It is clear that at "home" you live very well, that I will not deny, but it's been more than seven months since I returned from my long stay in Brno and there are things that I miss every day a little more. Here is a little post of homesickness in Brno.
1. Beer. It is inevitably the first thing that comes to mind. For taste, for price, for culture... Getting a lifelong calimochero to switch to the world of beer has merit. Starobrno, Gambrinus, Pilsner Urquell, Budweiser, Kozel... even Radegast! And that's not to mention the breweries that can be found in every corner of the city. I still remember two or three days before I left, in August, Jakub told me... "we haven't been to the best brewery in the city all year"... Hearing is believing.
2. Urban transport. In Santander I go everywhere walking, on the one hand because everything is close, on the other hand because the transport here (as much as they want us to move at our leisure) is totally catastrophic. To check before leaving home on a website what time the streetcar will pass by your stop and what are the connections -by streetcar and bus- to get to any other part of the city and that everything is fulfilled with absolute accuracy and punctuality sounds like science fiction. A transport without waiting, at a laughable price in comparison and to which we must also add an even more efficient night transport. Příští zastávka...
3. Field hockey. I always liked ice hockey, but being able to watch it live was what I needed to confirm this strange passion. It's not the same to follow Kometa from a distance, and even less so after the disaster of a season they had, with a horrendous start. At least they bounced back at the end and quietly stayed in Extraliga. It's a pity I can only wear the team jersey to hang around the house, I miss going to hang out with 7200 other crazies, drink beer, eat a párek v rohliku and see their strange faces when they hear me despairing in another language.
4. Discovering new people / new places. When you leave your usual environment you have no choice -and I am aware that being on Erasmus is not the same as living there, although July and August were not very Erasmusian months-but to meet people, curious, peculiar, from such different places, with mentalities so different from yours. Everything is new, the people, the possibilities of getting to know new little corners in which to store memories, stories... Of course one day the monotony would end up coming, but after 18 years in Santoña and 8 in Santander, I have plenty of time to not get bored, and a medium-sized city like Brno hides many possibilities to explore if you move around.
5. Its connection with Europe. And in case it is too small, the options you have when planning a getaway from there are simply unbeatable. One and a half hour to Bratislava, two hours to Vienna, two and a half hours to Prague... Krakow, Budapest, Dresden in a radius of five hours... The Student Agency buses, which would deserve a separate point in the message, the modern trains and those that are scary old... and Ryanair planes close by that fly to half of Europe. Travel is almost a must if you can afford it when you are there. Here it takes me six hours to Madrid and nine hours to Barcelona or Santiago. Comparisons are odious.
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