The Czech Highlands, where the last summer night ends

Every year I promise myself that this time I will find a way to make summer last longer. Yet - apparently - my prayers to the weather gods and my hypnotic sun-dance don`t seem to be working. Summer seems to be lasting acceptably long and then - bam! - suddenly, I wake up into a dark, cold and often even rainy morning, getting rid of a yellow-brown leaf blown onto my face by a wind that is far away from the beloved summer breeze.

This year`s last summer days (quite literally, since it were the few days before the official first day of autumn) were reserved for vacation. I left summer-mode Prague a few days ago and came back to a city which would deserve to be fully covered in the softest warm blanket until spring comes.

The best thing about leaving the "Prague bubble" - or, the so-called Prubble, ehm - is not only the things you see and experience. Many people I have met so far have arrived in Prague from various corners of the world and many of them share the same opinion about the little bit cold, negative, not really friendly, not really emotional and in the best-case-scenario neutral Czech people. Driving out of Prague into any direction can lead you to examples completely different than the Czech cliché. You`ll get into places functioning at their own pace and with nice people all along the way.

One example: I wanted to have lunch in Jindřichův Hradec and fearing the usual - no food safe enough for me - I asked the waitress my standard lunch-questions. She not only confirmed the safety of the meal, she also suggested another side dish, since the fries might have been fried in oil that might contain traces of things that might have touched wheat. Quite a difference, when I compare her smiling face to the waiter in a particular restaurant in Prague, who - after I asked him whether the food contained wheat, cabbage or tomatoes - suggested that me and my endless requirements leave the restaurant and find another one.

Or another one: Having a few spare hours until your bus to Telč departs, there`s only one thing to do in Jihlava on a workday in September, when all the kids are at school. Yep - you go to the ZOO. The baggage lockers at the bus station were already / still non-existent due to reconstruction works. We didn`t want to carry our backpacks in the ZOO and let them ruin our experience in admiring the fluffiness of sand cats. With almost no hope, we went to ask the information center about any other lockers. Of course there were none, but the lady at the office offered shelter for our bags right in the office. I hesitated only for a moment, quickly erasing the image of my toothbrush being sold on some fetish black market and handed over my bag and belongings.

So much for trust issues.

Jihlava is a city well-known for its beautiful historic center aesthetically damaged by a monument of classic socialist uglytecture. When you see the ugly shopping mall Prior, you cannot stop wondering what the builders of it were thinking. Anyway - I`m always in for meeting various animals rather than too much interaction with humanoid specimens. We ended up in the lovely ZOO of Jihlava, which is a smaller one, but cleverly structured and appealing to the natural curiosity of people. So many things to try, push, play with! Plus, they have a lovely coffee stand with the best coffee I`ve had for a long time.

So fluffy and so tired.

A ZOO or a segment from a hipster`s dream?

Hedwig, is that you?

Arriving in Telč with my stomach slightly irritated by the curvy roads of the Vysočina region, the search for our accommodation was a little hazy. This time, we stayed at a B&B with one of the highest ratings on booking.com. A beautiful house at the main square has been owned by the family of our landlady for almost 150 years. Well, some people inherit big noses, some big historic houses. (Thanks, ancestors!)

Telč belongs to the UNESCO heritage, which is why you can`t only expect beauty all around you, but also stores adjusted to the souvenir-collector`s needs and Japanese tourists occasionally hitting you with their hi-tech selfie-sticks.

On the left, my favorite one.

Books and other goods.

Just another morning in Telč.

Before our trip I was wondering whether I`ll be able to find a chai latte in Telč. I would have bet they would laugh in my face after I would try to order something like that - oh, how wrong I was. I had a great chai latte for half the price of a chai in Prague. Access to the pool table included.

Telč was beautiful, the castle as well and the wine was great (it`s Moravia after all)! Yet - anywhere I am - I find the greatest pleasure in the seemingly ordinary. Passing by any tractor, wrinkled granny or a house that would fit into our neighborhood, I can`t think of anything else but home. That`s what I enjoy most - walking through ordinary streets, meeting and talking to seemingly ordinary people and looking at houses, behind their walls life and stories of families happening.

... but well, we didn`t avoid going to the castle in Telč, of course. This castle is a nicely furnished place, where you cannot do anything but imagine yourself in that comfy bed, historically incorrectly with your laptop, just chilling during cold days and planning the acquisition of your next horse on nicer days. The people who had lived in the castle knew, what cute cutlery and furniture is - and weren`t afraid to show it. Plenty of ultracomfortable armchairs, sofas, romantic couches and other well-stuffed seats for their noble butts. Reading room, relax room, afternoon-drink room, card games table, family fe(a)st table... They had it all.

The castle and the pond.

The best way to chill and casually enjoy playing on your mandolin.

Japanese tourists admiring the Czech flora.

Decorations on the wall.

A walk in the bark. (Wink-wink)

Adam and Eve.

Leaving the Prubble and other bubbles surrounding us in our everyday lives can break the monotonous flow of days and even inspire you, encourage you to take steps and decision long postponed.

I, for instance, have decided to live in a castle from next year on.

My mandolin is already packed.