I retraced my route from yesterday,this time making sure that I took the main road and the motorway,as opposed to the forest route which my satnav had taken me back on last night, from Kromeriz, and in mid-morning, after 50km, I arrived at the city of Olomouc, the historic capital of Moravia.
Actually there is nothing wrong with forest routes and nowhere in Slovakia and the Czech Republic have I been worried about the state of the roads, which are very good. Last night, however, I did feel I was being led into the middle of nowhere, with only the gradually decreasing number of kilometres showing to destination for reassurance. But in these countries, I have found that when you seem to be in the middle of nowhere, you suddenly come on a car park with people having picnics or loading their bikes onto the back of their cars, i.e. a benevolent rather than a threatening wilderness.
Olomouc surpassed my expectations. I had detoured to it to see the one item in it that is a Unesco World Heritage site, but the city is very attractive, with lots to see, and it is a shame that the nearest camping ground is 50km away as it would be easy to spend a day or two.The whole of the central area is cobbled and mostly pedestrianised.There are two big interlinked main squares.the first one I walked into had a couple of big 18th century fountains and a pretty impressive Plague Column.But this was just an appetiser for the one I had come to see which was in the adjacent main square,Horni Namesti.Here there is the mother of all Plague Columns,and this is is the Unesco site.
Actually there is nothing wrong with forest routes and nowhere in Slovakia and the Czech Republic have I been worried about the state of the roads, which are very good. Last night, however, I did feel I was being led into the middle of nowhere, with only the gradually decreasing number of kilometres showing to destination for reassurance. But in these countries, I have found that when you seem to be in the middle of nowhere, you suddenly come on a car park with people having picnics or loading their bikes onto the back of their cars, i.e. a benevolent rather than a threatening wilderness.
Olomouc surpassed my expectations. I had detoured to it to see the one item in it that is a Unesco World Heritage site, but the city is very attractive, with lots to see, and it is a shame that the nearest camping ground is 50km away as it would be easy to spend a day or two.The whole of the central area is cobbled and mostly pedestrianised.There are two big interlinked main squares.the first one I walked into had a couple of big 18th century fountains and a pretty impressive Plague Column.But this was just an appetiser for the one I had come to see which was in the adjacent main square,Horni Namesti.Here there is the mother of all Plague Columns,and this is is the Unesco site.
 One of the two squares in central Olomouc. A fairly impressive Plague Column, but this is just an appetiser for the main one |  One of six Baroque fountains in the squares |
Following a plague that struck Moravia in 1714-16 the architect ,a Walter Renzel ,wrote to the city council “To the glory of God the Almighty, the Virgin Mary and the saints I will build a column that in its height and splendour will be unrivalled in any other town." And he seems to have done just that.
The Holy Trinity column,Olomouc
The main square had the indignity of being briefly renamed Adolf Hitler Platz by the ethnic German Czechs who took over in in WW2.At the end of the war the retreating Germans destroyed the historic animated astronomical clock on the town hall ,also on the main square, which had been like the famous one in Prague. Around 1950 ,in the communist era, it was rebuilt in the “Socialist Realist” style and instead of saints it now has images and animated figures of proletarians engaged in joyful industrial and agricultural toil.By pure chance I arrived at the clock at 5 minutes to Midday, just in time to see it perform its full show,which went on for 5 minutes.
Within this square also there are more Baroque fountains of a similar era to the big column,making six in total in both squares .These were left , apparently, after the development of piped water,by a cautious city council concerned about fire,at a time when a lot of cities in the region were removing their fountains.
Within this square also there are more Baroque fountains of a similar era to the big column,making six in total in both squares .These were left , apparently, after the development of piped water,by a cautious city council concerned about fire,at a time when a lot of cities in the region were removing their fountains.
The town hall clock,Olomouc.At twelve,the band strikes up,the industrial and agricultural workers,mothers with babies,and sporting participants go round in a procession,and finally the cock crows.
Among the Baroque fountains, one modern one
After lunch I decided that I had done all I wanted to do in the Czech Republic and headed onto the nearby motorway, towards Poland.
It was an easy 250km drive ,motorway all the way,to Krakow,where I arrived in the late afternoon,and settled into the campsite in the suburbs and did a bit of research about my new location.The countryside areas of Slovakia and the Czech Republic I have driven through have been beautiful .There are no hedges by the road or separating the fields so you can see for miles as you drive,and beyond the fields there have always been heavily wooded hills.I noticed more industry,both old and hi-tech going on in the Czech Republic as opposed to Slovakia.Southern Slovakia seemed very rural.But the motorway across southern Poland is a step up in both busy traffic(3 ,sometimes 4 lane motorways),and here there is much more evidence of industry and business parks.I also encountered the first motorway hold-up I have found outside England, fortunately on the other side of the road!
It was an easy 250km drive ,motorway all the way,to Krakow,where I arrived in the late afternoon,and settled into the campsite in the suburbs and did a bit of research about my new location.The countryside areas of Slovakia and the Czech Republic I have driven through have been beautiful .There are no hedges by the road or separating the fields so you can see for miles as you drive,and beyond the fields there have always been heavily wooded hills.I noticed more industry,both old and hi-tech going on in the Czech Republic as opposed to Slovakia.Southern Slovakia seemed very rural.But the motorway across southern Poland is a step up in both busy traffic(3 ,sometimes 4 lane motorways),and here there is much more evidence of industry and business parks.I also encountered the first motorway hold-up I have found outside England, fortunately on the other side of the road!
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