Brno, Czech Republic: Dead People and the Father of Genetics

In our wanderings of Brno today, we saw the Capuchin Crypts and the Gregor Mendel Museum, amongst other things.  The Capuchin Crypts are where various noblemen and the Capuchin friars were buried from the 17th through the 19th centuries.  What makes them unique is that because of an advanced airflow system, all of the bodies were mummified, and are still very well preserved...and we know this because they are in glass cases.  Since we couldn't take pictures, I can't quite rely the creepy coolness, but 'visible recent mummies' gives the general idea.  Our other big stop--and one of the main reasons Kathryn and I decided to visit Brno--was the Gregor Mendel Museum!  We are standing in front of the wall commemorating his peas in the picture above...

...and here we are in front of the begonias that demonstrate the discoveries he made about genetics and inherited traits back in the 1850s and 1860s.  For those of you who are a bit rusty on your high school biology, Gregor Mendel was the Augustinian monk who discovered that traits are carried in pairs called alleles, that there are dominant and recessive traits, and that what something looks like (phenotype) does not necessarily tell the observer what its genetic code is (genotype).  Does traveling to a tiny town in the south of the Czech Republic to see this make us a bit dorky?  Perhaps.  Was it still awesome?  Absolutely.

After exploring the wonderful world of Gregor Mendel, we climbed to the top of a very tall hill to see the town castle and the panoramic view of Brno.

As I mentioned yesterday, we are in the town hosting the Czech Grand Prix.  Though we spent the entire evening in the main square, this was unfortunately (or luckily?) the closest we got to any bikes or bikers.  It did make the town square quite lively, however, and made our last night in Brno one to remember.