From Znojmo to Prachatice

For our last three days in Znojmo before heading off to our next destination (Prachatice), we spent our time around family. After our Mon morning swim, we went to Karel’s mom’s flat for lunch. I had a lentil dish and Karel had a dish with meat. We then went back to our Airbnb for a short time and then walked to Karel’s nieces flat to visit with her and her son and husband. I loved seeing her beautiful four cats - one was a giant Maine coon. We chatted a bit (she speaks English) and then went to the park. We got ice cream on our walk back to our Airbnb, before walking to the grocery store to get a few things for dinner.

On Tuesday, we went for a short off-road run around the town. I was pretty tired during the run so we took several walk/stop breaks for pictures. Karel’s brother took a train/bus in from Pribor for the day (and night). We gifted Karel’s brother Jirka with a new pair of Hoka trail running shoes and a Trimarni tank. Jirika enjoys trail running and bike expeditions. After lunch at Karel's mom's place, Karel and his brother went to his dad’s cemetery and enjoyed a beer at the pub that their dad frequently visited (downstairs from his flat). This was Karel’s first real beer in over 3 years and while he didn’t really enjoy how it made him feel, he enjoyed sharing memories with his brother. While they were at the pub, I worked on the computer and took a short nap in our Airbnb With it being warm out and the noisy streets (and window’s open when we sleep), we haven’t had a good night of sleep since arriving to Czech. We are constantly tired and hoping that one of these nights we will sleep restfully.
For dinner, Karel and I went to a restaurant in town and Karel enjoyed a traditional chicken breast wrapped in potato and I had vegetables and pasta.

Wednesday was a pretty chill day. We went for a ride on the single track trails behind the only hospital in town. We did a few hard efforts to get the legs ready for the race on Saturday. We then went for a brick run (trail run). I was pretty tired after the bike ride and my legs were tired while running. After eating lunch at Karel's mom's place, we then went back to our place (Karel’s mom came with us before heading to Karel’s nieces place to babysit her son) and sorted through our clothes for our next leg of trip. Since we didn’t need to bring everything with us for the next week of traveling we sorted through our stuff and packed only one suitcase along with our race stuff for the Xterra event. In the early evening, we walked into town and enjoyed our last evening in Znojmo.

On Thursday morning we woke up around 5:45am and left our place around 7am. The drive to Borova Lada took around 3.5 hours. Depending on where we travel in Czech, the miles don’t go by really fast. For this trip, we were mostly on two lane roads, traveling through many villages and often getting stuck behind tractors and trucks. While you can pass on these roads, there are still a lot of slow downs. We were pretty exhausted and tired by the time we got to our cottage. A friend of Roman’s has a second home in Borova Lada and he let us use it from Thurs – Sunday. He was going to join us (along with Roman and two other guys) but they would come on Friday after bike riding from Prague to the house (over 100 miles there and then biking home on Sunday. They had a car following them with their clothes and food). The cottage was super cute and it was so nice to feel cooler air and for it to be so quiet (which was a big change after living in a city for the past week). After unpacking, we (along with our friend Honza who was also doing the Xterra race) drove in two cars to Prachatice – which took ~50 minutes. We picked up our race stuff in the town of Prachatice and then drove another 35 minutes to the start of the bike course. Because of the point to point bike course, we left one car in town and all rode in Honza’s van to the race start/bike start. By the time we got on our bikes, it was after 2pm and we had been traveling since 7pm. Karel and I were very tired. We are almost on the verge of tears because of how exhausted we were. But when we got on our mountain bikes, we quickly woke up and felt the good energy enter our body. What a difference it makes to move the body!

