Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile

The second President of Czechoslovakia was Edvard Beneš.  Following the 1938 Munich Agreement, he resigned from office bringing an end to the First Republic.  He went to the USA and became a visiting professor at the University of Chicago.  After a few months he returned to Europe to organise a government-in-exile.

While in Paris he formed the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee, Výbor Československého Národního Osvobození, in October 1939.  Since Slovakia split from Czechoslovakia to become a Nazi puppet state, France had a problem with the committee representing all of Czechoslovakia.  The impending Nazi occupation of France probably didn't help so the committee moved to London in 1940.

The committee gained British recognition as the Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia, Prozatímní vláda Československa, which was basically the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile, and it gained international recognition by other Allied governments. 

While all of this was going on, following the annexation of the Sudetenland, Emil Hácha was President of the Second Czechoslovak Republic which what was left of Czechoslovakia after it was carved up.  This lasted until 15 March 1939 and then he became the state president of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

Jan Šrámek

With Beneš as the President and Jan Šrámek as Prime Minister, the worked to return Czechoslovakia to its 1937 borders which was a big goal considering the country had been basically wiped from the map.  The. government-in-exile also tried to assist Czechoslovak Jews.

In 1941, there was pressure from the Allies for the Czechs to play a greater role in the resistance, especially in the Protectorate.  In late September 1941, Reinhard Heydrich launched a major crackdown on the resistance when he took over as Reichsprotektor.   

After almost six months of planning, Operation Anthropoid went into action.  Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík went to Prague and assassinated Heydrich.

Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík

At Porchester Gate in London, there's a plaque marking where the Czech government-in-exile was based in the UK, and this is where the assassination was planned.  I guess I need to go find the plaque the next time I'm back in London.

Electricity in Czechland

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prices have soared across Euroland.  

Looking at the cost of electricity in capital cities across Euroland, Prague comes in as having the 5th most expensive electricity at €0,41 per kilowatt-hour.  The top 4 are London, Copenhagen, Rome, and Amsterdam. 

However, when you account for purchasing power parity then Prague has the most expensive electricity in Europe.  Followed by Rome, Berlin, Dublin, and London.  One of the reasons for electricity being so expensive is that the Czech government taxes it at 24% while the average across Europe is 18%.

© https://www.energypriceindex.com/price-data

What's odd is that Czechland is one of Europe's biggest exporters of electricity.  This year, the country has exported more than 5 million megawatt-hours more than was consumed.  Only Sweden, Germany, France, and Spain have exported more electricity than Czechland.  I wasn't aware than in 2020, Czechland was the 9th-largest exporter of electricity in the world.

In order to cut the country's dependency on gas from Russia by one-third, the government and ČEZ, a Czech energy company, have secured storage capacity for LNG, liquefied natural gas, in the Netherlands.  Construction of the space is underway and it should be complete in September.  This is just for the storage space which should cost tens of millions of Czech Crowns per year.  The Czech government still needs to secure the LNG to be stored there.  

Here's a video I found on YouTube that talks about the high cost of energy right now in Europe, especially in neighbouring Germany.

©NBC

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

Update: Here's an interesting Al Jazeera story I found on YouTube that talks about the high cost of electricity and its impact on the Czech glass industry.

©Al Jazeera

50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.  Stonewall is considered the birth of the Gay Rights Movement.  So here's what happened...

Back in the 1950s and 1960s things weren't good for gay people.  They aren't always great now but they were particularly bad back then.  Being gay was considered a mental illness, you could be fired from your job or evicted from your apartment just for being gay.  Due to morality laws it was illegal for gay people to meet up in public, it was even illegal to serve alcohol to a known homosexual.  If you were arrested for being gay, your name and photograph would often be in the paper the next morning which is how employers and landlords knew who to fire or evict.

The Stonewall Inn was a gay bar in Greenwich Village, New York City.  On 28 June 1969, the police came and did a routine raid to arrest the patrons.  This time though the people fought back.  There were more protests over the next several days.  The Gay Rights Movement began.

