Seven Wonders of the World

There have been a few versions of the "seven wonders of the world."  The oldest list, known as the "classic" seven wonders were located around the Mediterranean and the Middle East.  Of the classic wonders, only one, the Great Pyramid of Giza, still exists.

1.  Great Pyramid of Giza in El Giza, Egypt.
2.  Colossus of Rhodes, was located in Rhodes, Greece.
3.  Hanging Gardens of Babylon, in Babylon, Iraq.
4.  Lighthouse of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt.
5.  Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in present-day Turkey.
6.  Statue of Zeus in Olympia, Greece.
7.   Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, Turkey.   

Next month, we're off to Kuşadasi for a week and will visit Ephesus.  I'll get to see what's left of the Temple of Artemis and will be the only item on the classic list I'll have seen.

The Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages include:
1.  Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa in Alexandria, Egypt.
2.  Colosseum in Rome, Italy.   
3.  Great Wall of China, in China.
4.  Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey.
5.  Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa, Italy.
6.  Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, in Nanjing, China.
7.  Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, UK.

So far I've managed to see four of seven from this list.  I missed out on going to Nanjing during my Shanghai trip due to rain.

In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers paid tribute to the what they thought were the greatest civil engineering achievements of the 20th century by releasing their list of Seven Wonders to the Modern World.

1.  Channel Tunnel, between the UK and France.

2.  CN Tower in Toronto, Canada.

3.  Empire State Building in New York City, USA.

4.  Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, USA.

5.  Itaipú Dam between Brazil and Paraguay.

6.  Delta and Zuiderzee Works in the Netherlands.

7.  Panama Canal in Panama.

From this list I've been to the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Toronto's been on my list of places to visit for years but who knows when I'll get a chance to visit Canada.

In 2001, a New Seven Wonders of the World was released.  The Great Pyramid of Giza didn't make the list but was added later as an honorary mention.

1.  Great Wall of China.

2.  Petra in Jordan.

3.  Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

4.  Machu Picchu in Peru.

5.  Chichén Itzá in Mexico.

6.  Colosseum in Italy.

7.  Taj Mahal in India.  

From this list I've been to the Great Wall, Petra, Christ the Redeemer, and the Colosseum.  Back in 2007, Steven and I were getting our MBAs from Georgia State University.  We did a two-week study abroad programme in Argentina and Brazil.  One of my favourite memories is of us in a helicopter flying around Jesus's head in Rio.

Ephesus for sure will be the next place from all of these lists that I'll see.  Beyond that, who knows?  The Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramid are both on my bucket list.  Stonehenge would probably be the easiest to visit.

Cooperation With Taiwan

Last week, a memorandum of cooperation was signed in Taipei between Czechland and Taiwan.  This will increase the level of cooperation between the two countries in education, science, and culture.

Czechia wants to see direct flights between Prague airport and Taipei.  Recently, Czechland opened a development centre for research into semiconductors.

The national museum in Prague and the national museum in Taipei will now become sister institutions.

Cooperation between the two countries has been steadily growing.  Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, runs a subsidiary company called Foxconn CZ, runs its largest European operations centre and EU hub, in Pardubice.  It is one of the most profitable companies in Czechia.  

In March 2020, the countries signed an official partnership to fight Covid-19.  During the Covid crisis, Taiwan provided Czechland with medical equipment.  

In 2021, Czechland supported Taiwan's bid to participate in the World Health Assembly.  

After the June 2021 tornado in South Moravia, Taiwan donated 6,5 million Kč (~$304K) to affected villages.

In August 2021, Czechland gave Taiwan 30.000 Moderna vaccines.

Obviously China isn't thrilled with this because it still considers Taiwan as part of China and views the Czech government as supporting Taiwanese independence.  Objections from Beijing aren't something new.

Back in January 2020, Prague mayor Zdeněk Hřib signed a sister city agreement with Taipei, just two months after cancelling the sister city agreement with Beijing.  It probably didn't hurt that Hřib is a doctor and did his medical internship training in Taiwan.