For the next 2.5 hours, we rode the entire Xterra bike course and all I can say is wow. The course was not super technical (there were a few small sections with rocks and roots that required skills and strength to get over) but what was so physically demanding was the long steep climbs. There were climbs on pavement, grass, rocks and dirt that were well over 20% and lasted anywhere from 2-5+ minutes. We took several stops to regroup (with Karel leading the way and having a blast on his bike). There were also several sections with signs before that read “DANGER” and to Karel, this meant “FUN” as the section was a fast, rocky, steep downhill. While I felt like I could handle the entire course with my skills (a few times I needed to get off my bike to walk through a section that I was too tired to get the strength to work through), what I lacked with high power on the climbs. My legs were so tired and my body felt empty. A big difference between mountain biking and biking in the Ironman is that in the Ironman, I rarely feel my heart beating fast. But in mountain biking, my heart is always beating hard and I’m breathing heavy. It requires so much effort to get up these steep hills and navigate over roots, rocks and other elements. This feeling is very new to me and something I’m getting used to. After 16 years of building my aerobic engine for Ironman, I know I need to really work my anaerobic threshold to better handle the punchy and hard efforts needed in mountain biking.

The bike course finished with a packed gravel downhill section with a few berms and then on the pump track before heading on the cobblestones and into town.

After the bike, Karel and Honza took our car back up the lake (another 40 minutes there and back) while I walked in the town and picked up pizza. I took advantage of the extra time and free WIFI at the pizzeria (we don’t have wifi at our cottage) and downloaded the videos from my GoPro to the app on my phone. After Honza and Karel returned, it was after 7pm and we had been on the go since 7am. We had a 45 minute drive back to the cottage and by 9pm, I was so ready for bed. It was so nice to sleep in a quiet bedroom with fresh cool air. We slept great!

On Friday, we enjoyed sleeping in and then went for a short trail run in the National Park. After the run, we walked into the small town and had blueberry dumplings for our lunch meal – which were incredibly delicious. We all cleaned our plates! 

As for the rest of the day, I used my hot spot and got ahead with a little work and Karel got our bikes ready for the Xterra race. It was a little interesting trying to replicate my normal pre-race meals in Czech, especially for an event that I had never done before. Whereas I have my Ironman and 70.3 pre and during race nutrition down perfectly, I need a lot more practice for Xterra. Roman and the other guys arrived to the cottage around 7pm but I was already asleep as I was so exhausted and tired. I had a good night of sleep and even though I slept in until almost 7am, I was still a bit tired in the morning. Since not sleeping well for a week, I feel like my body is still struggling with sleep. I was very nervous for the race, especially not knowing what to expect and racing in the European Championship. Karel also felt a bit nervous, even though he has much more experience than me (this was his 5th Xterra event).

At 8:30am, we left our place and headed to Prachatice for my first Xterra race. Race report coming soon!

Czech Trip Day 5 - FOOD

We arrived to Znojmo, Czech Republic (Karel's hometown) on Thursday August 4th and his first meal request from his mom was SVÍČKOVÁ. Karel's dish (pictured above) was the classic version whereas mine was made vegetarian.

Until now (when I looked it up for this article), I had no idea how this meal was made.

"Svíčková is a famous sauce from Czech cuisine, made from root vegetables and heavy cream. It’s thickened with roux. Svíčková sauce is eaten warm poured over a beef slice, accompanied with bread dumplings. You can also garnish the final dish with lemon, cranberries, and a scoop of whipped cream."

I love this meal (vegetarian version) because it's so incredibly tasteful. It's also very comforting for Karel - it brings him a lot of great memories.

Mindfullness has many definitions but one that speaks to me is from this article that states "being aware of what is happening both inside your body, heart and mind - and outside in your environment, without criticism or judgement. Mindful eating is a form of mindfulness."

For Karel, food serves an added role when he is in Czech. It's not just for fuel and for nourishment but it brings back so many wonderful memories. From the dishes prepared by Karel's mom to ice cream and candy bar selections in the grocery store, every bite takes him back to a time and a place.

