Znojmo

Znojemské kluziště

A small outdoor public ice rink next to the skatepark and the stadium on sokolskã¡ street. open 1pm-10pm provided the temperature is below +10 degrees celsius.

vinobranã­

For two days a year Znojmo transforms into a combination of a medieval town downtown and a kitschy, loud and crowded funfair uptown, all of which is called Vinobraní Wine-harvest festival. Fortunately, these two are divided by the town walls and gates, so you can choose what you fancy. In the center you can enjoy the parade of people in traditional costumes, the king and queen and their retinue, traditional markets, shows and music, and especially local wine and its young, half-fermented companion - burčák. Fridays are more popular with the younger crowd because you can enjoy the blazing torches, fireworks and concerts at night check the programme for the times and indulge in burčák tasting till morning; Saturdays are usually quieter and less crowded. For burčák tasting bring your own glass it's always better than the plastic ones you can get at every stall and get 1 dcl 0.1 l for about 10 CZK at each stall you like. For wine tasting, check the programme for Znovín Znojmo or Vinné sklepy Lechovice wineries and take part in their tasting training, where you sample a dozen of different wines and then try to guess two more blind samples. It's good fun.

Vinobraní takes place in the middle of September f.e. 15-16th Sept 2006 and costs 100/120/180 CZK Friday/Saturday/both days, 1 l of burčák is about 70 CZK, taxis double the fare. Usually there are about 30,000 visitors, so book accommodation well ahead if you intend to sleep in Znojmo or around. For more, have a look at this review of Czech wine festivals, burčák and Vinobraní (http://www.ce-review.org/...), photos (http://vinobrani-2003.una...).