"It tastes kind of cork-ey"

July 7

This weekend was our trip to Southern Moravia, more specifically the towns of Telč, Mikulov, and Brno. Our first stop was the Castle in Telč, where we had a tour as well as an opportunity to explore the city. On the tour of the Castle, I was surprised/perplexed by two thing: 1)how in heavens name the owner of the castle, Zachariáš, managed to get all of his hunted African animals back home to be skinned and mounted on his walls and 2) how absolutely heinous (shout-out to Caroline) looking the people in all of the portraits are-one couple was even regarded as the ugliest people in Moravia, and maybe even perhaps all of Europe. Really, could they not choose at least slightly more attractive looking people to be in positions of power and constantly in the limelight? After the tour, it was lunch/explore city time. Lunch was as heinous as the portraits; seeing as all I wanted was a bowl of vegetable soup or broth, and what I got was a bowl of smoked sausage tasting oil. And to add insult to injury, on our way back to the bus, 3 members of our party got left behind and literally ran through the procession of wedding in order to catch up. Granted, that was slightly amusing for the rest of us and probably less than stellar for them.

Now on to the Pálava Hills, to the Sonberk Winery, for authentic Moravian wine. We first had a tour of the winery, and the surrounding vines. I was pleasantly surprised at how chic and modern looking the winery was. It was something I could have expected from a pretentious, avant-garde Napa Valley place. That being said, the wine was the last thing from pretentious. The people are super passionate about their wine and of course believe it to be the best, but luckily it lived up to their praise. I thoroughly enjoyed my selection of white (Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Pálava-a sweet local variety), but was not a massive fan of the red Merlot. Granted, I am not nor have ever been a red wine enthusiast.

And 4 glasses of wine and 2 plates of cheese later (shout out to Kia), I, as well as everyone else, was starting to feel a bit tipsy. Was 4 glasses of wine and 2 plates of cheese a good idea in the long run while being sick? No. Was it a lovely idea at the time? You betcha!

And then we find out that our bus has broken down. Therefore, as we were waiting for our rides to Mikulov, the town we would be spending the night in, we all proceeded to take an obnoxious number of pictures with and without the vineyard serving as the background.

 Once arriving in Mikulov, we went on a mini-tour of the city center and then checked out a panoramic view from which we saw the border of Austria and the Czech Republic. And by border, I mean the invisible line where a house stops and grass begins. Perhaps we should have gone frolicking in Austria while singing "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music".

That part where the houses end and the fields begin is Austria