INDIVUE – travel & art

My train journey from Prague to Olomouc took approximately two hours. You can read how this trip started from my previous Prague post. When I asked my Airbnb host in Olomouc, how to find the flat, he advised me to take a taxi and gave a phone number. The taxi cost only 89 Czech crowns one way in Olomouc, regardless of the length of the trip. That makes approximately 4 euros. 

So from the Olomouc train station I called the number I had been given and luckily they served also in English language. However, I had to wait for the taxi for more than 15 minutes until finally the taxi driver called me that she could not come to the spot where I was. The female taxi driver spoke poor English, but I understood that she was suggesting some other place nearby where I should walk to. We agreed to meet in the yard of a fairly nearby hotel. To walk there I only had to cross 2 large car roads and one park, with my luggage.

I saw the “taxi” car was not in prime condition when the taxi picked me up from the hotel yard. Luckily I realized to ask the driver well in advance if she accepts card payments because as it turned out, the cheap taxi accepted cash only. So I suggested that we go to the flat via ATM.

So the “homecoming” to Olomouc could have gone better, but it would have been even worse to go out in the hot sun, dragging a luggage with you while navigating a misleading Google maps without a proper night sleep backing you up. The distance to the flat was almost 2 km and the area was completely unfamiliar to me.

Airbnb apartment in Olomouc

The owner of the Airbnb apartment came out of her own car when we arrived to the yard. She was apparently my Airbnb host’s mother who also cleans the apartment whenever the tenant changes. And the apartment was in commendably clean condition and everything there was working fine. The only drawback was the loud traffic noise that came through the windows and balcony, when opened.

I rested in the apartment for a couple of hours, but couldn’t sleep. After washing my face and reapplying my make up, I walked to the center of Olomouc and the old town. It was a warm day and the sun was shining. I went to have a dinner at an online famous Nepali restaurant called Kathmandu and tasted their shahi paneer and palak paneer. Olomouc, famous for its own cheese, could not brack with their paneer cheese because the cheese in the food was tasteless. But otherwise the subji was good, especially when combined with naan bread. The food and the fancy interior decoration of the spacious Kathmandu restaurant got a total of four out of five stars from me. However, I had to wonder why the restaurants did not offer fresh lime soda anywhere because Czech tapwater and bottled water in Olomouc did not taste good, at least for someone who is used to the good Finnish tap water.

I walked in the center of Olomouc and it was peaceful as there were not many people walking in the streets. The shops seemed to be closing early, but with the help of Google maps I found a grocery store which was open until 10 pm. The name of the shop was Arnold and I bought gluten-free bread, fruits and strawberry jam from their for a quick breakfast. 

I was positively surprised by the amount of organic food advertising on a Czech TV channel. I don’t remember ever seeing grocery stores in Finland advertising organic food on TV or other channels. Neither do I remember that from India. However, I don’t watch much tv, so who knows the real thing.

Second day in Olomouc: The sights

On my first night in Olomouc in a strange bed I slept rather poorly, but that was almost predictable in advance. It’s these dark sides of traveling that you rarely see professionals writing about. The bed in the apartment was clean and average type, but there was no air condition in the apartment and the temperature inside was at least +25 celsius. That is hot for a Finnish and Scandinavian person. If you opened the window at night, it helped a little, but it was essential to have ear plugs in your ears because of the traffic noise.

But the same traffic noise did not stop me from enjoying the budget breakfast, which was the toasted bread with tea, since at the same time I was able to watch a Czech TV channel, trying to understand what was happening. It was a program about construction and gardening. Watching a foreign language TV channel in a foreign country is much more exciting than watching a foreign language TV channel in your own country.

Watching a foreign language TV channel in a foreign country is much more exciting than watching a foreign language TV channel in your own country.

On the second day in Olomouc I walked to the center through a slightly different route than the previous day, and I got to see very beautiful flowers planted along the way. Then it started sprinkling water, so I decided to stop by at the nearby Capuchin church, which looked modest from the outside, but nice and beautiful from inside. 

How to tip in the Czech Republic

Since the light rain kept continuing, I decided to go to a nearby café called Mahler, which had a terrace. I had to wait for a while before being served in English, that is before they found a waiter who knew to speak English language. Fortunately, the large umbrellas on the terrace kept the drizzling away. The café’s sweet gluten-free options did not look very impressive, but luckily tasted good. After I paid my bill, I gave the waiter a tip of hundred Czech crowns in cash, which I then realized was a lot, more than a taxi ride, but I just didn’t know that the practice of tipping in Czech is that the rounding up as a tip is always mentioned in advance before paying by card. However, the waitress was competent, nice and helpful, and the only one in that café, who could speak English, so the approximate 4e tip was not that big deal after all. The waitress also told me the way to find the famous smelling Olomouc cheese, the shop of which happened to be rather near of the very same Mahler café.

