PF 2018

PF 2018!  Šťastný nový rok!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!
It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone.  Every year it seems to go by all that much faster.

I was fortunate enough to visit 19 countries this year.

Happy New Year! Šťastný nový rok! Gott nytt år! Buon anno! Frohes neues Jahr! Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku! Boldog úl évet! سنة جديدة سعيدة! Godt nytt år! Bonne année! Bliain Nua Shona! 新年快乐！Hyvää uutta vuotta! ¡Feliz año nuevo! 새해 복 많이 받으세요! Guten Rutsch!

Annie

Last night we went to see the Irish production of Annie at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

The concert hall was built in 1865 as a exhibition hall before becoming an examination hall for University College Dublin (UCD).  The building was reconverted in 1981 with the main auditorium seating 1,200.

The National Concert Hall is home to the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Choir Ireland, and the Irish Baroque Orchestra.






The venue is absolutely beautiful.  And the show was very well done.





I had only ever seen the movie so the stage production of Annie was a bit different in terms of the story.  However, it was excellent!

Christmas in Berlin

I had a fantastic Christmas up in Berlin staying with Claudia's parents.  Only the snow was missing.  Even though it has been warm lately I was still expecting all of the snow we had there back in 2009.

On the 24th, Santa Claus came and brought Tünde a bag full of presents.  It was nice getting to be a spectator and not trying to dress up like der Weihnachtsmann.

On the 25th, we went to see a Christmas pageant at one of the local churches.

Later we went to see the Nutcracker at the Berlin Opera House.  Well we tried to see the Nutcracker.  Unfortunately, a pipe burst the night before and the stage was flooded.

So instead we headed over to the Gendarmenmarkt.  This is one of the few Christmas markets that stays open until New Year's.  All the rest normally shut down on the 23rd. 

Getting to Berlin

Last night I had a seven hour bus ride from Brno to Berlin.  This was my first time using Flixbus.

Flixbus is a German intercity bus service that launched in 2013.  They have been rapidly expanding and now have 120,000 daily connections to 1000 destinations in 20 countries.  This year they entered the Czech market and they are trying to compete with Student Agency.

I'm not impressed.  The yellow busses are better than the green busses.  The good thing was that it was a direct bus to Germany.  The bus went from Brno to Dresden to Schönefeld Airport so there was no reason to change busses in Prague.  The Schönefeld stop was more convenient than the Central Berlin Station (ZOB).  

The service on Student Agency is way better.  On the big yellow bus you book a specific seat and each seat comes with an individual entertainment system that allows you to watch movies.  With SA, you get a complimentary hot beverage and you can purchase soft drinks or snacks.  There was nothing on Flixbus and the Wi-Fi didn't work either.

At 9 am this morning I received an e-mail from Flixbus reminding me that my bus leaves at midnight and that I should be there at least 10 minutes early.  When they sent me the e-mail I was already in Rahnsdorf having breakfast with Claudia's family.

There are two airports in Berlin.  Tegel (TXL) is in the north of the city and handles 21 million passengers per year.

Schönefeld (SXF) is in the south-east part of the city.  It is mainly used by low-cost airlines and handles 11,6 million passengers per year.

The Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) was supposed to open in 2011.  The plan was to close both Tegel and Schönefeld when Brandenburg opened.  I remember years ago when there were protests about opening the airport.  I guess they need not have worried because people wonder if it will ever open.  Currently it's scheduled to open 2020-2021.

In addition to all of the bad planning, growth forecasts were never considered.  Once Brandenburg actually opens, it will already be at 100% capacity.  Now there's speculation about keeping Tegel open for good.  What a mess!

Here's a short video from last year that I found out on YouTube.  

©DW News

Update:  BER finally opened in December 2020.

Veselé Vánoce!

Veselé Vánoce!  Merry Christmas and PF 2018.

As the last working day before the Christmas holidays I want to wish my very international team a very Merry Christmas.

Veselé Vánoce! Veselé Vianoce! Selamat Hari Natal! Boldog Karácsonyt! Wesołynch Świąt! Καλά Χριστούγεννα! Fröhliche Weihnachten! შობას გილოცავთ! Geseënde Kersfees! Crăciun fericit! Sretan Božić! Gëzuar Krishtlindjet! Весела Коледа! 圣诞节快乐！Joyeux Noël! क्रिसमस की शुभकामनायें! Nollaig Shona! Buon Natale! عيد ميلاد سعيد! Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus! Linksmų Kalėdų! Feliz Natal! С Рождеством! ¡Feliz Navidad! கிறிஸ்துமஸ் வாழ்த்துக்கள்! З Різдвом Христовим! Chúc Giáng Sinh Vui Vẻ! Maligayang Pasko!

This year I'm spending Christmas in Rahnsdorf.  For the last five years I've hosted an orphan's Christmas lunch for a few foreigners in Brno who can't travel home for the holidays.  This year, I'll be the orphan in Berlin.

Tonight I've got a midnight bus to Berlin.  This will be my first time taking Flixbus.  This is a German company bus company that expanded in to Czechland this year.  Let's see how they compare to Student Agency.  The reason I booked with them is because they have a direct route to Germany without requiring a change in Prague.  Wish me luck!

New Brno Flights

In October, Wizz Air cancelled its Brno-Eindhoven route.  Well now they are leaving Brno completely.  In January they will end the Brno-London Luton route.

In June 2018 they will close the Prague base and only offer flights from Prague to London Luton, Bari, Italy, and Kutaisi, Georgia.

Wizz Air will still fly from Bratislava with flights to Skopje, Kyiv, Warsaw, Sofia, Tuzla, and London Luton.

With Air Berlin gone, Wizz Air is establishing a base, in 2018, in Vienna with 17 new routes.  From April they will have flights to Gdańsk, Tuzla, and Varna.  In June, they will have flights to Bari, Malta, Rome, Valencia, and Tel Aviv.  From November there will be routes to Billund, Bergen, Dortmund, Kutaisi, Larnaca, Nis, Ohrid, Tenerife, and Thessaloniki.  These are some great destinations and several of them are still on my bucket list.

The good news is that we're getting a new airline in Brno.  The Romanian airline Blue Air is establishing a base here.  The Blue Air Moravian Transport will be 35% owned by the the city and 65% owned by Blue Air.

At the end of March 2018, they will offer flights to Milan, Rome, Barcelona, Brussels, and Lviv.  Over the summer there will operate flights to Split and Dubrovnik.

I'm surprised that being a Romanian airline, and given the number of Romanians here in Brno, that there's no flight to Romania.  Perhaps it will come in the future.  I've never flown with Blue Air before but I'll have to give them a try.  So nice that there will be more discount airline flights direct from Brno.  Plus lots of new Wizz Air destinations out of Vienna.  Looks like there will be more travel opportunities in 2018.

Update:  What a complete disappointment!!  Flights were supposed to launch at the end of March but service was delayed due to legal processes.  Now the South Moravian governor announced the end of cooperation with Blue Air so it looks like I'll have to keep flying from Vienna, Bratislava, or Prague.  Too bad because it would be so convenient to be able to fly in and out of Brno.

Masarykův onkologický ústav

At Žlutý kopec is the Masaryk Oncology Centre.
Masarykův onkologický ústav (MOÚ) was established in 1935.

It is named after Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk - the first president of Czechoslovakia.

Like FN Bohunice, it is a teaching and research facility in cooperation with Masaryk University.

This is among the best oncology hospitals in the country, if not one of the best in Central Europe.

Each year, the centre treats 10,000 hospitalised patients and another 200,000 as outpatients.

The Radiation Oncology Clinic is one of only two hospitals in the country where children are treated with rays.

It has five linear accelerators which permits automated adjustment to the shape of the rays in order to treat irregular shaped tumours.
This minimises healthy tissue near a tumour being affected by the radiation. 

The Old New Synagogue

There's a memorial plaque on a building next to the Brno Trauma Hospital.  In 1906 the New Synagogue was opened.

The building was torn down in 1985 - 1986.  Today the building is part of the hospital.

Of the four synagogues that used to be in Brno, only the functionalist synagogue is has regular services.

The New Synagogue

Here's an old photo I found online of the New Synagogue.




In keeping with the synagogue topic, today is the first day of Hanukkah.  So to all of my Jewish friends - !!חג חנוכה שמח

2017 PM Christmas Party

On Thursday night we had the annual IBM Project Management Christmas party.  This year's theme was the "Roaring 20's / Great Gatsby".

Once again my team was behind the poster.  They really love Photoshop.



I didn't have anything to wear so the easiest thing was to just rent a tuxedo for a local wedding shop.




It was a really nice evening.  I had early morning calls on Friday so I went home around 10 pm.  I heard that some of the festivities lasted until around 4 am.  Way too late for me nowadays.

Still the Top Beer Drinkers

Once again, Czechs are the top beer drinkers in Europe.  In 2016 the per capita consumption in Czechland was 143 litres.  Of course it's what happens when there is such great beer here.

Germany came in second place at 104 litres and Austria was third at 103 litres.  Poland, Lithuania and Ireland round out the top six.

Brno Trauma Hospital

Úrazová nemocnice v Brně is the Brno Trauma Hospital.  The hospital cooperates with the Medical Faculty of Masaryk University.

The hospital has 174 beds.  There is also a trauma clinic at the university.

The hospital was established in May 1933.  A new emergency pavilion opened in 2015.

Each year the hospital handles:

*60 - 80 spinal injuries with neurological lesion
*3800 acute traumas requiring hospitalisation
*6000 operations
*180,000 out-patient treatments

2017 World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day.  The number of people infected with the disease has been steadily increasing.  More than 3800 people here in Czechland have the virus.  Estimates are that about 700 people aren't even aware that they are infected.

The authorities, back in the Czechoslovak days, began monitoring the spread of the HIV virus since 1985.

Truvada for PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is a once-a-day medicine that combines two antiretroviral medications that helps prevent the HIV virus from being transmitted.  In Germany, this medicine costs 1,000 Kč ($50) per month and in France it is covered by health insurance.

Here it costs 6,000 to 8,000 Kč (~$300 to $400) per month.  It requires a doctor's prescription and it is currently only available at eight HIV help centres in Czechland.  Hopefully the cost will decrease and it will become more readily available for people who need it.

Update: In 2020, PrEP costs 1100 Kč (~$50) per month in Czechland.  

9th Annual Czechsgiving

Saturday was the 9th annual Thanksgiving party.  I can't believe that this was my 9th Czechsgiving here in Brno.

What I really can't believe is that next year will be a decade of Brno Thanksgivings.

This years's turkey was 8,5 kg (19 lbs).

Every year the party gets a wee bit larger.  Of course it could just be that the kids all all getting bigger.  I almost need a new hallway just for the coats and shoes.

This year Vilém brought his guitar and the Czech songs were a big hit with the kids (and the adults).

Brno is Musical

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network aims to increase the cooperation between member states which recognises culture as a strategic factor for sustainable development.  They recognise seven creative disciplines: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Music, and Media Arts.

There are currently 180 towns, from 72 countries, in the network.  This includes the two new entires for Czechland.

Prague was recognised for Literature and Brno is now a UNESCO Creative City of Music.

Naples, Italy

Naples is the third-largest municipality in Italy.  It is home to over 975,000 people, but with more than 4,4 million people in the larger metro area, it is the 9th most populous area in the EU.  Napoli is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.

The Greeks established settlements here in the second millennium BC.  After the fall of the Roman Empire it was the capital of the Duchy of Naples, then as the capital of the Kingdom of Naples, finally as the capital of the Two Sicilies until 1861 when Italy was unified.

The city's historic centre is the largest in Europe and in 1995 it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The city centre spans 1,700 hectares (4,200 acres) and covers 28 centuries of history.


Piazza Dante is one of the largest public squares and features a 19th-century statue of Dante Alighieri.

Piazza del Plebiscito is the main city square.

The San Francesco di Paola is a neoclassical church and serves as a minor basilica.





The Royal Palace was one of four residencies used by the Bourbon Kings and today it is a museum.





The Teatro di San Carlo was built in 1737.  It is the country's oldest opera house.





The National Archaeological Museum, formerly the Royal Bourbon Museum, is housed in a building constructed in 1585 originally to serve as calvary barracks.

The Galleria Principe di Napoli is a commercial gallery that was completed in 1883.

Castle Nuovo, also known as Maschio Angioino, is one of the city's landmarks.  The medieval castle was built in 1282.

The Teatro del Fondo opened in 1779.  It was renamed the Teatro Mercadante in 1871.  It was one of the city's two royal opera houses in the 18th and 19th centuries.



There are hundreds of Roman Catholic churches in the city.

The Church of Santa Maria di Caravaggio is a Baroque Catholic church.  Construction began in 1627.

The Basilica di Santa Chiara is another minor basilica.  The complex, completed in 1340, contains a church, a monastery,  tombs and a museum.

La chiesa di Santa Maria la Nova was completed in 1599.











La chiesa San Ferdinando was completed in 1759.

The Naples Cathedral is the city's main church.  It was consecrated in the 13th century.

Santa Caterina a Chiala was originally built as a small family chapel and then given to the Franciscan order which expanded it in 1600.

The church of St. Nicholas the Charitable was completed in 1682.

The Castle dell'Ovo is on the peninsula and is Naples' oldest standing fortification.  The castle was the Royal Chamber and the State Treasury.  It also served as a prison.

The Charterhouse of St. Martin was a monastery complex established in 1368.  Today it is a museum and there's a great view of the city.

The Gulf of Naples opens into the Mediterranean Sea and the port is one of the most important in Europe.  On the east is Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that erupted in 79 AD destroying Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Naples is where pizza was invented so you have to try an authentic Neapolitan pizza.

Here's a Rick Steves video I found out on YouTube.

©Rick Steves

Naples makes for a nice weekend city break.  Next time I would visit Mt Vesuvius, the ruins of Pompeii and the island of Capri.