A day after our medieval dinner in Brno, Trish and I headed to the South Moravian town of Mikulov to take part in the ancient town's Palava Vine Harvest. Mikulov has been celebrating this wine festival for more than 40 years. When we arrived, there were already tons of people lining up to get to the town center. The entrance fee was 200 CZK or around 450 PHP.
After we got passed the guards at the makeshift entrance, we were immediately welcomed by the wide array of food, wine and pastries. I could not help but try out a couple of tiny chocolate-coated pastries. Another thing I noticed along the way was that almost every stall in the open market sold the same thing: The Burčák, which is the Czech term for young fermented wine. We tried it out and actually loved its sweet taste. Nearly everyone in the festival was bringing around a liter of Burčák with them.
A while later, we finally made it to the town's Historic Square. On the center stage, a couple of locals were playing traditional Czech songs and showing traditional Czech dances. It was apparent that the audience was having a blast because most of them were singing and dancing along.
Several minutes later, the ceremonial procession began. Trish had to climb up a bench just to take decent photos. The main attractions in the mini parade were Bacchus and King Wencenlas IV, who was a former prisoner in Mikulov Castle.
Later, we met up with some of Trish's fellow interns and decided to walk around the center. There were tons of festivities in every corner. We were able to witness a reenactment of a particular historical event, which I'm not aware of. But still, I enjoyed watching the guys in costumes unleashing their acting prowess while we were all seated on the grass.
After sunset, Trish and I walked up the hill towards the Ampitheatre to witness a concert. My first in Czech Republic! That day, a singer named David Koller took the spotlight and entertained hundreds of people with his incredible voice. Almost everybody in the crowd were Czechs so they totally understood the lyrics of his song.
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