Brno, Czech Republic

Mach 29-April 6, 2025.

I attended a conference and co-presented a paper at DFRWS-EU in Brno, Czech Republic (or Czechia). The trip out was not exactly direct—I drove an hour to the Elmira airport, flew to Detroit (west of New York State), had a layover, then flew to the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, had another layover, then flew to Vienna. Then I had a 3 hour layover and too a bus to Brno. I left on Saturday, March 29, 2025, got in around 11:30pm on Sunday night March 30.

I had Monday Marth 31 as a day to get some errands done, and then the conference ran from Tuesday through Friday. I chaired a session the 1st Annual Digital Forensics Doctoral Symposium (DFDS). On Thursday morning, we presented our paper. Saturday was a free day in Brno, them Sunday morning April 6, I took a bus back to Vienna had 2.5 days free in Vienna before flying hom on April 9, 2025.

The photos below are mostly from Monday and Saturday, the free days, while I was in Brno. Highlights include walking to and around the Špilberk park, which is on a hill right next to my hotel, and Špilberk Castle, which is at the top of the hill. Then visiting the town hall and walking up to the tower with a nice view of the area, as well as a bit of exploring the central "old town" area.

110 photos.

Click here for photos of Vienna from the same trip.

Displaying all 110 pictures


Hrad Špilberk (Špilberk Castle)

The earliest mention of the castle was in 1277 and it has a long history. Around the castle grounds was an art exhibition of various sculptures by artist Martin Skalický of Brno, called Sculptures in the Castle II. The sculptures were there from Jun 19, 2024 to April 13, 2025 (which means as I write this, they are no longer there, and were removed 4 days after I left Brno).

I didn't really go inside the castle other than to cut through from one side to the other because the way around the outside was blocked the southeast side by construction work (they had removed the stones on the road on the south side, and were (presumably) rennovating it. I did use one of the public restrooms and there was a restaurant. More or less, everything else required a ticket, and I didn't want to spend hours and hours there, as just walking around the outside, exploring, and taking pictures was going to take enough time. Plus I wanted to be outside and moving, to try to help sync up to the local time.

Here's some more information on Špilberk Castle and Fortress.

001-DSC_9712.jpg

001-DSC_9712-th.jpg

Looking northeast at Brno from Špilberk Castle, plus a rainbow!

002-DSC_9715.jpg

002-DSC_9715-th.jpg

003-DSC_9716.jpg

003-DSC_9716-th.jpg

The green turrets are the Church of St. Michael and the Old Town Hall.

004-DSC_9717.jpg

004-DSC_9717-th.jpg

The Brno cathedral.

005-DSC_9723.jpg

005-DSC_9723-th.jpg

The rainbow is growing!

006-DSC_9724.jpg

006-DSC_9724-th.jpg

Frank, rainbow, and Brno.

007-DSC_9729.jpg

007-DSC_9729-th.jpg

Frank at the end of the rainbow with the city of Brno behind.

008-DSC_9737.jpg

008-DSC_9737-th.jpg

Beware what lies beyond this gate!

009-DSC_9738.jpg

009-DSC_9738-th.jpg

No, fools! You must not cross its threshold!

010-DSC_9740.jpg

010-DSC_9740-th.jpg

The (back?) entrance to the castle and another sculpture by Skalický.

011-DSC_9741.jpg

011-DSC_9741-th.jpg

The road to the back (east) entrance to the castle.

012-DSC_9742.jpg

012-DSC_9742-th.jpg

They were working on the service road at the castle. Big piles of stones behind...(more)

013-DSC_9743.jpg

013-DSC_9743-th.jpg

Inside the castle (but not the real part, just where the restaurant and public...(more)

014-DSC_9744.jpg

014-DSC_9744-th.jpg

On the eastern bridge to Špilberk castle, facing south.

015-DSC_9745.jpg

015-DSC_9745-th.jpg

On the eastern bridge to Špilberk castle, facing north.

016-DSC_9746.jpg

016-DSC_9746-th.jpg

017-DSC_9748.jpg

017-DSC_9748-th.jpg

An entrance to the castle with a cute little guard hut.

018-DSC_9749.jpg

018-DSC_9749-th.jpg

The castle with the flag of Brno flying (the Austrian flag has no white stripe...(more)

019-DSC_9750.jpg

019-DSC_9750-th.jpg

At the northeast corner of the castle looking south.

020-DSC_9752.jpg

020-DSC_9752-th.jpg

At the northwest corner of the castle looking south. The Allegory statues are...(more)

021-DSC_9754.jpg

021-DSC_9754-th.jpg

The Bridge of Doooooom!

022-DSC_9755.jpg

022-DSC_9755-th.jpg

"Stop. Who approacheth the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions...(more)

023-DSC_9756.jpg

023-DSC_9756-th.jpg

The bridge over the non-moat and the doorway from photo 008.

