Olomouc Orientation

A late start to our first day of exploring Olomouc. The Warriors were playing, so I decided to watch that first. It was after 11 a.m. when we set off. We’re about 700m from the edge of the older part of town. While walking there, it was noticeably quiet with hardly any people about. We started to think it might be another public holiday, but being Saturday that made no sense. There was a threat of rain with big dark skies, but it wasn’t forecast until after dinner tonight.

The first thing we came to was the Church of St Maurice. I noticed a couple of people going into a small side door of a circular tower. On closer inspection, it turned out to be the entrance to the tower. Sarah had seen it online along with other towers in town. This one only required a donation for entry. Up we went! The first staircase was a narrow, steep, stone spiral. Up we went—and up some more! Below is a picture of the spiral staircase but taken looking up from below at the bottom of it. 

By the time we got to the flat landing, our legs and lungs were starting to burn. We took a short rest before realizing the landing wasn’t the top—there was another series of metal stairs going up further. More heavy breathing! On the way up we passed the tower bells. The stairs eventually led up onto the roof of the tower. It had safety rails all the way around which slightly spoiled the view, but still much better than looking through a mesh fence. It was easy to put the camera through to take awesome photos and video of the city. The view was even more spectacular with the dark, threatening clouds overhead. A great vantage point for a full 360-degree view of this new city (for us).

The way back down was via the metal stairs. It looks like they were built to avoid people having to use the narrow stone ones for descent—too dangerous. Oh, and while we were up top, the large bells started their midday ringing. Very loud! It would have been deafening if we’d been standing right next to them.

Given it was after midday, we thought it was time for lunch. There was a bakery–café attached to a small mall near the church that looked nice. Bread, pastries, and coffee—$22 NZD seemed pretty reasonable for what we bought.

Next stop was the main town square with the Town Hall building as its centrepiece. At first, I thought it was another church because of its decorations. Very beautiful. It also has an Astronomical Clock—like Prague, but unlike Brno. 😉 In fact, I think it’s a prettier clock than Pragues. It does a special routine at 12 p.m., so we missed it today but will try to catch it tomorrow.

The square also has a number of nice fountains and what would be an impressive statue column, except it’s currently covered in scaffolding for repairs. It’s called the Holy Trinity Column and is receiving a $3 million refurbishment. It has sculptures all around it and a small chapel at its base. 

Checking our maps, we noticed there was a geocache in the Information Centre, so we went in to ask for the box and sign the logbook. Inside, there was also a full-scale model of the Holy a Trinity Column, so we got a good idea of what it looks like without all the scaffolding.

From the square we headed towards the university buildings on the edge of the old town. The city has a large student population, which might explain why the streets were so quiet—it’s the summer break and the varsity is closed. Still, it was nice to wander around the outside of their beautiful buildings.

After a decent walk, we headed back to the apartment for a break and some chill-out time. A familiar pattern on this trip. Oh and there might have been a Five Crowns game to break the score deadlock. Sarah now winning 7-6! ☹️

As dinnertime approached, we really couldn’t be bothered cooking, so we decided to grab fresh bread and a couple of other supplies from Lidl. We made do with leftovers and the fresh loaf: chicken and salad sandwiches, apricots, and cheese on bread. Just as well we’re both happy with these occasional non-meal meals. 😂