OLOMOUC - THE CITY FOR SOLO COUCHSURFERS
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| Olomouc - A quaint yet marvelous town |
Now that I am in Europe, studying
in Poland, the traveler within me was getting itchy to go out and explore the
vast amount of options available to me, thanks to the Schengen visa in my
possession. So, when we came to know about the 4-day extended weekend from
November 1 to November 4, I decided to finally go out and explore some of
Europe's finest destination.
So, I open Google Maps and GoEuro
to decide the places I could visit. Initially, I decided to start my trip from
Prague and then move on to other destination, but, then I saw that Olomouc is
very near from Katowice (my stay in Poland), and I've had heard a lot of things
about it, so I decided that I'll start from Olomouc. I decided on visiting
Bratislava, Budapest and Vienna, for a day, each, after Olomouc, but in all
fairness, Budapest and Vienna, deserves at least two days, each, to explore it
perfectly (more on them on future blogposts). And so, I booked the tickets to
all the places using GoEuro.
Now that the places were
finalized and the tickets were booked, I needed to sort out place to stay. I
thought about hostel options or Airbnb, but then I thought, why not try my luck
on Couchsurfing? I wasn't expecting much from it, since most of my requests in
India were met by rejections, but still, decided to give it a try. And the
results were completely astonishing. I had a total of 21 stay confirmations for
the request I'd put. And man, what can I say about couchsurfing in Olomouc?
I've named Olomouc as "the
city for solo couchsurfers". Since it is basically a student town, per se,
there is an abundance of enthusiastic coursurfing hosts. But, there's a better
chance of getting a couchsurifng host if you are travelling solo, in comparison
to travelling with someone. Hence, "The city for SOLO
couchsurfers". In fact, Olomouc was
the city where I had far more couchsurfers who voluntarily wanted to host me,
without me requesting them, then I had confirmations from the requests I've
put. So, that was something really encouraging.
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| My couch in Olomouc |
Unfortunately, I couldn't stay or
spend time with all of them, due to my time constraint. Hence, I finalized to
stay with one host, who insisted on picking me up from the bus station, which
was around 4 Km away from her flat. That was really helpful, as it was late at
night, and it was the first time I was out alone anywhere in Europe. She has a
flat shared with three other flat mates, so I got to sleep on the couch in their
living room. In the morning, the host decided to skip classes, so she could
spend some time with me. And, we had very intense talk about the culture difference
between Europe and India.
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| Enjoying a round of airsoft gun shooting with my Host. |
Then, I decided to meet with
another host, who had confirmed to host me, as he had some interesting plans
for the day. Turns out, it was his birthday. And taking time out of it, he took
me for airsoft shooting at the city outskirts. Then, he took me to U Puškaře Pub,
which serves delicious meatball soup, and one of the best craft beer I've ever
had. Then we went to the biggest park of the city, to play Kubb, also known as
Viking Chess. This is one interesting game to play. We also flew his drone in
the park, which was a first for me. After this, he took me for sightseeing the
highlights of the city, which is why the city is famous for.
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| The Holy Trinity Column. |
Olomouc isn't really a big city,
but, the amount of history that it holds is mesmerizing. Starting off with the
Holy Trinity Column. The Holy Trinity Column is at the heart of the historic centre
of the town, erected in the early years of the 18th century. It is an
exceptional example of this type of commemorative column, characteristic of
Central Europe in the Baroque period.
Near the Column is the City Town
Hall. The Olomouc Town Hall building, which dominates the Upper Square (Horní
náměstí), has been for more than six centuries a symbol of economic and
political importance of the former royal capital of Moravia.
Next to the Town Hall Tower there
is the Astronomical Clock in a recess of the northern wall. The present-day
appearance of the Clock dates back to the 50s of the 20th Century and bears the
traces of the former official aesthetic of socialist realism. The mosaic
decoration of the Clock is made of various portrayals on the lateral sides of
the recess depicting characteristic work for each month of the year. Figures
representing the different working classes are depicted in the lower part of
the mosaic decoration.
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| The Majestic St. Wenceslas' Cathedral |
Crossing through the "Selfie
King" graffiti, we reached the marvelous St Wenceslas' Cathedral, the
tallest church tower in Moravia (and the second highest in the country). The
construction of the Cathedral commenced in 1104, and was completely rebuilt
into a Gothic style after a fire in 1265. St Wenceslas' Cathedral with its two-tower
face is an integral part of the city skyline.
We then parted ways, as he had to
go for a movie. So, I decided to ring up the host, at whose place I stayed the
night. And, she came to the city center to join me for the remaining time I had
in the city. She took me to some not-so-often visited places by tourists, like
the Russian Church, which is Pink in color, for some reason. We walked around
the University, and walked through the huge park, all this time, talking about
random things from our travelling experiences to our general way of life, after
which she named me "the rebellious Indian". Finally the long walk
ended at the train station, from where I had to take the train to Bratislava.
And, this is how my first day of
Solo travelling in Europe panned out. I met two very interesting individuals,
who made this day exciting to say the least. And this whole experience was
encouraging for me to overcome my slight hesitation about travelling alone in
Europe. As I was on my way to Bratislava on the train, I was really excited
about seeing more of Europe, and meeting many more interesting, like-minded
people.
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