Day 5 started with everyone rising early to catch a 9 o’clock bus to Znojmo (actually Hnanice, which is a few kilometers beyond Znojmo where we stayed at this hotel http://www.penzion-hnanice.cz/index.php?a=ubytovani). Znojmo is located in the southern central part of the Czech Republic and is known for its temperate climate, rolling hills, and vineyards, which produce some of the best Czech wines. The country is known primarily for its whites (it does dry and sweet white wine well) but also produces some light reds as well. Tana and Martin had arranged for us to participate in a Vineyard tour/wine tasting for the day and after a 3 hour bus ride and shuttling ourselves (thanks to Martin and Tana) to the hotel, we quickly set off on another bus with approx. 30 other people for a tour of the Vineyards.

Now this isn’t Napa Valley; it is something much more rustic, natural, and scaled-down. In total, we visited 4 Vineyards (we were in the actual fields: the bus would stop, we’d get out and tramp to an open space, where an event tent was pitched for the servers) and stand while the servers came around to fill our glasses and our guide explained (in Czech) where we were and what we were tasting. Then we’d march around the field to either another tasting area or our bus. The weather, which had been unusually rainy and cold for May in the Czech Republic was somewhat cooperative, with intermittent sunshine mixed with spring (and at times, torrential) showers. After the third  vineyard, however, the weather was not an issue anymore.

The wines, while good, were less robust than their American  counterparts, but were nonetheless satisfying. We tasted 12 wines in all, and also managed to sample a bit of Slivovice (plum brandy, often made locally and not for the faint of heart — so Martin did most of the tasting for us with this — it is in the vein of a less strong version of grain alcohol, but of course with a plum taste). 

At the conclusion (about 3 hours later) it was back to the hotel to eat a big dinner in preparation for more wine tasting in the basement of a monastery. Together, we were part of a group of 200 who sat at individual tables, ate  bread, talked with our waiters, and after tasting another 12 wines, sampled more of those that we liked. Before we knew it, Megan was pouring for the house, having made friends with one of our servers

All of us enjoyed ourselves immensely, as we joked, discussed wines and winemaking, and made new friends throughout the day and evening — especially Staci and Megan, who gained a whole new appreciation for Czech men named Jakub.

Tana, sanely, went to bed after this (about 11); the rest of us, however, weren’t ready to sleep and we set off to sample the nightlife. Not an easy thing to do in a small village late on a Saturday night. Undeterred, we followed our fearless leader Martin Loksik, who used his distinct navigational and negotiating skills to lead us past dens of inequity to the warm environs of what can only be described as an authentic village pub where we sampled the local offerings, talked introspectively about deep social and psychological subjects, and even bandied about the idea of a drunken brawl (which a local tried to pick with me — it was just the alcohol flowing and par for the course as I know from experience. The situation was defused easily, though the apology from the man’s friends was much appreciated albeit unnecessary).

To bed we went, happy to dream about the unique adventures we’d had and the related thoughts and memories conjured/exorcised — happy, that is, until we learned we had to check out at 10 the next morning. That, unfortunately, was never emphasized and that would be our first – but not only – challenge for Day Six.

Location: Znojmo