Svitavy to Boskovice

Yet another interesting day! Our travel days seem to stand out, and usually it's because of the new people we get to meet. Yesterday was one of those days.

We wandered around the central area of Svitavy before lunch, used the library internet, bought some lunch at a small grocery store, and sat in the plaza on a bench to eat it. Then we walked over to Andrew and Chisono's flat and said goodbye to Chisono. Then we walked to Andrew's work and said goodbye to him. Our bags were still in the flat where we were staying next to his work so it was convenient and it was then only a 15 minute walk to the train station.

Our visit to Svitavy was great, and the hospitality from our couchsurfing hosts was once again fantastic. We hope more couchsurfers will visit Andrew and Chisono and their family in Svitavy. They seem to enjoy hosting as much as we enjoyed being hosted! Thanks so much for having us and showing us your nice town!

We arrived at the train station well ahead of time, in fact we had about an hour to wait. We bought our ticket, and the total cost of the 41 km (25 mile) train journey was 96 korunas ($4.80) for the two of us! We were going to have to transfer close to Boskavice, but we knew that ahead of time.

As we were standing looking at the schedule, the woman who had sold us our ticket came running up and pointed at the train that was standing in the station saying "Boskovice, Boskovice...bus, bus". We had to figure out what she was trying to tell us, and it turns out that we were just in time for the earlier train. It was either wait there or wait at the next stop, so we quickly ran out and just got on the train.

Once again, we sat in the reserved seating and there was only one other person in there, a young man from Romania. He spoke not bad English and seemed eager to practice so we spoke to him a bit. He says the Czech economy is doing better than Romania and he comes here to work.

We got off the train in the little village of Skalice nad Svitavou. This little town is only about 6 kms (4 miles) from Boskovice and  we were under the impression that we had to take a connecting train there, but everyone kept pointing us towards a bus that was sitting there. I guess that's what the lady in Svitavy was trying to tell us! It seems that normally there is a connecting train, but for whatever reason it was not operating and we had to take a bus. No worries, so we got on the bus and it was included in our ticket price. The only problem was that we had arranged with our next couchsurfing host, Vanda, that she would pick us up at the Boskovice train station.

The bus brought us to the Boskovice bus station. We found a map and made our way to the train station but it didn't seem to be used much and there wasn't even a parking area where we could meet Vanda. A station worker saw us sitting with our bags while we were trying to figure things out and came over to say "no train, no train".

So Ruth sat there with the bags and I went to find a telephone. Found a pay phone, and then tried to figure out how to use it! Felt a bit like an idiot, and after inputting Vanda's number and just getting a few weird beeping noises I hung up to try and sort it out again. As I'm standing there, the phone rings and it's Vanda! I guess her phone told her the number that was trying to call...no idea, but I thought it was funny. So a few minutes later she came and picked us up.

So, what brought us to Boskovice? Well, Vanda did.

When I was looking for a couchsurfing host in Svitavy, I hit the button on the website that lets other area hosts know that you want to visit the area. Vanda saw that, and offered a place to stay. After last night's experience, we are so glad we took her up on her offer!

Vanda got us set up at her flat, which is right near the centre of town. She gave us a key and asked if we wanted to join her out in the country that evening where her boyfriend and some other friends were camping. She then left, and we sat and used the internet for a bit. She said she would come back at 8:00pm and pick us up.

We went for a quick walk around town before she came back.

The downtown area is very pretty.

Do you think I would get a discount?

Looks like a nice little town.

Nice photo of Ruth by the fountain!

Not a very good photo, but this castle ruins is quite far away. I bet we can walk there today though!

Vanda picked us up and we drove about 20 minutes into the countryside. We entered a farmers field and drove on a track to a little meadow where there was a few tents set up and even a fairly new motorhome. There was also a sort of mobile canteen trailer advertising sausage and things and it was all in English! What an odd place to come across something like this!

Sausage anyone?

It turns out this trailer is owned by Vanda's boyfriend Andrew. He is Czech, but he spent four years in Scotland so his English is quite good. This food trailer was his last business there, and when he returned to Czech he brought the trailer back with him. He and Vanda cooked us dinner in the trailer! We had grilled pork and potato pancakes with grilled zucchini and eggplant. Some of their friends joined us and there was also a campfire. We had so much fun, and we totally lost track of time! Before we knew it, it was well after midnight! Also forgot to get any more pictures, but it turns out we'll be going back there this evening.

We had so much fun last night, and from talking to Vanda and Andrew there is a lot to see in the area, including a lot of interesting cave systems and hiking. We have plans to be in Olomouc Friday by lunch time and we'll be spending four or five days there, but we are seriously considering returning here after that! Vanda has said that we are more than welcome to come back! People are so generous here, and we are somewhat overwhelmed by their hospitality.

So today, we're off to explore on our own...it's another beautiful day and we can't wait to see the area!

As our friend Croft would say..."life is good"!!