So we accepted Ales' invite to trundle down the D1 from Prague to Brno and head to his wee town of 2000 people for the once annual winter ball. Held inside because... well work it out for yourself... too bloody cold in the snow and ice outside, the townfolk and 2 little Aussies dressed up in their Moravian finest (the townfolk did, not the okkers - "what's traditional Aussie?" we asked ourselves? Too chilly for a pair of stubbies and thongs, we excused ourselves by thinking. "If it were summer...." Nope, still wouldn't fly. Sorry, I got nothing? You???).
So back to Kobyli, we knew there'd be a touch of dancing, a bit more drinking, and more than a splash of local colour. But we weren't prepared for the full scale of all three! By night's end we were both paired off with locals for a few spins round the dancefloor (Maria: when it came time for us to dance together, Brett insisted his steps were right and mine were too slow!); I quickly found out that the local boys were plotting to get me absolutely smashed - the vodka chaser with every pint of beer, wine and spirit kind of gave that away!; and the sheer intricate beauty and screams of colour in the locals' costumes simply defied belief. It's one place where being caught staring at a woman's bosom is entirely appropriate and indeed complimentary!
With our fill of the local ingredients we slipped away sometime after 1am, with the party continuing well past 3am. We were invited back to meet Ales' family the following day for a quick hello before returning to Prague, and the whole family was there - thrusting bottles of their homemade wine into our hands, pictures of his siblings from the late 80s all dressed up in traditional garb at other festivals, and a DVD of last year's town "hody" - where the locals parade through the streets giving toasts to their womenfolk and their wine, and take Monday off from work.
We barely scratched under the surface of Kobyli, where the residents are proud to not hail from the big smoke, Prague - or even Brno. This is a sleepy looking town on the surface that you'd drive through in an eyeblink, yet for its 2000 residents there are over 700 private wine cellars - almost 1 per 3 people. That's a lotta cheer!! Guess where we're going this June!
More photos from THE BALL!! http://journals.worldnomads.com/maria_brett/gallery/15963.aspx
Videos!!!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXkJpHA_Lw4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5lGFSrqXug
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NOQ5X4ETXM