For me, I want to celebrate Karel's culture and rituals. The only way I can do that is to maintain a good relationship with food while I am in Czech. To do this, I must eat mindfully. I can't read the ingredients or food labels (everything is in Czech) so besides asking Karel if something is vegetarian and OK for me to eat, the only way I know how something makes me feel when I eat it is to savour every bite and to really focus on what I am eating.

I love trying different types of spreadable cheese, pastries and yogurts - discovering which one tastes the best or which one makes my tummy smile. I don't know if a food or meal is 100 calories or 1000 calories so instead, I listen to my body and my body tells me when I'm satisfied.

My food related decisions are created based on my senses - not from rules, guidelines or ingredient lists. For many people, the act of mindful eating could feel overwhelming and scary but with practice, it can help foster a great relationship with food. By focusing on the how and why of eating, you can better understand what foods help you to stay healthy, fueled and satisfied - fostering a deeper appreciation for every meal.

To help get you started with mindful eating, here are a few simple tips:

• Engage the senses and remove distractions - turn off the TV or screen or put down the book. Sit uninterrupted.
• Eat slowly. Savor the flavors, aromas and textures. Reconnect with your senses.
• Chew each bite at least 10+ times. Taste your food. 
• Ignore any emotions, thoughts or feelings around food. Simply enjoy the experience of eating without guilt, anxiety or inner commentary.

When the mind is calm, you are less likely to eat in an emotional, restrictive or all-or-nothing way. Awareness brings clarity, which helps with food related decisions. When your mind is calm, you are more compassionate toward yourself and less judgmental.

During every trip to Czech with Karel, I learn how to eat more mindfully. It's not about changing the food I eat but changing my thinking around food.

DOBROU CHUŤ (That's good appetite in Czech)

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Czech Trip - Day 3 MTB

 

I was so excited for Sunday. A long ride on our mountain bikes. 

After checking out of Airbnb #1 (to check in to Airbnb #2 in the afternoon - I wasn't able to book one for our entire 7-day stay in Znojmo) we drove just outside of town to Karel's friends house - Jirka. We enjoy seeing Jirka everytime we visit Znojmo for two reasons 1) I get to see Visty (Italian Greyhound) and her baby Bianca 2) Karel gets to talk bikes with Jirka. Karel and Jirka share a similar love of Colnago bicycles. They used to race together when Karel was a teenager. 

Another friend joined us (Stephen) and we set out for a long ride around 9:30am. Although Karel is somewhat familiar with the roads, it was great to have Jirka as our tour guide as we were able to see so many great sights and several beautiful look-out points. I've seen a few of these spots in past trips, but never by mountain bike. I am used to riding on very technical single-track courses so it was a nice change to be on different off-road terrain. We rode for almost 3.5 hours and covered almost 40 miles and over 3400 feet of elevation gain. Although the area is not "hilly" we had to climb up several 18%+ grades to get to lookout points - it was all worth it. We also visited the Iron Curtain, which always makes me stop and think about Karel's upbringing in a communist country. 

When we visit Czech, I really try to embrace being a local. Although we brought sport nutrition from home, we enjoy trying new products. Jirka gave us each a sports bar to try (mine was banana and peanuts and Karel had apricot) – it was really good. We had our sports drinks in our USWE hydration packs.

Near the end of our ride, Jirka took us to a beautiful lookout point where we could see all of Znojmo – a location that Karel had never been to before. It was the perfect end to our long ride.

When we arrived back to Jirka’s house, his wife had a meal ready for us – chickpea curry with rice and salad. It was so good.

At 3pm, we headed back into town with all of our stuff to check in to our next Airbnb, which is where we will stay for the rest of our time in Znojmo (until Thurs). After unpacking, we walked around downtown and then picked up a pizza in town – it was amazing. The dough was so good and I really enjoyed the tofu topping on the margherita pizza. We finished the entire pizza.