On the one year anniversary of the Stonewall Riot, the first gay pride march took place in New York.  In 1970, marches took place in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.  In 1971, marches also were held in Boston, Dallas, Milwaukee, London, Paris, West Berlin, and Stockholm.  1972 saw the first marches in Atlanta, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C., Miami, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia.  Today, Pride parades are held worldwide.

In 2016, the bar was declared a national monument.  Just a few weeks ago the New York City Police Commissioner issued a formal apology for the actions of the police officers at Stonewall in 1969.

Here's a short video I found out on YouTube about the riots.

©History

What's insane to me is that there are still U.S. states where it is still perfectly legal to fire someone or evict them for being gay.  Only 24 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam have state laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.  About 150 cities and counties have also enacted bans on discrimination.  Gay marriage is legal in the USA but in 26 states it would be absolutely legal to fire someone because he or she got married.

The Equality Act would make discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity illegal nationwide.  But it's had a tough time getting through Congress.  And the Trump Administration has rolled back many most of the few protections that were previously put in place by President Obama.

This year I've got three Pride events on my calendar.  Two weeks ago was EuroPride in Vienna, then in three weeks in Bratislava Pride and Prague Pride is in August.  I expect to be "prided" out by the end of the summer.

Cockney Rhyming Slang

I've been working with Brits, pretty much on a daily basis, for almost a decade so I've picked up quite a bit of what they call "real English".  This includes what is known as Cockney rhyming slang.

It was invented in the 1840s by East London market traders to disguise what they were saying from customers.  Criminals used it as a secret language to  keep the police from knowing what was going on.  Over the years, many of these slang expressions have become pretty common across the UK.    

A rhyming expression is substituted for the word that you really want to say.  For example, "dog and bone" rhymes with "phone" so you instead of saying "pick up the phone" you say "pick up the dog and bone".

Many times expressions are shortened and the rhyming part isn't even used.  For example, "butcher's hook" rhymes with "look".  But 'butcher's' is usually dropped so if you want to have a look at something so say "let's have a butcher's".  It can sometimes get a wee bit confusing but using the expressions makes you less of an outsider.

There are lots of them but here are a few of the most common ones I've come across.
Adam and Eve = believe.  Can you Adam and Eve it?
Apples and pears = stairs.  Head up the apples and pears.
Barney Rubble = trouble.  I don't want any Barney Rubble.
Bees and honey = money.  Where's my bees and honey?
Bubble and squeak = Greek.  It's all bubble to me.
China plates = mates.  Going out with my China plates.
Duke of Kent = rent.  I need to give the landlord his Duke of Kent.
Jimmy Riddle = piddle.  After many beers you need to Jimmy Riddle.
Rosie Lee = tea.  Have a cup of Rosie.

In the USA, kids will say "put up your dukes" for a fist fight.  I never knew that this expression came from "Duke of York" which rhymes with 'fork' and is Cockney slang for "fist".

Here's a video about it that I found out on YouTube.

©Anglophenia

Many of these expressions also work in Ireland.  But I'm pretty sure that the Irish have a few of their own.

The London Mastaba

On Sunday, we made a quick day trip from Dublin to London to see the Mastaba.  The Mastaba is a temporary art project on display at London's Hype Park from 18 June to 23 September 2018.  It is made of 7,506 barrels stacked horizontally on a floating platform on Lake Serpentine.

Christo, a Bulgarian artist, managed to escape to Vienna, via Prague, in 1957.  He moved to  and eventually married Jeanne-Claude Denat de Gullebon who many thought to be just his manager but it was later revealed that she was his co-artist.  In 1973 Christo became an American citizen.

For almost 50 years they have collaborated on grand but temporary works across the world.  Their projects tend to be large and sometimes controversial.  They include wrapping the Berlin Reichstag and Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris and curtains in New York City's Central Park.  She passed away in 2009.

I believe that this is his first public work on display in the UK.  The Mastaba is entirely funded by Christo through the sale of his work.  Public money is never used and he doesn't accept sponsorship, so that outside influence can't influence his artistic vision.

Hyde Park is 140 hectares (350 acres) located in Central London.  It is the largest of the four Royal Parks.  Henry VIII established the park as a hunting ground in 1536.In 1637 it was opened to the public.