Gustav Mahler, after whom the café was named, was an Austrian composer and conductor, known especially for his monumental symphonies and long suites. Mahler was born in Bohemia, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire in the 1860s and is now a part of the Czech Republic.

Olomouc’s stinky cheese and from where I found it

The smelly cheese of Olomouc, in the local language called “Olomoucké tvarůžky”, is a traditional Czech cheese known for its particularly strong aroma. The cheese comes from Olomouc and has been a specialty of the region for centuries. Olomoucké tvarůžky is made from low fat fermented cheese, which is shaped into small balls or pretzels. The cheese manufacturing process includes lactic acid fermentation, which gives it its characteristic abundant aroma and strong taste. Unlike many other cheeses, Olomouc cheese is low-fat, making it a lighter option, but it’s aroma and flavor where anything but light to me. The strong smell of the cheese can be a challenge for many, but the locals and many cheese lovers still appreciate its unique taste, and traditions. It is widely used in many Czech dishes, such as sandwiches, salads, and even warm dishes, such as fried cheese wedges. Olomoucké tvarůžky has also been protected by an EU geographical indication, which means that only cheese produced in a certain region, according to certain traditional methods, can be sold under this label. This highlights the importance of cheese in the region’s cultural heritage. I entered a cheese shop and the shop really smelled bad. However, I dared to buy a small disk of cheese. This famous cheese from Olomouc turned out to be ok to taste, but otherwise too salty for my taste. There was also no organic version of this cheese being sold. You can see this famous Olomouc cheese in the attached picture photographed together with the mouse painting by the street artist named Banksy, which I found from a random wall in Olomouc.

In Olomouc, they know Czech language, little English and… Finnish!

Opposite the cheese shop was the Olomouc town hall and the tourist information point. Unfortunately, the tourist information point did not have such fridge magnets or postcards for sale which I would have liked. I usually tend to buy fridge magnets and postcards from new places as souvenirs because they don’t weigh much in my luggage. So at first I bought only a magnet, but since I couldn’t find Olomouc postcards anywhere else, I had to go back later to this same tourist information point to buy some postcards. The second time at the tourist information I was served by a young man who was able to speak some Finnish language. That was a nice surprise. It turned out that in the past he had lived in Helsinki for a while.

When will you be able to see the Holy Trinity column again?

I was told by the tourist information that the famous sight in the center of Olomouc, which is also a UNESCO world heritage site, namely the Holy Trinity: would not be visible to the public until after three years, that is the summer of 2027, because it is currently being repaired and covered. Originally built in the 18th century, this Baroque-style massive monument is one of the most significant religious monuments of its era in Central Europe. The colon deserves a special mention because of its high artistic level and scale. It is decorated with several groups of statues, depicting the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary and several sages and angels. At the top of the column is a group of golden sculptures depicting the Trinity. This column of the Holy Trinity, which is one of the most significant sites of Olomouc, is a symbol of gratitude to God for the end of the plague epidemic and an indication of the religious devotion of the inhabitants of Olomouc. Religion was very well visible in Olomouc streetscape as there were several beautiful churches, but not much else to see apart from the art museum and architecture. And flowers. I also visited a couple of other churches and that’s how the day in Olomouc went, walking and photographing.

Indian restaurant in Olomouc

I had an early dinner at an Indian restaurant named Diwali. The owner of the restaurant was originally from India. The restaurant was basically clean and a mix of rock ‘n’ roll culture and India style, and a real American car seemed to come through one wall, which is why I think that there might have been an America-inspired rock ‘n’ roll bar before it became a restaurant. Indian restaurant. The dal in Diwali restaurant was good with naan bread, but the malai kofta was too sweet and a disappointment. I’m known for not testing meat dishes but if you’re looking for vegetarian food in Olomouc, this restaurant is a good option. 

At 9 o’clock in the evening in July it started to get dark in Olomouc and there was nobody roaming around in the residential areas. Everywhere was quiet. During the whole day in Olomouc I saw nobody smiling, except the person who had been to Helsinki and working in customer service in the tourist information point. And the local couple from whom I asked for translation help as I couldn’t understand the text on the card shop door which was closed. The note was telling about the merchant’s holiday in Czech language. What will make me come to this beautiful city again is, if I want to have a piece of mind and nothing extra to do.

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Writing this article originally in Finnish together with the processing of photographs and coding and translating the post from Finnish into English language took 3 working days. Do you have a travel destination that you would like to be found on social media and in my online guides? Contact me by email!

Have you been to Olomouc? If not, you can see more photographs from Olomouc in the Finnish Olomouc travel article!