Czech Republic - Jihlava

Mia had school vacation last week and some friends of ours invited Mia and I to go and stay with them in the Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia). We had a really nice time and I especially enjoyed not having to plan all of the details, and instead be shown all around!  Our hosts were absolutely wonderful and showed us a great time! We stayed the first part of our trip in a small city called Jihlava. It lies on the Bohemian border and has an immense History. The preservation of the city was not quite the same as you would see in Germany, but I think slowly they are preserving the gems that are there. They had a very interesting zoo as well. I was a little sad because the animals didn't seem to have very large spaces, but they were doing a lot of construction, so hopefully soon they will have larger space to roam. Jihlava was a neat city! So grateful to have had the opportunity to go there!

The church and City Hall in the Market Square

Ok ... I never in a million years thought I would eat this, but you know what they say ..."When in Rome, do as the Romans do" and so, as recommended, I ordered  Tatarsky - raw minced beef.  I could easily be a vegetarian, so it was quite a stretch for me - but it was actually quite good!

The old tower wall!

The market square...

This was really cool. It was a very old building with paint peeling off. Underneath the surface, were beautiful old paintings...

Here is one of the painting from the building above - if you look carefully, you can see it the Last Supper...

Quite a traditional old Czech street...

A black bear...

Mia loved this one - a GIANT guinee pig (it said these were native to South America - not so sure I would want to come across this thing in my yard :-)

The leopards were in small enclosure - it was sad to see, but interesting because we have never been face to face with such an amazing animal. And at the same time a little intimidating too! 

This made us laugh! In the city center, they had a Mcdonalds "walk through" - not a drive through :-)

Jihlava at night!

Their money was  hard to get used to. You have to divide it by 25 to figure out the amount of money in Euro. 2000 Koruna equals about 80 euro...