024-spilberk_park_Pa...

024-spilberk_park_Panorama5-th.jpg

A view of the park below and Brno beyond.

025-DSC_9761.jpg

025-DSC_9761-th.jpg

Martin Skalický's work: Allegory


Špilberk Park

Špilberk Park is a large park that surrounds Špilberk castle and the hill it is on. There are paths and stairs that wind around it. Just below the castle is a small pond. There are some scultpures, one of which has its own section below. It's a pretty place and the view of central Brno at the top of the hill is great.

026-DSC_9762.jpg

026-DSC_9762-th.jpg

027-DSC_9763.jpg

027-DSC_9763-th.jpg

028-spilberk_park_Pa...

028-spilberk_park_Panorama1-th.jpg

A panoramic of a pond in the park just below the castle.

029-spilberk_park_Pa...

029-spilberk_park_Panorama2-th.jpg

030-DSC_9776.jpg

030-DSC_9776-th.jpg

A little birdhouse hanging from a tree in Špilberk Park.

031-DSC_9777.jpg

031-DSC_9777-th.jpg

It was late March and a tree was in bloom.

031a-DSC_9785.jpg

031a-DSC_9785-th.jpg

031b-DSC_9787.jpg

031b-DSC_9787-th.jpg

031c-DSC_9789.jpg

031c-DSC_9789-th.jpg

A signpost at the eastern entrance to Špilberk Park.

031d-DSC_9790.jpg

031d-DSC_9790-th.jpg

A signpost at the eastern entrance to Špilberk Park.


Statue of Jan Skácel's head by Jiří Sobotka

Jan Skácel Memorial – “Face open to space and time”

The statue is in the park, but is cool enough to merit its own section here. It's made of long hollow metal tubes of varying length to produce the front of the head of a famous poet from Brno. Depending where you stand and how the light and shadows are cast, different features and textures are visible. The back side is hollow and the shadowing forms a sort of reverse image of the face. Plus standing behind the head allows you to see the landscape in front of the sculpture for those tubes you are directly in line with. The effect makes it look like there's a transparent area. Standing further back, it becomes bigger.

The eyes are at person's height, so people can "see" Old Brno through Skácel's eyes.

A word is carved into each side of the base that represents a common theme of Skácel's poetry, specifically dětství (childhood), ticho (silence), krajina (landscape) and smrt (death). Each word has different typography to "play" with the word's theme. And yes, when I saw it, my first thought was of Homer Simpson dancing and singing, "I am so smart. I am so smart. S…M…R…T. I meant S-M-A-R-T…"

Here is some information on the sculpture, and Jiří Sobotka's web page on the memorial (it's in Czech, if your browser can't translate it, then try this via Google Translate).

For some reason the lyrics "No one knows what it's like to be the sad man, to be the bad man, behind blue eyes." from The Who jumps to mind.

032-DSC_9778.jpg

032-DSC_9778-th.jpg

A statue of the head of the Brno poet Jan Skácel by Jiří Sobotka. The word...(more)

033-DSC_9779.jpg

033-DSC_9779-th.jpg

A side view of Jan Skácel's head with the Czech word ticho (silence) on the...(more)

034-DSC_9780.jpg

034-DSC_9780-th.jpg

Seeing Brno through Skácel's eyes (or right eye). The word on the pedestal is...(more)

035-DSC_9781.jpg

035-DSC_9781-th.jpg

The view through Skácel's left eye.

036-DSC_9782.jpg

036-DSC_9782-th.jpg

And the vision in his head of Brno.

037-DSC_9783.jpg

037-DSC_9783-th.jpg

Eyes closed here (I had to find an angle where I wasn't aligned with the tubes).

038-DSC_9784.jpg

038-DSC_9784-th.jpg

A better view of the individual tubes, and the upside down word is smrt (death).


Around Brno

I sort of wound up on the west side of the hill when I left, when my hotel was directly east of the hill, so I wandered around the area a little. At points I was a little annoyed but then I saw a cool church with its gold dome illuminated by the sun. And the shadows across some of the buildings coupled with the blue sky made for some sharp contrasts. So it wound up working out well. I have two pictures the hotel room, which faced east. One of Old Brno with St. Jacob's Church and another of dawn.

043-DSC_9791.jpg

043-DSC_9791-th.jpg

Walking on Pellicova Street just west of Spilberk Park.

044-DSC_9792.jpg

044-DSC_9792-th.jpg

A nice view of yet-another-church.

045-DSC_9794.jpg

045-DSC_9794-th.jpg

The Orthodox Church of St. Wenceslas, founded in 1924. Shut down in 1943...(more)

046-gold_dome_church...

046-gold_dome_church_Panorama1-th.jpg

The belfrey tower was added in the 1990s and the gold-plated dome in 2003.

