One Day in Brno for Ignis Brunesis (International Fireworks Competition), Czech Republic

Beneath the Vegetable Market is an extensive network of labyrinth and cellars that were used to store wine, beers, food and even alchemists and doctors' laboratory. It is a great experience to visit such an impressive place that only open to public since 2011, even after modifications and fortification works have been done. There is even a genuine medieval pillory, and a torture room showcasing how they burn the so called witches back in medieval time.

Guided tour is available every 60 minutes but the guide only speak Czech. An audio system is provided though to give explanation in English. 

It is a little bit tricky to locate the entrance to the labyrinth of the vegetable market. While we thought the entrance would have been a staircase leading to the underground, it turned out the entrance is a modern shop unit and the staircase is inside the building. Entrance fees of 160 Czk applicable and last entry is 5pm. Please note that the labyrinth is closed on Monday.

Špilberk Castle has a long history. The castle was built in 13th century as a royal castle and occasional residence of Moravian margraves on top of the hill, and then turned into a military fortress and eventually a earned the notorious name as the harshest jail in Europe. All these are bygones now, as the fortress now act as Brno City Museum with a restaurant. 

Apart from serving as a museum, the surrounding of the castle also became a park suitable for an evening stroll, while certain spot offers view of the city, though not splendid. Nevertheless, here is a good place to get the sunset view too.

The road to Špilberk Castle is not physically challenging although there is a slight elevation. Take your time slow and enjoy the garden view around. 

Freedom Square is Brno's most significant square with a reversed "A" shape. It has a number of restaurants and shops, but most importantly is the historical buildings and monuments here. Among them are House of the Lords of Lipa, House of Four Giants and etc. 

The giant equestrian statue of Jobst of Moravia definitely caught our attention upon walking pass there. Google resulted yielded that Jobst of Moravia was a member of the House of Luxembourg, a Margrave of Morovia from 1375 as well as elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1410 until his death. 

It appears the place is a great place for kids to play chasing around! 

Near to the equestrian statue is Church of St. Thomas which has a history dated back to 14th century. 

We stumbled upon this beautiful red church during our way down from Spilberk Castle. The Protestant church looks gorgeous a distance away. We did not have time to go there though. 

While we on the way back to hotel's room at night, we spotted two tall towers that were so magnificent in sight and decided to walk up Petrol Hill to have a look. It turned out that magnificent building is Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, a late Gothic style cathedral with Baroque interior built in 1777. Apparently, the silhouette of the cathedral has become a symbolic of Brno.

Another interesting point about Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is that the bells rings at 11 o'clock, instead of the conventional 12 o'clock. The reason is that during the Swedish siege in the Thirty Years War, the invading Swedes had promised to call off their attacked if they had not succeeded in taking th ecity by midday on the 15th of August. Therefore, some citizens decided to ring the bells an horu early on this date, prompting the Swedes to lay off the siege. 

Not far away from Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is Denis Garden, which is regarded as one of the most beautiful park in Brno with an obelisk. You can get splendid view on the city over here, including part of Spilberk Castle and the cathedral. 

Squeezing the itinerary for our trip to accommodate a visit to Ignis Brunensis is definitely worth it. The annual event is being held at Brno Dam Lake, and the entire event was like a funfair we used to see in western movies. It was very happening during our visit, starting from the train journey to the dam as almost the entire train was packed with people going there.

The entire place is full with excited people. There are various food stalls, offering street food such as burgers, langos, coffee and drinks. Seeing stalls selling langos made both of us tempted to get a piece of this huge and sinful bread as our dinner. The queue was unexpectedly long and caused us have to wait for more than 30 minutes just to get a piece of langos! 

The firework display is at the other side of the lake, so you feel free to get any spot you feel the most strategic to have a view of it. Well, it was tough as the entire place was full of people. We came here armed with a tripod to hope to get a decent shot of the fireworks but the thought never materialized. Eventually, we just feast the fireworks using our bare eyes.

Again, the queue was insane when everybody is rushing out to get the train after the fireworks display finished. Probably another 30 minutes waiting time for us before we manage to get into the train?

It just feel like a disappointment for not able to snap any great pictures. Will there be any future opportunity to be back here? I wish for that, but i doubt so.