Okay, dumb title but it at least it rhymes...

Last week I got to spend several days in Olomouc, a small city (about 120,000) that is probably where my long-lost ancestors emigrated from. My only reason for believing this is that when I checked the online phone directory for the Czech Republic, almost all of the Zvaceks live in or near there. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to track down any records of these alleged great-great-grandparents (or whatever variety of relative they were) and know so little about how our branch of this clan ended up living in Iowa that it may have been a futile search, but it was still pretty cool to be there.

Olomouc is located in north-central Moravia and is a thriving university town.  Palacky University is there and like many (if not most) European universities, the campus buildings are clustered in small groups throughout the city.  (Most of these schools were founded when the towns were much smaller and as the schools grew, there was no room to expand within the immediate surroundings.)  There is also an extensive system of parks that encircle the town, providing walking and biking trails galore. These photos show one of these greenbelt areas, with the central part of town (on the other side of the wall) located up above the park.

Besides the university, Olomouc is also known for its fountains, its astronomical clock, and its plague column – one of the largest in central Europe.  I’ll simply clump a few photos of these items together, since I suspect that most people viewing them will be able to tell the difference between a fountain and a clock…

I had some free time one of the days I was there, and Dana Nezvalova (professor of science education) took me to see the Bouzov Castle, a national cultural monument not far from Olomouc.  This castle has been rebuilt and enlarged several times, and claims a real-life drawbridge and (now-dry) moat. 

 An inner courtyard is equipped with rainspouts in the shape of dragons, designed to channel water from the gutters away from the sides of the building.

The castle tower provides a terrific view of the surrounding countryside.

On the walk from the castle back to the parking area, I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of this fence, decorated with upside-down coffee mugs.

Coincidentally, while I was in Olomouc, the District Court ruled that this castle would not be handed over to the German Order.  This organization claims to be the successor to the Order of Teutonic Knights, which owned the castle from the late 1600s up to 1939, and the newly-formed German Order wants “their” castle back.  The judge, however, did not recognize the newer group as a renewal of the Teutonic Knights, but rather as a different organization, so no castle.  Not too surprisingly, the group plans to appeal the decision.

Walking through Olomouc one morning, I passed this pub and have to say that I was (and still am) a bit puzzled by its name…

And, finally, I simply had to take a picture of Pilsener Urquell being delivered via horse-drawn cart.  Very cool.