Sat 25.Jun.2011
Znojmo, Moravia, Czech Republic
Still here in Znojmo, in the South Moravian Borderlands as Lonely Planet
calls the region.
I know I mentioned it a year or so ago, but the Czech name for real estate
office still gives me a good chuckle.
There are not a lot of buildings here decorated with s'graffito work, but I
love this one.
S'graffito - I'm sure everybody remembers
this - involves selectively removing the outermost layer of facing on your wall,
exposing the (usually) darker layer beneath.
In the back valleys of Switzerland,
s'graffito is a high art form, used for fool-the-eye windows, gables, columns, you
name it. This example is just a plain mural, but what a mural!
Day Tripping
My excellent host Derek offered to take me for a sightseeing drive in the nearby
countryside. I think he was glad for the break from working on his about-to-open
pizzeria, and I enjoyed a bit of adventure and company.
The south moravian borderlands have more castles than you could shake a medieval
feudal lord's booty at. We saw four (I think) in the course of a few hours
leisurely drive on the back roads, through rolling farmland and fir-based woods.
Farmland? Yup. We
are back in the land of corn and wheat fields. If the hills were a bit flatter,
you could mistake this for southern Slovakia or eastern Austria, neither of which
is far away.
Curiously, I failed to take a single picture of wheatfields or cornfields. Just
woods, villages, and of course castles.
Crossing the Iron Curtain
Our winding way wound through Austria for most of an hour. This used to be
a Very Big Deal; we'd have been shot at going that way, well within recent memory.
As it was, I needed to have the border pointed out to me on the outbound crossing.
Coming back, we drove through the now-unstaffed checkpoint, also
without stopping.
Even tiny Austrian villages can have big ol' castles in these parts. These two
pictures are taken from about the same spot in - so help me - Hardegg.
(Presumably so called because you are only there for about five minutes.)
We took a break in the (Austrian) woods while Derek spent a few minutes hunting
mushrooms.
Back in Czech-land, my good host belongs to a local yacht club, based at this
pier on the reservoir just outside Znojmo.
Back in town, with random town scenes.
Finally, a surprise self-portrait.
I discovered this image while reviewing
the day's pictures. I certainly didn't take it deliberately. In the days before
auto-focusing cameras, it would have been pure gibberish. As it is, I can show
you almost-pure gibbersih.
Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf