Visiting Austria's twin cities.

Our group’s excursion to Retz and Znojmo has further strengthened my love for traveling.

Our vantage point above Znojmo. The vineyards are in the background to the right. The church stands directly behind us.

We gazed out over the chest-high stone wall at the scene below; the bright sun glistening off the river and forcing me to put on my sunglasses for the first time since I had arrived in Europe. I took off my coat; the warmth of the day brightening up my demeanor like only that first sunny, spring day can do. The scene that stretched before us was beautiful. Straight below us on a fairly steep hill was a cluster of small houses. Wash hung on lines by windows, a dog stared at us from the corner of a yard and men went about their daily chores.

All of this we could watch from our vantage point on the top of the hill by the medieval castle. Straight across from us, on the top of another hill sat the church. On the hill opposite us were hundreds of small houses and shacks, summer homes where townspeople kept gardens and tended to the vineyards that stretched across the hill into the distance. The Danube cut a path through the hills flowing from Austria in the West and on its way to Bratislava.  

We spent thirty minutes in the sun enjoying our lookout point. I had fun imagining what it would be like to live in a tiny house down in the valley, what it would be like to tend a garden in the summer. Perhaps it was the shining sun, which had been rare for our excursions, that made me fall in love with this town. But whatever it was, something was making my heart skip a beat that day.

The town we were in is Znojmo, which is located in the Czech Republic, about fifteen minutes train ride from the Austrian border. In fact, Znojmo has an Austrian “sister town,” Retz. Both of these towns have relied historically on their vineyards. Prior to WWII these towns were also similar in population. As the Iron Curtain fell in between the two towns, economic differences grew. Today, the towns are still considered partner towns because of their close proximity and historical ties.

While touring Retz and Znojmo with our professor I realized how comparable most central and eastern European towns are. Though the area of Znojmo by the old castle, church and waterfront was unique in my eyes, the center square had the same structure and architecture as most other European towns.

For example, in the middle of the square is a monument stretching towards the sky. The base of the monument is wide becoming skinnier as the object extends upward. At the top is a figure of a saint with a halo of gold stars. The monument, just like others that exist throughout Europe, in Retz, Vienna and Prague, is a monument for the black plague that swept through European cities and towns often.   

Also near the center of Znojmo is a small building with a green spire, needle thin at the top with a round, bulbous base. This building serves different functions in different towns. In Retz a similar looking building was the first church.

Of course there must be a large, impressive church somewhere in the vicinity of European towns. And it never takes long to find them. Sometimes these churches are in the center of the town, like Vienna or Cologne. However, many are located slightly away from the town square, such as in Znojmo and Retz.

My day spent in Znojmo and Retz reinforced to me the importance of traveling, for fun but also for learning by experiencing. The fact that most central and eastern European cities and towns have similar architecture styles and city layouts, invigorates me to explore places with vastly different history and culture. Yet at the same time, the idea of still finding special gems like Znojmo and Retz among the similarity strengthens my love for Europe. In the end, I feel that traveling can never be wrong.