Unrelated to Taiwan, but another reason that I really like MUDr. Hřib is that in February 2020 he re-named the square in front of the Russian embassy to Náměstí Borise Němcova (Boris Nemcov Square) after the outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin who was assassinated in 2015.

In August 2020, RNDr. Miloš Vystrčil, the President of the Czech Senate, made headlines for  making an official trip to Taiwan.  This was a big deal because China's foreign minister Wang Yi, said that he would pay a "heavy price" for visiting Taiwan.  Not only did he not back down to China, he channeled U.S. President John F. Kennedy's 1963 speech and told Taiwanese lawmakers, in Mandarin Chinese, "I am Taiwanese."

©民視英語新聞 Formosa TV English News

I love that the Czech politicians stand up against authoritarian regimes.  Here's a short video I found on YouTube where Czech MEP Markéta Gregorová shares her thoughts on why the ties between the two countries are getting stronger.

©RTI English

Here's a video from May 2021, former Taiwanese Ambassador at Large Maysing Yang met with both Hřib and Vystrčil in Prague.

  

©民視英語新聞 Formosa TV English News

It's clear that Czechland and Taiwan maintain strong unofficial relations.  China won't have diplomatic relations with any country that officially recognises Taiwan as an independent country.  So there aren't any official embassies.  Instead, the Czech Republic is represented in Taipei by the Czech Economic and Cultural Office, 捷克經濟文化辦事處.  In Prague, Taiwan has the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.

In October, the Prague Philharmonic will travel to Taiwan.

©民視英語新聞 Formosa TV English News

WhatsApp

When I was in hospital I would give a daily update to my parents in Arizona, my sister in California, Claudia in Berlin, Natalie in Wellington, and Kája.  I couldn't use iMessage because Nat and Kája are Android users and everyone is on Apple.  I couldn't use WhatsApp because my parents and sister don't use it.  So I had to go old school and use SMS (text message). 

SMS is Short Message Service but in the USA we call it a "text message" and we use "to text" as the verb.

The USA is one of the few big countries where SMS remains the usual way to chat.  SMS/Text message travel over telephone lines rather than over the Internet.

If you use an iPhone then and you want to message someone else who also has an iPhone then you send them an iMessage.  The message goes over the internet.  If you want to message someone who uses an Android phone then you send them an SMS.

The benefit of SMS is that it works with any phone.  However, there are security flaws, you don't get notifications when the recipient has read your message and you can't start a video call from a text message.  SMS messages are up to 160 characters.

WhatsApp is a free instant messaging and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service that was purchased by Facebook in 2014 for $19.3 billion.  It's the most popular way to message people in most of Europe, Africa, Latin America and most of India.

It's heavily used across Europe.  Mainly because it's free.  In the USA, SMS is usually priced at a flat rate and most carriers include text messaging as part of your mobile package.  In Czechland, a single SMS is usually around 1 Kč (5¢) which over a month can add up to a good chunk of change.  On the other hand, most U.S. mobile providers charge a heavy fee for international text messaging.

To use WhatsApp you just need an internet connection.  With WhatsApp you're not limited to 160 characters per message, you can send images, videos, audio files and documents, there are read notifications when the recipient has seen the message, you can use it to video call, group chats and calls are no problem and it uses end-to-end encryption which means that only the sender and the recipient of the message can see its contents.  Plus, it's free.

Spain uses it the most.  Something like 90% of mobile users use WhatsApp.  In the USA, only about 1/3rd of users have downloaded the app.  I bet that a good chuck of the users have it to communicate with family and friends in parts of the world where SMS is expensive.

In China, WeChat is the go-to messaging tool while in Japan, Line is number one, and Telegram is popular in Russia.  WhatsApp is banned in China, North Korea, Syria, Qatar, and the UAE.

Here's a short video I found on YouTube that talk about why Americans don't use WhatsApp.

©Digital Trends

Brno Olympic Festival

China is currently hosting the 2022 Olympic Games and Beijing is now the first city to have hosted both the summer and winter Olympics.  During the same period, from 4-22 February, the Brno Olympic Festival is running.  This is the third year that Brno has hosted the Olympic Festival.

The goal is for kids to try out new sports by making them more accessible and for Brno to experience the Olympic atmosphere.

