Moravia (Zlin)

 So after a few days in Prague, Mike and I made our way east by bus to the region of the CZ known as Moravia to stay with family in Zlin and also in Bzenec. We did a good amount of eating and drinking while in Prague, but little did we know that we had not yet even begun to defile ourselves.

After a surprisingly nice four-hour bus ride to Zlin, uncle Jirka and his wife Mirka picked us up and took us back to their home. Both Cris and Jim [brothers] had already been to both Zlin and Bzenec, so Jirka had some idea of what he was getting into when he offered to put us up for a few days. 

No more than 5 minutes after we walked in their front door the slivovitz began to flow. Literally, I don't think we even had our coats off yet. THAT IS MY KIND OF WELCOME. For those of you not in the know and too lazy to click on the previous link, slivovitz is 100+ proof plum brandy. I got my first taste of it about 10 years ago when Cris brought some back from his trip to CZ and then again when Jim did the same thing a few years after that. It's not for the faint of heart. I'm pretty sure it will remove tooth enamel and engine sludge. To steal a line from my buddy Dirck, it is the nectar of the gods. In all seriousness, I'd do shots of slivo over just about any other liquor -- much better than downing room temp Jack Daniels, for sure. 

So after getting all warm and toasty from the slivo, we sat down for dinner which was the first of several amazing homemade dishes by Mirka and  babichka Rose (Grandmother Rose). It was some kind of beef stew and we definitely didn't stop at one bowl. We paired everything with some Pilsner Urquell tallboys and more slivo and the first night got off to a really good start. After dinner, we headed down the street for a couple more local brews with Jirka and tried some really good unfiltered wheat beer. 

Homemade slivovich (chilled) - czech moonshine

I don't know what it's called, but we ate the sh*t out of it.

Our amazing hosts in Zlin. Mirka and Jirka.
Thank you both for everything!!!

The next morning, we got out and really saw the sights in both Zlin and the surrounding countryside. Jirka's brother Petr joined us for the adventure and we had a blast. First stop, the Jelinek Distillery, of course. Jelinek makes probably the most well-known slivovitz and we were touring through their facility before 11am. Not too bad. Amazing place and got some great pics. The tour ended and we had our first slivovitz of the day before noon. Normal. 

Some of the distilling hardware at Jelinek distillery.

Jelinek recently bought Gold Cock (seriously) Whiskey.
This is about 500 barrels of Gold Cock.

Otepkas! Matt, Jirka, Petr, Mike.

During the Jelinek tour. 

Want to buy a nice bottle of a Jelinek spirit, but don't trust
yourself to drink responsibly? Well, just keep it in your own
locker right at the distillery. Genius.

Looking into the gift shop upon finishing the Jelinek tour. No
thanks, we've got homemade slivo to drink first. 

After the Jelinek tour, we stopped into an industrial part of Vicoviche (town where the distillery is) and watched some guys blow glass for a little while. Very cool to see these guys work. No messing around with these dudes -- they were in the zone...moving around each other w like they were making pizzas rather than carrying globs of molten glass. And for some reason, the dress code was athletic shorts, short sleeve oxford shirts, socks and birkenstocks (b/c that seems to be ideal footwear when working with liquid fire).

Next we drove up to the spa town known as Luhocovice to look around. Since it was freezing, we didn't have the chance to really appreciate everything, but we did make a good effort. We walked around the town and even drank from a few natural mineral springs. Apparently, people from all over come here to recharge and get all kinds of health treatments from aromatherapy, respiration therapy, massage, etc. Will have to go back some time during the summer. 

 Then, we headed back into Zlin to see the famous 15-story Bat'a Skyscraper. The building was the headquarters of the Bat'a international shoe organization between 1939 and 1945. The Bat'a Shoe Company was founded in Zlin in 1894 by Tomas Bat'a and has sold more than 14 billion pairs of shoes. The company is and was an amazing story. When Tomas died in a plane crash in '32, the shoe company he started just 38 years prior was employing more than 17,000 people around the world. The skyscraper looks over blocks and blocks and blocks of shoe manufacturing buildings. It's crazy how much industry was in that little town of Zlin and how many shoes worn by people all over the world were made in the town where my family lives in the CZ. Very cool.

Shoe factory buildings.

View of the other side of town.

More shoe making buildings.

But the weirdest thing about the Bata'a skyscraper is that the executive office itself is an elevator. Amazing and the pics here don't do it justice...

 So we went home to Jirka's after a long day and had another amazing dinner. The next day we started off with a breakfast of meats, cheeses and hardboiled eggs. Went for a short walk with Jirka and Mike and then headed back home to get ready for the drive to Bzenec to see the rest of the Otepka's and have a big party in the family wine celler.

Babichka comes through again. When we asked what it was,
she said "what I had in the fridge." It was amazing...stuffed
chicken with potatoes.

Breakfast of champions. 

Just a little meal before hitting the road (previous meal was
about 2 hours prior. Death.)

No joking, the Urqell tasted like honey over there.
Definitely different/better.

To Jirka, Mirka, Babichka, and Petr: thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You were amazing hosts and we hope to be able to return the favor to you some day. Stay in touch!!