Olomouc and Poet’s Corner

In the summer of 2006, I spent 7 weeks in Olomouc, a lovely city in Moravia. Sometimes called a smaller version of Prague, it is a quiet little city with a lot of history and culture. While I spent the last month of that stay at language school and lived in the dorm, the first 3 weeks I stayed at the Poet's Corner hostel. It is one of my favorite hostels. Not that I'm as widely traveled as some, it is the most comfortable place I have stayed and Greg and Francie, the owners, make sure of that. They really work hard to create a fun and comfortable atmosphere, they know their residents and appreciate their returners or regulars. Recently, I've had the chance to return to Olomouc and Poet's. I'm actually writing this sitting in their common room.

Since not all of my interview participants live in Prague, I have offered to travel to them. A few weeks ago, I came to Olomouc for an interview and spent the weekend. It was my first time back since 2006 and when I got off the train I smiled. Despite some really crappy experiences I had here, I really adore this city.

So, what crappy experiences? Well, many of you reading this will remember the eye infection I got while here, or Stupid Eye as it was named by my friend Karen, who incidentally was working at Poet's at the time.

Karen and I post-Stupid Eye.

Word of caution. If you are going to an outdoor music festival, where there is no running water, and you have an itchy eye, DO NOT STICK A DIRTY FINGER IN YOUR EYE. I ended up with a scratched cornea full of bacteria. Luckily, Poet's folks knew where to send me, plopped me in cab and sent me to an English-speaking eye doctor. She gave me a prescription for eye drops (every 15 minutes) and told me that when I return the next day to bring a book to read and my house shoes because they may have to keep me overnight. When I left the eye doctor, I had no idea where I was because I really couldn't keep my eye open to see where the cab was going so I was essentially mostly blind (I couldn't keep my left eye open) and lost. I finally found a bus that was going to the train station, from where I could navigate back to the hostel, going by the one pharmacy open on a Sunday. When I got back to Poet's, they were concerned and friendly and hooked me up with a private room for a few nights while I got through the worst part of the infection. For the next 2 weeks, I was the resident gimp and it was fine. Before, Stupid Eye struck, I has having a blast. Wake up in the morning, find people in the kitchen and have the following conversation:

What are you doing today?

I don't know yet. What are you doing today?

Oh, I was thinking of

…exploring Olomouc

…visiting a fairy tale castle – Bouzov – which we did and even though we studied the instructions on how to get there, still go the bus schedule mixed up but got there and back anyway.

...watching the World Cup semi-finals...at a bar

…going to the music festival, where I discovered a great Czech folk band, Jarrett….

and made friends with some guys from Ostrava who made really good gin…

Of course, Stupid Eye put a stop to that but evenings at Poet's involved all sorts of random fun. Sometimes it was a game of Settlers of Catan, other times it was an impromptu concert/singalong.

As for the other crappy experience, let's just say that not only did I not learn a lot at language school, I did not have a very good time either and leave it at that.

But coming back was wonderful. I ate at some of my favorite restaurants. Visited some of my favorite spots in the city.

Got to see the square without the outdoor café seating.

Now, I'm not complaining about that – I've spent many hours myself in the outdoor café seating but it is nice to see them put away for a while and the square in a more "natural" state – I know, what is "natural" or "authentic" or whatever…today's natural is yesterday's unnatural. Anyway, it was nice to come back and relax a bit. Yesterday I went to Ostrava for a few interviews. It took almost 4 hours on a train and, well, even people who live in Ostrava tell me not to visit because there is nothing to see. It's an industrial town. So, I 'obviously' wanted to spend the night in Olomouc. After the interviews, I hopped on the train for the hour and half (back towards Prague) to Olomouc. I checked in at Poet's, went to Caesar's for a bowl of creamy pasta and a glass of wine and then crashed back at the hostel. This morning, I'm relaxing before having lunch with a friend and heading back to Prague on the Pendolino…which is another story for another time…