There are 15 winter sports plus winter versions of volleyball, speed orienteering, athletics, and even chess.

About 3.000 students from 60 primary and secondary schools in South Moravia will get the opportunity to try up to five different sports free of charge.

First Day of Advent & Hanukkah

Today is both the first day of Advent and the first day of Hanukkah.  Czechland is often described as one of the world's most atheistic countries.  I'm not hundred percent sure on the numbers but it's something like 75-80% of Czechs don't declare a religious faith in surveys or the census.  As far as atheism goes, Czechs are third in the world at 30%, behind China and Japan.  

Religion just isn't a big part of daily life here.  It's definitely not like in Poland where some 88% of the country identifies as Roman Catholic and the church is very much a part of the national identity.

Advent marks the countdown to Christmas.  It begins four Sundays before 25 December.  In most of Central Europe, Christmas is 24 December followed by the second day of Christmas and St. Stephen's Day.

Two different ways of counting down to Christmas are Advent wreaths and Advent calendars.  For the wreath, you light a new candle each of the four Sundays prior to Christmas.  This is what I'm doing this year because I won't put up a Christmas tree since I'll spend Christmas in Berlin again this year.

For kids, and many adults, Advent calendars are more fun.  Every day of December you eat a piece of chocolate.  I still send Advent calendars to my niece and nephew in California each year.

Claudia does her own version of an Advent calendar with Tünde.  Each day in December, Tünde unwraps a book.  Some are new books and some are Christmas themed books that are reused each year.

Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the recovery of Jerusalem and the rededication of the Second Temple.  Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days and candles are lit on a menorah.

It's not that uncommon in California for there to be mixed families where some member are Christian and some are Jewish so both holidays are celebrated.  Sometimes it's called Christmakkah or Hanumas.  This year Hanukkah began today at sundown.  

Happy Hanukkah and Happy First Advent Sunday!

2020 Olympic Results

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are now complete.  Of course, due to Covid, the games were postponed to 2021. 

I feel sorry for the athletes.  First, I feel sorry for the athletes who were ready to compete in 2020 and due to the delay missed their window of opportunity to compete.  

Secondly, I feel sorry for the athletes who did get to compete but without crowds.  I'm sure that over the years they dreamed of competing in front of full crowds with their families and loved ones in attendance.  Again, due to Covid, that did happen.  But you can't take anything away from the athletes to worked hard and competed for their respective countries.

The USA topped the medal count with 104 medals (46 gold, 29 silver, 29 bronze), followed by China with 88 medals and the UK with 65 medals.

Czech Republic came in 19th place, behind Jamaica and ahead of North Korea, with 11 medals.  In terms of medals these were the country's most successful summer Olympic results.  

Gold	Jiří Lipták	Shooting	Men's trap
Gold	Jiří Prskavec	Canoeing	Men's slalom K-1
Gold	Lukáš Krpálek	Judo	Men's +100 kg
Gold	Barbora Krejčíková Kateřina Siniaková	Tennis	Women's doubles
Silver	Lukáš Rohan	Canoeing	Men's slalom C-1
Silver	David Kostelecký	Shooting	Men's trap
Silver	Markéta Vondroušová	Tennis	Women's Singles
Silver	Jakub Vadlejch	Athletics	Men's javelin throw
Bronze	Alexander Choupenitch	Fencing	Men's foil
Bronze	Josef Dostál Radek Šlouf	Canoeing	Men's K-2 1000 metres
Bronze	Vítězslav Veselý	Athletics	Men's javelin throw

Here's a short YouTube video I found of the Czech gold medal winners along with the Czech national anthem.

©Olympics

There's a Brno connection as well.  Jiří Lipton, Barbora Krejčíková, David Kostelecký, and Alexander Choupenitich were all born in Brno.

Team Czech sent 115 athletes to compete in 22 sports.

One of the Czech athletes to compete was David Jessen, also born in Brno.  He is the son of 1988 Olympic gymnast Hana Říčná.  As a child he moved to the USA and competed as a junior gymnast before representing Czech Republic.  He competed for Stanford University and represented the Czech Republic at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.  In Tokyo he placed 57th in the all-around event.  In Czechland his club is Brno Sokol.