We haven’t been sleeping that well since we have arrived. I think our internal clocks are still a bit off and getting used to not having AC (we have several fans). We went to bed around 10:30pm but it was a restless night of sleep. We seemed to sleep a bit better toward the morning hours as it got cooler outside. With the pool opening at 10am, we were in no rush so when we woke up. Karel went for a short run to help wake him up and then we walked to the grocery store (there’s a store at every corner) to get a few things. I’ve been having yogurt, muesli and fruit for breakfast. After breakfast, it was time to drive to the pool for a swim workout. 

Czech Trip Day 2: Brno

 

On Saturday morning, we woke up to light rain - which was refreshing since Friday was incredibly hot outside. The air was cool and the sky was cloudy. We started the morning with a run around the town - which was more like sightseeing for me. We ran for ~45 minutes and included several stops for pictures of gardens (and one longer stop to look at the cutest kitten and momma). 

After we cleaned up, we drove ~60 minutes to the city of Brno to meet Karel's niece Lenka and her husband and son. If you'd like to read more about Brno, here's an article. 

After meeting Lenka at the parking lot by the train/bus station, we walked through town to a restaurant for lunch. We had lunch at Forky's - a 100% plant based bistro. It was so great to be able to choose any option from the menu. I had a power plate w/ quinoa protein bites and Karel had a tofu curry. We shared fries. 

After lunch, we walked up to the top of a hill to tour the Špilberk Castle. We first took a tour of the museum and then went below the castle to tour the Prison. We then walked to see the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.

Around 4pm, we headed back to Znojmo. We needed to fill our car with gas (diesel) so we got a few snacks at the gas station - popsicles and my favorite poppyseed "bread." 

Czech Trip - Day 1

We arrived to Znojmo, Czech Republic (Karel’s hometown, around 10k from the Austrian border) after a 3-hr drive from Roman’s house (outside of Prague). Although the trip was only around 110 miles, there is no interstate to get on but instead, we go through many small towns where the speed limit is constantly changing from 30-50Km/hr to 70-90Km/hr (the interstate is 110Km/hr). Plus, there’s also construction, round abouts, tractors and trucks to slow things down on the small two-lane roads.

When we arrived to Znojmo, we unloaded our stuff at our Airbnb in the town center and then made a quick stop at the grocery store to get flowers for Karel’s mom and some mineral water (and a non-alcoholic beer for Karel). Karel’s mom was really happy to see us and the feeling was mutual. It’s been three long years since Karel saw his mom. She had dinner ready for us – Svickova, one of Karel’s favorite meals. She started preparing this meal two days before we arrived (it’s a labor of love). I appreciate that she makes me a vegetarian version.

Nearing 8pm, we went back to our place and we were ready for bed. I was really proud of myself for not taking a long nap as that always throws off my sleep schedule. We slept around 10 hours but it was someone of a restless night as we were a little warm in our place (no AC and it has been in the 90’s here). It’s rare to have AC in many places in Europe and actually, many Europeans don’t like the AC as they believe it makes them sick (at least that is what many of Karel’s Czech friends tell him).

We had a light breakfast since we had a big late night dinner. We had yogurt and muesli and fresh peaches. After we ate and did a little work on the computer, we went to the local pool for a swim workout. The pool opened at 10am and we arrived shortly after and it was packed. I guess when you don’t have AC, it’s summer break and it’s 90 degrees out, the pool is where you want to be at.

The pool doesn’t have the same swimming etiquette as the states so you have to be ok with people getting in and out of your lane as you are swimming. We even had an old guy cannonball into our lae as we were swimming. No big deal 😊 We swam in the 25-meter pool (8 lanes) and swam 3200 meters. We did 1000 warm-up, 5 x 200 and then 10 x 100s.

After we swam, we went to Karel’s mom’s house for lunch (leftovers from the night prior except we started with bean and potato soup – so good). After lunch, we went to two different cemeteries so Karel and his mom could see his sister (who passed away 21 years ago at the age of 34 from a brain injury) and then we went to see his dad. This was a bit more emotional for Karel as the last time he saw his dad was in 2018 and the last time he talked to him was a day before he suddenly passed away from COVID. His dad was 81 and we were supposed to visit for his 80^th birthday celebration but COVID disrupted those plans. 2020 was supposed to be our trip to Europe, which is what we are doing now.

