A 2-0 defeat is “Hrad” to take in Břeclav

 

As many may know the Klobasa likes a good walk, and with the summer coming to a close we thought we’d take the opportunity to get a good trek in before the rainy season begins. With Blansko travelling away to Breclav, Ralph suggested we could take a train to the village of Lednice and get a couple of beers and castles in before we wander through the forest to the game.

We set of from Hlavní nádraží (thankfully open again) early. Too early in fact to find an open bar upon our arrival in Lednice. Being quite a small place (approx 2000 people) we walked around it three times until one of the pub doors opened, and stepped inside with anticipation of beer and breakfast. U Volhy unfortunately, could only provide us with a liquid breakfast this time but we weren’t complaining. We followed up by buying some cheese biscuits and a couple of beers for the journey from the corner shop and we were off.

Castle number 1 was Lednice itself. Which sparked off some debate about what a castle actually is. In Czech Lednice is a ‘Zamek’ which translates to many as ‘castle’ but we are not convinced Lednice is a castle, more a chateau or, as Ralph threw in there, a stately home. Regardless, it is a dominating feature of the town and sits nicely for a photo or two in the picturesque gardens which encircle it. We didn’t go in. We had other things to do.

We headed in to the woods and cracked open a beer and didn’t even have time to finish it before finding the next watering hole at castle number 2 – Januv Hrad (John’s Castle). And there you have it – ‘hrad’ translates as ‘castle’. I took this debate in to a lesson and no one could agree on a final outcome. Anyway, to us it looked more like a castle, if a bit small.

Finishing up both a pint and our cans we headed deep in to the dark woods on our way to Breclav. The sky was overcast, threatening to open up above us – the forest dark and foreboding with winding paths in all directions. We were surrounded by trees, but we were brave and we strode on following the green (or is that blue to Ralph?) signposts and towards the next pub. We emerged from the forest behind us to the welcoming sight of the Breclav brewery. It was of course, not open to us, so we headed in the Zimni Stadion, listening to the thunder of hockey above us and ordered a schnitzel and potatoes – the only thing on the menu. The beer was bad enough not to finish – this is a rare occasion!

Breclav also has a castle (zamek), and it’s er… shall we say, not the most beautiful. Never would we usually venture to be so negative, but really, it could do with a little TLC… or a bulldozer.

One thing we like perhaps more than a good walk, is an old pub with ‘atmosphere’ – and we certainly found one in Hospode na Rožku. We entered and ducked the darts being thrown over our head while stepping around the swinging regulars to take a place at the bar. We thrive on places like this, but are aware they are not everyone’s cup of tea. A good pint of beer though.

We got to the ground and put the flag up opposite one of the best stands in the game. The tall stand leaning against a house is becoming something of an attraction to lower league supporters of the game, and was indeed the most positive thing of the game – for us anyway. There were some promising performances from Blansko in the game but the lads just couldn’t find their feet against the better side in a 2 – 0 defeat of which there can’t be many complaints. It’s been a difficult start to the season, but one or two good performances should give the team some confidence – it just didn’t work here today. Our star striker Honza Trtilek came over at the end of the game to thank us… and offer us a 10% discount at Kaufland, for which we were grateful.

 

On the way to the station we stopped in the Three Oranges and faced the unwelcoming atmosphere there for most likely our last time. One poor beer down and we jumped on the dining car for our last lager of the evening – taking us in to the beautiful sunset of  the Moravian autumn.