Eurostring workshop II

For both Czech and international students at the city’s six major higher educational institutions – in the postwar period the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts and the country’s Military Academy were added to those mentioned above – Brno offers many attractions. Populous enough to provide all the amenities of a large European urban centre, it also retains the kind of quiet, undisturbed charm that has become increasingly rare in the era of globalization and mass tourism. The city’s many restaurants, pubs, cafes, wine-rooms and wine-cellars, both within the historical city centre and elsewhere, offer ample opportunity for lively encounters and intimate exchanges, to the accompaniment of Czech and international cuisine, the world’s best beer, and the outstanding local Moravian wines. Leisure-time activities cover the whole range from theatre, opera and ballet, classical music and choral performances, through dozens of galleries and museums (including the only one in the world devoted to the Roma), to countless clubs offering jazz, bluegrass and all forms of rock and pop, as well as the country’s largest disco.

Students interested in sports and physical activities should have no trouble in finding what they want in Brno. In addition to the many facilities at the universities themselves, the city provides dozens of sports facilities, including three indoor swimming pools, six open-air swimming pools and two winter stadiums. Brno Lake, easily accessible by public transport, is a popular site for swimming, skating (in winter) and outdoor recreation. Farther afield, the deeply wooded, hilly countryside to the north of Brno is criss-crossed by a maze of hiking trails in summer and cross-country ski trails in winter. To the south and east of the city, the country opens up into the low, rolling hills that provide the perfect conditions for the country’s best vineyards and the new “wine trails” for hikers and cyclists that link them up.
Thanks to its location at the very heart of Central Europe, getting to Brno is simple, whether by plane (via Prague or Vienna), train, coach, bus or car. This also makes it an ideal home base for becoming acquainted with the main cities in the region, in particular Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Krakow and Bratislava, and student excursions to these and other cities are organized on a regular basis by the Brno universities. With all the attractions of the city of Brno itself, the surrounding countryside and the region as a whole, attending one of the Brno universities offers a rich extracurricular life as well as an exciting educational experience to both Czech and international students alike.