After we ate, I enjoyed looking through a few old albums from Karel's teenage years. Here are a few pics of Karel on a cycling trip w/ his dad and brother at Grossglockner (in Austria).

Karel dropped his mom off at her place and then he got our mountain bikes out of the case and got them ready for us to ride. Around 5pm we headed off our bikes through the town and into the National Park to explore. This was our first time riding mountain bikes in Znojmo as we are usually on our tri bikes. Karel had a great time playing tour guide as we explored the park and surrounding towns. I also experimented with my new Go Pro Hero 10 which I plan to use during the Haute Route Alps. There are so many hiking trails around to explore in Znojmo. We are planning a longer MTB ride on Sunday with one of Karel’s former cycling teammates. We rode around 90 minutes and then went back to cool off in the shower and then walked to the grocery to get a few things for dinner. When we are in Znjomo, we do a lot of walking. We ate around 8pm and went to bed around 10:30pm. Our time clocks are still a little off but hopefully in another day or two we will adjust to this new time zone (6 hours ahead EST).

Hello from Czech Republic!

 

We’ve traveled to Europe every other year since 2012 to visit Karel’s family (and in 2014, 2016, and 2018 we raced Ironman Austria and in 2018 we also raced Challenge Prague). Packing for this Europe trip was a bit different compared to years past. With all the recent issues and complaints with international travel, packing was not as easy as throwing everything into a suitcase.

With two bikes (we brought our mountain bikes for Xterra European Championship and we are renting road bikes for Haute route – more on this later) and two suitcases to get us through two races and 4 weeks in Europe, we needed to account for the chance of lost/delayed luggage. We both brought a carry-one with all our race stuff – mountain bike and road shoes, helmet, 3 cycling kits, Xterra race kit, 2 pairs of regular clothes and other race stuff. We packed our sport nutrition in our checked bag, with the rest of our everyday clothing and a few more cycling kits. For this trip, we ordered 4 Apple Air tags ($99 on Amazon) as well as tag key rings and bike adapters (for under the frame bottle cage) so that we could track our bags and bikes throughout our travels. The app is free and you get real time info on where your stuff is as well as when it’s handled/moved. This would give us peace of mind that we would know where our luggage was at all times. 

Karel packed our Biknd bike cases to be 50 lbs so that our bikes could travel free on Delta. Packing our mountain bikes was really easy for him in these cases – much easier than tri bikes. The Biknd cases are soft cases but reinforced with airbags inside for extra protection. The only downside is that there are only wheels on one end so you have to lift one end and pull the case to wheel it.

We did most of our packing on the weekend (and by we I mean I packed on Saturday, Karel tends to wait until the last minute to pack so I was proud that he actually started packing on the weekend – but finished on Tuesday) and then did a good cleaning of the house on Tuesday. We have a few different pet sitters for the cats while we are away and my mom will have Campy.

On Wednesday morning, I went for a 40 minute run. I didn’t have time for any longer so I did 8 x 30 sec hill repeaters to add some quality and intensity to the run. Karel planned to do a workout but he didn’t sleep well so he tried to get a little extra sleep in the morning.

After packing up our Jeep (leaving one extra seat for Karel’s mom to return home with us for 3 months), we said a long good-bye to the furries. It’s so hard to leave them. We dropped Campy off with my mom who lives a mile away and then we made the 2 hour drive to Charlotte, NC for the first of two flights to Prague Czech Republic.

