Why Are We Drinking with the Mayor of Krelov?

Many will agree that travelling the way I prefer (not doing a bus tour, joining a tour group, or staying at big chain hotels) may bring about challenges and put more pressure on you but it also provides the opportunity to get closer to the local cultures and make personal connections.  Our visit to Krelov, just outside Olomouc, is a good example..

Eleven years ago, I was travelling in CZ exploring the vineyards and villages of Moravia.  It was getting late and dark and we had no idea where to stay. Olomouc is big and, as we drove around, saw no options. We headed out on a secondary highway and, in the village of Krelov, found a pension.  At first, the owner wasn't sure he had a room but, when we switched to English from the German we'd been using, he asked us where we were from. When we said from the Vancouver area in Canada, he told us his son was at a hockey camp there and immediately gave us a room. Fast forward to now.  As we were going to be in the same area this trip, I emailed the pension. The reply came from the son, now 25 and back in CZ from playing hockey in Australia. We stayed at Penzion Krelov Friday evening, met Jaroslav, and had drinks with him and his father who is now the mayor.  So, that is how we ended to drinking with the mayor of Krelov!  It was a fun evening.