02/02/2020

Today's date is written the same forwards and backwards, for everyone in the world.  The last time that this happened was 909 years ago.

In the USA, the date is written Month/Day/Year.  In most of the rest of the world the date is written Day.Month.Year.

In China, Japan, Korea, and Iran the date is written as Year-Month-Day.

Today's palindrome date of 02 02 2020 works for the USA, Asia, and the rest of the world.  The last time this happened was 909 years ago on 11/11/1111.  

This won't happen again for another 909 years on 03/03/3030 and then another 1.010 years later on 04/04/4040.

Shanghai-Taiwan 2019 Trip Summary

My trip to Shanghai and Taiwan was an experience.  It seemed to start off a wee bit rough during check-in at Vienna Airport because I didn't need a proper Chinese visa since Shanghai offers their 144-hour visa-free travel option.


I arrived at my hotel on Saturday night.  The rain started later that night.  It rained...and rained...and rained.  This put a damper on my Shanghai experience.  First of all I really shouldn't complain.  Over the past decade of intensive travelling I've never had a serious weather disruption before.  Sure I've been caught in rain before but never enough that my trip would be sidelined.  In the four days I was in China it rained HARD!  I did manage to get some night time photos on Monday evening when there was a break in the rain.  It lasted until late Tuesday afternoon and then it started up again.  So Monday night and Tuesday day; at least I got more or less one full day to explore the city.


From what I saw of Shanghai I liked.  However, I just scratched the surface.  I think a do-over visit is in order.  Especially since I didn't get to visit Nanjing.  Nanjing was the former capital of China until 1949 and it's about 270 km (170 miles) northwest of Shanghai.  It just didn't make sense to ride the train for 90 minutes to visit the city in pouring rain.  So Nanjing is still on the bucket list.

On Thursday morning it was off to Taiwan.  I started off in Taipei and it was great.  It did rain while I was there but it only rained overnight.  The days were gorgeous.




I did a few free walking tours with Like It Formosa.  Highly recommended, especially the food tour.  The food was just incredible especially at the night markets.  I even found a corn dog which I haven't had in about 7 years.  Not quite the same as back home but still good.  The only thing missing was the mustard.

On Monday I took the high speed rail to Kaohsiung to spend a few days in the second-largest city.

Kaohsiung is definitely worth the 90 minute train ride.

The area surrounding the Lotus Pond is awesome.

There's lots to see and you can spend a whole day just here.

I did a couple more walking tours with Like It Formosa in Kaohsiung as well.  There was one rainy day but I used my Shanghai souvenir umbrella and soldiered on.




Just like in Taipei, the food was oh so good.  And cheap as chips.  But for sure it's not low-carb with all of the rice, noodles, and dumplings.












In one of the night markets there was a place that I found fried soup dumplings.  Wow!

One of the best bits in Kaohsiung was Cijin Island and it's only a 10-minute ferry ride across the harbour.  A beach, palm trees and 32℃ (90℉).  It felt like paradise.

On Friday I took the high-speed rail back to Taipei.  It was the start of the Moon Festival so on the train they gave out small moon cakes.

On my last night in Taipei I had to go for a shaved ice.  Really decadent but worth it.  After this trip I'm going to have to put in some extra time on the elliptical machine.

I wasn't ready to give up the 32℃ in Taiwan for the 20℃ (68℉) at home in Brno.  I survived the 24 hours of travel to get home and had to immediately begin Operation Laundry.

I got officially spoiled on the trip home.  From Taipei to Doha I had my first experience in Qsuite which is the new Qatar Airways business class.  It's only available on certain planes and routes.  I had my own cubicle with a door, a fully lie-flat bed, and they gave me pyjamas.  After this, the hassles I had at the start of my trip are nothing.  Travel may never be the same again.

Taipei, Taiwan

Taipei, 台北, is located in northern Taiwan and is the capital.  Officially it is Taipei City and it was was first settled in 1709.  Taipei has a population of +2,65 million people while the greater metro area is home to more than 7 million people.