We drove to our friends house – Kelly and Meg Fillnow – and arrived around 11am. I gave us a buffer of around 30 minutes in case we had any delays before heading to the airport at 11:30am. Kelly drove us to the airport (in our Jeep) and she will be keeping our car at her place for the month. So thankful for them to save us some money by not having to keep the car at long term parking. We arrived to the airport just before noon and there was no line to check in for our 3:50pm flight. I wanted to give us at least 3 hours before boarding due to all the delays and issues at the airport lately. We checked in two bags each (bike + suitcase = both were free) and by 12:20pm we were all checked in. Karel and I signed up for TSA pre-check ($85 for 5 years) but only I was approved within a few days – Karel’s application is still awaiting approval – it can take up to 60 days) so I got to go through the TSA pre-check (which was a breeze) and Karel went through the regular security check. 

Since we had over 3 hours until we boarded our flight, we got smoothies (and Karel had a pita sandwich, I brought a PBJ bagel sandwich) and worked on Training Peaks until it was time for us to board.

I selected Comfort Plus seats (front row) for our flights – a luxury that I will always pay for when traveling. We both napped for our 80-minute flight to JFK.

When we arrived in JFK around 5:30pm we walked from gate 40 to 26 for our next flight which boarded at 8:30 (9:30 take off). We would be getting dinner on the plane but we were hungry so we purchased food from a vending machine – and it was really good! I got hardboiled eggs from Vital Farms with my bowl and Karel got chicken. After we ate, we learned that our gate changed to 38 so we walked back to where we landed in JFK and worked some more on the computer until we started to board. 

As we were waiting to board, we started to track our bags with our apple air tag. It was fun to see our bags/bikes being moved in Charlotte. But when we were in JFK we noticed that our bikes were still sitting near gate 26 (our original gate) and our suitcases were near 38. This had us a little concerned but they still had time to move the bikes over 12 gates.

Tracking our bags in Charlotte - everything was on our plane.

We got settled in our seats and continued to track our bikes….which were not moving. Around 9pm, we were getting a bit stressed so I approached the flight attendant and showed her our bikes on the app and asked if there was anything that she could do. Without hesitation, she contacted a gate attendant from her phone and continued to send her messages for the next 20 minutes. Finally, around 10 minutes before the door closed to the plane, we received notification that our bikes were on the plane (along with our suitcases). If it wasn’t for the Apple Air Tags, we would not have known that our bikes were still sitting at another gate. And we had proof that our bikes were there for the flight attendant to notify someone to help us out. When we finally took off, we felt relieved and could relax on our 8-hour flight to Prague.

We fell asleep pretty quickly but woke up for our dinner around 11pm. I requested a lacto-ovo vegetarian meal online (special meal) and it was delicious. Karel got the chicken dish and he said it was pretty good. After we ate, I started to watch Marry Me but was too tired to pay attention and slept on and off for the rest of the flight. With 90 min to go, we woke up for “breakfast” – they gave me a plain bagel as my vegetarian meal so I asked for the egg sandwich that everyone else was getting for some protein. I watched a bit more of Marry Me (I love a good RomCom) until we landed in Prague.

It was smooth going through customs (Karel has dual citizenship but since he’s with me he uses his US passport) and then our bikes were waiting for us in the luggage area (and our bags came shortly after we got our bikes).

Our good friend and athlete Roman (who lives outside of Prague) had his assistant pick us up and he was waiting for us when we walked out of the terminal. We are very lucky that Karel has so many wonderful people in Czech who help us out when we travel. It saves us money as well as stress. I feel asleep in the car in route to Roman’s house (Roman is traveling but we will see him next week at the Xterra race) but woke up in time for a popsicle and mineral water at the gas station. Karel enjoyed a non-alcoholic beer with his popsicle. After arriving to Roman’s house, we checked out his new endless pool (which took over a year to arrive and install), Karel checked out Roman’s new Mercedes and then Karel had an espresso before it was time for us to pack up our “rental” car from Roman and make the 2.5 hour drive to Znojmo – Karel’s hometown to see his mom. Karel’s mom is so excited to see us and feed us. On Sunday, as Karel was skyping with his mom, she asked us what we wanted to eat when arrive. 😊

Our new car. 