The Mustaba was impressive!  Plus London is always a great place to spend a nice sunny Sunday.  Here's a short video I found out on YouTube about Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

©Quartz

London New Year's Day Parade

The big new year's event in London is the New Year's Day Parade.  The parade consists of over 8,000 performers from across the world.








This year my niece was selected as one of four cheerleaders from her high school to participate in the parade.  This was her first trip to Europe so, of course, Uncle Chris had to go see her.

In between practices, the girls had the opportunity to do quite a bit of London sightseeing including a performance of Wicked.

I did get the chance to take her out to dinner a couple of nights.  I was lucky enough to see her in July so two family visits in the same year is just awesome.  She is growing up to be quite the remarkable young lady and it was so fun to hear what she thought of her first visit to Euroland.

With over 8,000 performers, and packed London streets, I knew that there was little chance to actually see her in the parade.  But it was fun to try.

Next time, she needs to come visit Brno.  

Cancelled Eindhoven Route

Wizz Air has cancelled its regular flight between Brno and Eindhoven.  Apparently due to low demand which seems odd because the route always seemed pretty full.  Wizz Air has been flying the Brno-Eindhoven route twice a week for the past six years.  The last flight will be at the end of October 2017.

Wizz Air is a low-cost Hungarian airline based in Budapest.  Like Ryanair, it prefers to land at smaller or secondary airports in order to keep costs low.  They then nickel and dime you for every little thing.  I've flown them from several times and I actually prefer them to Ryanair.

Eindhoven is 125 km (78 miles) to Amsterdam, Netherlands.  A bus from the airport to Amsterdam Central Station was just two hours.

It's a shame that they're going to cancel this route.  They used to fly from Brno to Rome but that was cancelled a few years ago.

Currently the discount airlines only fly from Brno Airport to London.  Wizz flies to London Luton and Ryanair flies to London Stansted.

We need more cheap flight options from Brno.  That was I won't always have to fly out of Vienna or Bratislava.  I'm still hoping for a Brno-Dublin route.    

Some London Shows

This weekend was a London West End theatre fest.  Well at least it was for us.  For something different we decided to see a couple of shows in the West End.

On Saturday we had a nice wander around the city.  I had hoped to get a short break from the Brno snow.  I've never seen London snow before so I didn't actually mind it when it came down.

Kinky Boots was our Saturday matinee at the Adelphi Theatre.  It was amazing!!  I had heard so many good things about the show so it was great to see it for myself.  Here's the show trailer that I found out on YouTube.

After a break and dinner, we went to the Phoenix Theatre to see The Girls.  This show ends in April so we definitely wanted to catch it before then.  Another awesome performance!  I need to find the cast recordings of both shows.

Here's a clip of The Girls that I found on YouTube. 

It was great getting away for the weekend.  While we really enjoyed both shows it was a bit much fitting two shows in to the same day.  We're keen to go back and do it again but next time we'll probably stick to a single show.

Brexit Results

Wow!  This whole Brexit thing has me absolutely gobsmacked.  I can't believe how the vote went.

The final results were 52% for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union vs 48% to remain.  Again, absolutely gobsmacked.


I've heard arguments that a post-Brexit UK could leave the EU and still retain benefits like the four countries in the European Economic Area.  To me, this just sounds dumb because the UK would then still have all of the obligations it currently does but it would lose its vote.  Staying the same without having a say doesn't seem too bright to me.  Just saying...

The overall vote was close but it wasn't close across the entire UK.  The majority of England and Wales (except for their capitals of London and Cardiff) voted to leave.  The majority of Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain.  Could this lead to another independence referendum in Scotland?  Does this mean that the Common Travel Area will be impacted and border checks will have to be reintroduced between Ireland and Northern Ireland?  Could there be a referendum for Northern Ireland to leave the UK and join the Republic?  

Residents of the British Territory of Gibraltar voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU.  Brexit could have serious political and economic consequences and who knows, perhaps Spain will try to leverage this for control of the Rock.

While older voters wanted to leave, the majority of younger voters all wanted to remain.  This whole referendum thing was basically supposed to be an opinion poll but it hasn't been marketed that way to UK voters.  It will be interesting to see what happens next but it looks like the United Kingdom is less united than ever.

We have elections coming up in November in the USA.  Let's hope that these are the only crazy election results this year.