The area had been inhabited by aborigines until the early 18th century when Han Chinese immigrants began arriving.  The Qing Dynasty made Taipei-fu the provincial capital in 1894.  When Japan annexed all of Taiwan in 1895 the city was renamed Taihoku.  The Japanese embarked on an extensive urban planning programme and a railroad network that laid the groundwork for the city today.

In 1949, Taipei was declared the provisional capital of the Republic of China when Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang fled mainland China at the end of the Chinese Civil War.  Today Taipei is Taiwan's business and financial Bub and the city is a global player in technology and electronics.

The city's landmark is Taipei 101 which was formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Centre.  The skyscraper is 101 floors and is 508 metres (1,667 feet) tall.  From 2004 to 2010 it was the world's tallest building.  Now it number 11.

However, it has next level energy efficiency and recycling making it the world's tallest green building.  The skyscraper is designed to withstand earthquakes and typhoon winds of 216 km/h (134 mph).

The North Gate was built in 1884 as part of the Taipei City Wall.  It was originally built following an attempted Japanese invasion.  It was renovated in 2017.



Lungshan Temple was built in 1738 by Chinese immigrants from Fujian during the Qing Dynasty.  The Buddhist temple has alters for several Chinese deities.

The Fa Zhu Gong Temple was built in 1869.  The temple's main god is believed to have once protected the local immigrant population from a terrible disease.  The current location was completed in 1988.

The 228 Peace Memorial Park was originally established in 1900 as Taihoku New Park.  It was the first European-style urban park in Taiwan.  In 1947, Taiwanese protestors took over the radio station that was here to protest the brutal police action of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist) government.  From February 28, 1947, an estimated 5 000 to 28 000 Taiwanese died and began what was known as the White Terror where tens of thousands of other Taiwanese were killed, imprisoned or went missing.  In 1998 the former radio station became the the 228 Memorial Museum and the park was renamed.



Liberty Square was completed in the late 1970s.  The plaza is huge at more than 240,000 square meters (59 acres).



It was a gathering place in the 1990s when Taiwan transitioned from one-party rule by the Kuomintang to a modern democracy.




At the east end of the square is the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.  The hall dedicated to the former president was completed in 1980.

National Theatre

Liberty Square is also home to two performing arts halls that were both completed in 1987.

National Concert Hall

These were two of Asia's first major modern performing arts facilities.




The Presidential Office Building was completed in 1919.  It was originally used by the Governor-General of Taiwan during the Japanese Colonisation.  The building was restored in 1950 and became the Presidential Office.

The Xiao Hai City God Temple was built in 1859.  It is only 152 square metres (1,615 square feet) but it is home to more than 600 deities.  I believe this is a popular temple to pray to the Chinese cupid for a mate.

The Ximen Red House was originally built as a public market.  There are lots of trendy local shops and bars that are popular amongst the city's LGBTQ community.


The Republic of China Armed Forces Museum opened in 1961.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to go in because for some reason it's closed 10.8. - 18.10.2019.



The Taipei Dome is a multi-purpose stadium that is still under construction.  It will be primarily used for baseball but will include a shopping mall, movie theatre, a hotel and office space.  Originally construction was to begin in 2007 and be completed by 2011.  Work didn't begin until 2011 and the city ordered a halt in 2015.  There is still no date on when it will be completed.

The National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall was completed in 1972.  The museum covering his life is really interesting.

Every hour there is changing of the guards

Xiangshang is "Elephant Mountain" is worth a visit.  It is 183 metres (600 feet) tall with a few walking trails.  A hike up to the top provides a nice view of the city and of course another photo of Taipei 101.

The night markets are awesome.  I like the local markets but the Shilin Night Market is one of the largest and most famous.  Lots of shopping around but the food is the best part.

Scallion pancakes

The food court has over 500 different stalls and they stay open past midnight.

Oyster omelette 

Bubble Tea was invented in Taiwan.  My favourite is the brown sugar bubble tea.  Oh so good!

Soup Dumplings

All of the food in Taipei is just simply incredible.  I even did a food walking tour so that I didn't miss out on anything.