Just kidding! This is our car for the next few weeks ;) It's a stick so Karel will be doing all the driving. 

It's been 4 years since Karel has been home (Czech Republic) and three years since seeing his mom. Sadly, his dad passed away unexpectedly from Covid in Feb of 2021 and Karel was unable to travel home due to border closures. This trip will not be normal for us as we are used to spending time with his mom and his dad (who lived in the same town but in separate flats). Although Karel is excited to be back home, I know it’s going to bring a host of different emotions for him. We are really looking forward to our time in Europe and I’m excited to share our experiences with you. 

Things to do in Znojmo, Czech Republic

                               

I had never heard of Znojmo before I met Karel. Prague, yes but not Znojmo. If you were wondering, Znojmo is pronounced Znoy - like joy but ZN instead of J and then mo - said like Joe but M instead of J. ZNOY-MO.

If you have ever traveled from Prague to Austria or the other way via car or bus, you probably went through Karel's hometown of Znojmo, Czech Republic.

Znojmo is a major town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, located near the border with Austria. The town is situated on a rock outcropping on the steep left bank of the Dyje River (thus, we always have to climb on our bikes to get out of town).


The Gothic Church of St. Nicholas and the Late Gothic Town Hall tower are the most recognizable landmarks in Znojmo. St. Nicholas Church was built in 1348 by Emperor Charles IV and the town hall (250 feet tower) dates from around 1446.

There's a lot of history in the town. The Romanesque Rotunda of Virgin Mary (later of Saint Catherine) is the only fully preserved sight of the premyslid castle in Znojmo, founded at the turn of the 11th and 12th century. The significance of the rotunda is due to its unique paintings. Under the city and castle is a vast labyrinth of connected passageways and cellars. The Znojmo Catacombs (which you can tour) were developed in the 14th and 15th century for defensive purposes and contained wells, drainage, fireplaces, trap doors and escapeways that led beyond the fortifications of the city.

For the wine drinkers, because of the land and warmer weather, Znjomo is at the center of wine-region - known for their white wines. Znojmo is famed as "wine center" which is evidenced by a labyrinth of long wine-cellar corridors dug directly beneath the town. But don't worry beer drinkers - like most places in Europe, beer is much cheaper than water. In September, a historic wine parade takes place. Znojmo is one of the oldest wine growing areas in the Czech Republic.
The Znojmo region is predominantly agricultural because it has a warm and dry climate. It sits at 290 meters above sea level.

For the fitness enthusiasts and adventure lovers, you will not be bored (or inactive) here. In addition to walking all around town, you can enjoy the Podyji National Park, swimming at the Louka Znojmo pool (open May until September) and of course, cycling! There are so many cycling tours going on in the summer as it's the most fun (and nature-filled) way to go from town to town or to just be outside and enjoy the sights. The cycling routes are for everyone, of all fitness abilities. It's very typical to see families and young kids on bikes, riding from town to town and then camping, as part of summer vacation.

And of course, I can't forget the ice cream! If you see a sign that reads "Zmrzlina" you know you are getting close or have arrived to an ice cream truck or shop. Yes, there are signs everywhere letting you know where the ice cream is and it's even advertised on the radio. The town of Znojmo loves ice cream! But don't be let down if your scoop of ice cream is the size of a golf ball as the servings are small....but it'll only cost you around one dollar (or 20-25 Czech Crowns). And instead of sitting down to eat it, you'll be eating it on the go as that's just how things roll around here. It's not surprising to see construction workers, business people and of course, kids (and parents) walking around with ice cream cones.

You can start planning your vacation with this guide - HERE. If you are considering visiting Znjomo, don't hesitate to reach out to us and I'll have Karel help you with your Znojmo vacation.

Sources:
Muzeum Znojmo
Znojemska Beseda
National Park - Jizni-Morava
Wikipedia

Here are some pictures from the town.

