drums around the fire. Most others just talked with old friends. Blond, bulldog-headed Pet´a (a guy) pulled his car near and turned on the stereo. Hent´a, Libor, Vit´a, and I danced on the grass in the moonlight beside the tall cypress tree. (Afterwards, girls would refuse to believe four guys danced alone together in the Czech Republic.) Hent´a was so free. First, a ********g played, and we just leapt in the air. Then ...

... or a decorated egg. Then, we "feasted" (modestly). Plates were set out with salami-cheese-and-pickles on bread, crackers smeared with a garlic sauce and olives, and pastries. The women were delighted to have us. (We didn´t whip them hard.) Marek explained that when men hit the women, it symbolizes we are slapping freshness into them. We throw cold water on them for the same reason. Females give chocolate and eggs, to symbolize they´re giving us life ...

... stretched out from the tall cone-top of the church. While in town, I even enjoyed some natural kisses. But, on other days, when I just wanted to go meet bar friends and drink, my best Czech friend Klára Sigmundová was there to kiss me so I wouldn't break my vows. Thanks, sweet Klara! The bar friends were great. Hent'a, with his happy-cartoon-puppy-dog smile, gave me a tripping-over-itself hug. Pavel, the smily-drunken-bear and mechanical engineering student, went on and on in ...