047-DSC_9798.jpg

047-DSC_9798-th.jpg

Cool shadows, late in the day. The street was under construction, so no...(more)

048-DSC_9799.jpg

048-DSC_9799-th.jpg

More cool late-day shadows on the buildings.

049-spilberk_park_Pa...

049-spilberk_park_Panorama3-th.jpg

Steps at Špilberk park lead up the hill to the castle.

050-spilberk_park_Pa...

050-spilberk_park_Panorama4-th.jpg

A wider picture of Špilberk Park.

051-DSC_9808.jpg

051-DSC_9808-th.jpg

My hotel (The International) was across the street from Spilberk Park.

052-St_Jacobs_Church...

052-St_Jacobs_Church_Panorama1-th.jpg

The view of central Brno and St. Jacob's Church from my hotel room.

053-Brno_dawn_Panora...

053-Brno_dawn_Panorama1-th.jpg

Dawn in Brno from my hotel room.


Brno Old Town Hall (Stará radnice)

The Old Town Hall was built in 1240 and has been modified over the centuries. The lookout tower is 63 meters (206 feet) high and you get there by climbing 173 steps. It has a great view of the area. The building was used for city administration until 1919 when the goverment moved to a more modern building. It is the oldest building in Brno that is not a church.

054-DSC_9818.jpg

054-DSC_9818-th.jpg

055-Brno_town_hall_P...

055-Brno_town_hall_Panorama3-th.jpg

The tower of the Old Town Hall (now a tourist center).

056-DSC_9824.jpg

056-DSC_9824-th.jpg

The Treasury, the oldest room in the building, where scribes would record...(more)

057-DSC_9827.jpg

057-DSC_9827-th.jpg

The Cathedral and Plague Column in Brno. Same picture angle as this.

058-DSC_9828.jpg

058-DSC_9828-th.jpg

A supermarket building and Špilberk Castle in the upper right corner.

059-DSC_9829.jpg

059-DSC_9829-th.jpg

The look-out area at the top of the Old Town Hall tower.

060-DSC_9830.jpg

060-DSC_9830-th.jpg

The square below the Old Town Hall in Brno.

061-DSC_9845.jpg

061-DSC_9845-th.jpg

Kostel svatého Michala (Church of St. Michael). I think the fancy-roofed...(more)

062-Brno_town_hall_P...

062-Brno_town_hall_Panorama2-th.jpg

Dowtown and the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral from the Old Town Hall. The...(more)

063-Brno_town_hall_P...

063-Brno_town_hall_Panorama4-th.jpg

Looking eastward, the courtyard in front of the Old Town Hall is in the...(more)

064-DSC_9850.jpg

064-DSC_9850-th.jpg

Another Brno view from the Old Town Hall (unsure which direction I was facing).

065-DSC_9851.jpg

065-DSC_9851-th.jpg

The iconic Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Brno.

066-DSC_9855.jpg

066-DSC_9855-th.jpg

Looking up the staircases to the top of the tower in the Brno Old Town Hall.

067-DSC_9856.jpg

067-DSC_9856-th.jpg

Another angle of the staircases up to the tower in the Brno Old Town Hall.

068-DSC_9857.jpg

068-DSC_9857-th.jpg

The look-out area is just above the clock.

069-DSC_9859.jpg

069-DSC_9859-th.jpg

An alligtor hanging from the ceiling. I guess it's a a local dragon. Cool.

070-DSC_9860.jpg

070-DSC_9860-th.jpg

On the ground I heard and spotted the same drone. The operator stood near...(more)


Old Brno

Staré Brno (Old Bruno) is in the center of the city, founded around the year 1000 and a town by the 14th Century. There are a lot of twisty streets, interesting shops, good restaurants, and bars that are open surprisingly late. It feels very save, even in the wee hours. Almost every day I walked around a little bit because of the location of my hotel at the edge of it, and where events where. There's a lot of cool stuff there like old buildings, historical statues and monuments, and events going on like a farmer's market (the vegetable market).

071-DSC_9861.jpg

071-DSC_9861-th.jpg

I didn't know you could do that with colored pencils!

072-DSC_9863.jpg

072-DSC_9863-th.jpg

I noticed it while walking downtown and it looked really cool!

073-DSC_9864.jpg

073-DSC_9864-th.jpg

Czechia is a meat-heavy culture. Even their plants are meaty...

074-DSC_9865.jpg

074-DSC_9865-th.jpg

Look closely at the sign for the true name of this tea shop.

075-DSC_9866.jpg

075-DSC_9866-th.jpg

A twisty Brno street with the cathedral visible in the distance.

076-Rome_Square_Pano...

076-Rome_Square_Panorama1-th.jpg

The sign describes the history of Rome Square, or Jewish Square 600 years ago.

077-DSC_9873.jpg

077-DSC_9873-th.jpg

Note the scaffolding on one, and a strut by the door of in the far building.