Grocery shopping in Czech

Nearing the last day of our European race-cation which included 1 week in Klagenfurt, Austria and over 2 weeks in Karel's home town of Znojmo, Czech Republic (with only 2 of those days as an overnight trip to sight see in Prague), I thought it would be fun to reflect on my many eating experiences that I have enjoyed, while on vacation.

It's going to take me a while to put all my food pictures into one blog (I'm thinking I'll let the food pics do the talking) so I wanted to share what it is like to grocery shop here in Znojmo, Czech Republic.

While I love eating new foods and meal creations when traveling, I find it important to understand the culture behind food. Whether it's understanding the agriculture (which is an important sector of the economy) or simply learning how to the food gets from farm to table, it's all very exciting to me.

With the "local" grocery store just a block from Karel's mom's flat (and in route to his dad's flat), we visited the store frequently. Sometimes it was just for some fresh bread and pastries whereas other times, our shop included items for Karel's mom (to make our lunch - she started cooking around 8am each morning) or some light items for dinner.
As for shopping for produce, we often stopped by a market, either in town or on the side of the road. 

And, we did a little shopping form nature (Mother Earth doesn't charge!) while riding our bikes.




The mornings are very busy at the grocery store as lunch is the biggest and most important meal of the day. The town pretty much shuts down for lunch and it's typical that most people stop their day (working and at school) for a sit-down lunch. 

To get your cart at the store, you insert 5 or 10 crowns (or 1 Euro) into the cart to unlock the cart. When you return your cart and insert the key, your coin pops out. This eliminates loose carts in the parking lot and having an employee go out to the parking lot to return the carts to the front of the store. 

If you only need a few items from the store, like meat, cheese, bread and/or pastries, you can shop at the front of the store as there are two counters with these items.

The grocery store is set up similar to what I am use to with the produce in the front but the main difference is that you (the customer) weigh your own produce when you select it, versus the check out person weighing everything for you. You put your produce on the scale, select the type of produce and then the machine prints out a bar code which you stick on your bag.
This makes it very quick and efficient at check out.

There is no shortage of fresh bread and pastries at the store. Shop late at night and there is little left.
Everything is made daily and spoils quickly so shopping on a daily basis for fresh bread is just part of this culture. Buying bread in the bag once a week is not typical, although there are a few "packaged" breads. 

While the pastries make your mouth water, they are not overly sweet. This is a nice change from the typical pastries that everyone associates with being overly sweet and packed with sugar.



You bag your own bread and can mix and match in the same bag. The check out person knows which bread is what so it's very efficient at check out .



Here's the packaged bread section. 

Oh the choices. 

I absolutely love the deli and cheese section at the grocery store, which I think is pretty typical here in Europe.
Rather than having one person behind the counter, slicing each cut of meat or block of cheese, everything is ready in the morning.
There's at least one person per section in the meat and cheese area, and they simply use their hands (with gloves) to grab how much meat and cheese you want, weigh is, wrap it and you are on your way.

(For reference for pricing, 1 US dollar = ~24 Czech Crowns. Food is very inexpensive for us here. But keep in mind that they use the metric system. Gas, on the other hand, is very expensive). 

Beer is cheaper than bottled water. 

And speaking of water, you can choose how many water bottles you want without having to buy a big packaged of water bottles. Mineral water is very popular here in all types of flavors. You don't have to worry about food dyes and artificial flavors as they are banned by the European Union. 

Of course, there is a section of candies and chips and other cereals but aside from the chocolate candy bars (which bring back found memories for Karel), we haven't bought much snacky food, if any. 

There's a huge frozen section of meats and cheeses and yogurts. 

And eggs are not refrigerated. 

At checkout, you pay if you want a bag (about 5 crowns) so it's typical that everyone brings their own bags. Also, about 80% or more of people pay for everything in cash here. Credit cards are not very popular. 

After our grocery store trip, we walk home with our bags and get to cooking and eating.