Update:  Here's another interesting CGP Grey video I found out on YouTube.  It gives a nice, quick overview of last month's Brexit vote.

©CGP Grey

Update:  The UK officially left the EU on 31 January 2020.

Update 2025:  Here's a short video about how the UK originally joined the EU to begin with.

©History Matters

Another London Travel Adventure

It seems that it wouldn't be a Valentine's Weekend in London without some sort of travel adventure.  The last time was when, due to bad weather, we were diverted north and spent the night in Doncaster.    Just a bit of a rough start but then a great time afterwards.

This time it was a bit of the reverse.  We had a great weekend but then the adventure began.  We were both flying Ryanair out of Stansted Airport.  I had a direct flight to Brno and Krasimir was to flying to Dublin.  Stansted is about 40 miles (~64 km) from London and the National Express bus takes about an hour.

We decided to catch an earlier bus and just use the extra time at the airport to have a late lunch before our flights.  At least that was the plan.  What we didn't account for were the three different traffic accidents on the highway and our one hour bus to the airport ended up taking over 3,5 hours.  Ugh!!  We so should have taken the train instead.

We pulled up to the airport with about 10 minutes before my flight was to depart.  Even if I had ran through the airport and managed to get through security and to my gate I still would not have been it because Ryanair does this immigration check on all non-EU passengers.  This, of course, was the only London to Brno flight of the day.

Krasimir did manage to catch his flight without a problem.  I had to then figure out how to get home.  Fortunately I was able to buy a ticket on Eurowings to Vienna.  It's 198 km (123 miles) from the Vienna Airport to Brno.

The only drawback is that I would miss the last train of the night back to Brno and going by bus would have me home around 5 am.  Not an option considering I had early morning meetings planned.

While waiting in London, I managed to arrange a pick up service that we use at work.  A driver met me at Vienna Airport and had me home in just over 1,5 hours.  At least I was able to get home.  I'm sure that there were other people who ended up stuck at Stansted.  Let's just hope that this is the last of our UK travel mishaps.  

London Valentine's Weekend

The last time Krasimir and I were in London was two years ago to visit Natalie, back when we had our little Doncaster adventure.  So we decided it was about time for another Valentine's weekend in Jolly Ole' England.



We walked around the city and did most of the touristy sites.  While there is always something going on in London, the city seemed extra busy this weekend.

Big Ben

Trafalgar Square was the centre for the Chinese New Year celebrations that began on 8 February.  2016 is the year of the Monkey.


The city was also hosting the 69th British Academy Film Awards.  With security quite high, here's about as close as I got to attending the BAFTAs.

We had a really nice weekend.  We've decided the next time we come we need to see a West End show.  Of course it would't be a trip to London for us without some sort of travel adventure.

British Museum

The British Museum in London is one of the best museum's in the world.  It was established in 1753 and opened to the public in 1759.  Since it is a national museum in the UK, entry to the museum is free.  While there can be fees for special exhibitions the museum's main collection of around 8 million works, is free.  Nice! 

The Younger Memnon statue dates back to 1270 BC

The main collection comes from every continent and is dedicated to human history and culture from its beginnings to present day.

The Rosetta Stone is a big granite slab from Egypt.  It was created in 196 BC and discovered in 1799.  In 1801, a French expedition surrendered it to British troops.

It's massive.  It weighs 760 kg (1,680 lb) and contains text written in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Egyptian demotic script and in Ancient Greek.  This is the stone which provided the key to understanding ancient hieroglyphs.



Back in November 2012, Natalie and I visited the Acropolis Museum in Athens.  So we for sure had to check out the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon.  
Today only about ½ of the statues from the Parthenon have survived.  Roughly 50% of the surviving pieces are held in the British Museum.

It's actually controversial.  Since 1983, the Greek government has been campaigning for the works to be returned to Athens.  The British Museum refuses. 

The museum's reasons are (a) the work is cared for and far too delicate to transport and (b) if museums had to send works back to places of origin then there would be no museums in the world.  Others claim that many pieces being cared for were illegally taken in the first place and that cultural heritage belongs at home.

And it's not just the Greeks.  Egypt wants the Rosetta Stone back.