078-DSC_9875.jpg

078-DSC_9875-th.jpg

Could this be the Jewish Gate in the Jewish Square? (Pretty sure it's not.)

079-DSC_9876.jpg

079-DSC_9876-th.jpg

The band-aid says "Love Hurts". I think the severed arm hurts too.

080-DSC_9877.jpg

080-DSC_9877-th.jpg

I like how the sculptures were surrounded by building structural supports.

081-DSC_9878.jpg

081-DSC_9878-th.jpg

Some artistic graffiti on where a pay phone once was.

082-DSC_9879.jpg

082-DSC_9879-th.jpg

Kašna Parnas (Parnas Fountain) in Vegetable Square (where the market is held).

083-DSC_9880.jpg

083-DSC_9880-th.jpg

A vendor selling flowers at the Vegetable Market.

084-DSC_9881.jpg

084-DSC_9881-th.jpg

Not everyone sells vegetables at the Vegetable Market.

085-DSC_9882.jpg

085-DSC_9882-th.jpg

Appropriately, Wang is next to the Erotic City Supermarket.

086-DSC_9883.jpg

086-DSC_9883-th.jpg

Another church with a sun over the door catching actual sunlight.


Good Karma Flea market and a Nearby Neighborhood

I met up with Daryl by the Big Horse statue. After taking a look at a little art gallery right by there, we went to the Dobrá Karma - Bleší trhy, which is the Dobrá Karma Flea Market. And Dobrá means good, so it's the Good Karma flea market. This was the first time it was open this year. It ran along the length of the street tř. Kpt. Jaroše. People were selling stuff they had like clothing and shoes, books, toys, kitchenware, and assorted junk. There were also artists who had made stuff like pictures, clothing, and jewelry. It was neat to see a very "everyday life" sort of thing.

087-DSC_9884.jpg

087-DSC_9884-th.jpg

They have the device! Note: the switch is actually labeled "zap"!

088-DSC_9885.jpg

088-DSC_9885-th.jpg

The Dobrá Karma Flea Market in full swing!

089-DSC_9886.jpg

089-DSC_9886-th.jpg

This guy made "laser cut" things like D&D dice! Maybe like 3-D printed?

090-DSC_9888.jpg

090-DSC_9888-th.jpg

He did a lot a lot of cool stuff + gave me a d8! That's laserdesignbrno.cz!

091-DSC_9889.jpg

091-DSC_9889-th.jpg

Shoes that were so shiny! Perfect for the Tin Man or a robot!

092-DSC_9891.jpg

092-DSC_9891-th.jpg

The Dobrá Karma was ending and people were packing up.

093-DSC_9893.jpg

093-DSC_9893-th.jpg

094-DSC_9894.jpg

094-DSC_9894-th.jpg

095-DSC_9896.jpg

095-DSC_9896-th.jpg

096-DSC_9897.jpg

096-DSC_9897-th.jpg

Frank's shadow in the foreground, Daryl + suitcase in in the distance.

097-DSC_9898.jpg

097-DSC_9898-th.jpg

Daryl in the Distance.

098-DSC_9899.jpg

098-DSC_9899-th.jpg

Hamlet, presented in the original Czech version (on the left: The Tale of...(more)

099-DSC_9900.jpg

099-DSC_9900-th.jpg

100-DSC_9901.jpg

100-DSC_9901-th.jpg

101-DSC_9904.jpg

101-DSC_9904-th.jpg

Charming cobblestone streets and sidewalks (just not with suitcases).


Park and Apartment

I stopped by the Tyršův sad (City Park) that was across from where Daryl was staying and explored that for a few minutes. It looks like the street that it's on has the same name and other parks have other names, so I think that it is a proper name, not just a generic term.

102-DSC_9905.jpg

102-DSC_9905-th.jpg

A colorful tree in the far end of the park with cobblestone sidewalks.

103-park_tree_Panora...

103-park_tree_Panorama1-th.jpg

A tree with somewhat creepy bark in the park.

104-DSC_9924.jpg

104-DSC_9924-th.jpg

The place where Daryl was staying.

105-DSC_9925.jpg

105-DSC_9925-th.jpg

The place where Daryl was staying.

106-Brno_street_Pano...

106-Brno_street_Panorama1-th.jpg

Colorful and cool looking apartment buildings in Brno.

107-DSC_9931.jpg

107-DSC_9931-th.jpg

The view of Tyršův sad from Daryl's place.

108-DSC_9932.jpg

108-DSC_9932-th.jpg

The spacious balcony.

109-DSC_9934.jpg

109-DSC_9934-th.jpg

A hip place.

110-DSC_9935.jpg

110-DSC_9935-th.jpg

And a view of the park!



Click here for photos of Vienna from the same trip.


This page last modified May 10, 2025.
Home
RSS Feed
feed