Villa Tugendhat

Dore, a family friend of Claudia's, drove from Germany this past weekend for a visit. So on Saturday I joined them on a tour of Villa Tugendhat.

Tugendhat is the first monument of modern architecture in the Czech Republic and only the fourth in the world to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The land was a wedding present for Greta and Fritz Tugendhut and was completed in 1928 . The family only lived there for about 10 years before they fled from the Nazis.

The architect was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. And the cool thing was that Dore had met him when she was a student in Germany. It really is a small world.
The villa is set out on three floors the top one is a reception area with the bedrooms. The main floor is the next one down. It is a large open plan room divided only by two non structural walls. One of these walls is made of Onyx. And one of the huge windows is motorized and retracts. Hard to believe that this was around in the 30's.
To put things in perspective, back then a normal house cost 50,000 Kč and a villa cost 250,000 Kč. However, this place cost between 6 - 8 million Kč.

You must have a reservation, even if it is for only one person, in order to take the tour. We were not able to get in to the German language tour so we had to take the Czech tour. But it was still pretty interesting.

After that we had lunch and later met up with Olga, a Czech woman who used to live in Germany, that Claudia met before. The four of us walked around the city center and checked out the different architectual styles. It was cool having our own architect with us to explain different things. Later that night we had dinner at this medieval basement restaurant near Česká.

It was a fun weekend. More pictures are already up on Flickr.

Update: Villa Tugendhat closed on January 1 for renovation. It will open again in 2014 at a cost of +140M Kč (€5.3M+).
Update:  Villa Tugendhat reopened on March 6, 2012. It was closed for 2 years and ended up costing €5.9M (+$7.4 million).

Household Goods

On Wednesday my household goods showed up. It took about 2.5 months for my stuff to go from Atlanta to Miami, then on a boat to the UK where it had to clear customs, before moving on to Prague and finally to Brno.

The agency said that the driver would be at my flat between 8 am and 4 pm...that's worse than waiting for the cable TV folks back home.

At 2 pm I called the agency in Prague and they said the driver would be here in 30 minutes. But 30 minutes later the driver called and said it would take another 30 minutes. And of course the driver they sent could not speak English. Fortunately though he spoke enough German for us to understand each other.

While he had the delviery van double parked on my one-way street, he helped unload my 22 boxes as I ran them all upstairs. My flat is on the 5th floor (a U.S. 6th) but the elevator only goes to the 4th floor, so I had to haul my boxes up 1 flight of stairs.

I had this day in the back of my mind when I was looking for flats. Going up and down a single flight of stairs is fine. But there was no way I was going to move in to a 3rd or 4th floor flat without a lift.

Getting to open all of my boxes was kind of like Christmas! I've got all of my cold weather clothes and just in time for my first Czech winter. But now I've got to go to Tesco to buy some more hangers. And eventually to Ikea for a dresser.

Washer/Dryer

My laundry hassles are finally over. My flat had a washer/dryer combo unit when I moved in. But the dryer never worked. Basically, when you used the dryer the machine would add water and in the end I was left with hot, wet clothes. Boiled clothes are no fun.

My landlords had a repairman come out. He said it was fixed but it still did the same thing. So they came back and took the machine away only to find out that a special part was needed and it would take a couple of weeks. So they brought the machine back so I could at least wash clothes. But the guy hooked the thing up wrong and the it leaked water out all over the floor. So they came back to fix the leak. But that just caused it to leak in a differnt place. This went on three or four times. When the part arrived, they came to fix the machine a final time. My landlords were very appologetic about the whole thing and even brought me a couple of bottles of wine. Guess what? The dryer still didn't work and there was another leak. They finally gave up and on Friday they delivered a brand new unit. And it works!!!

There are only two laundromats in Brno. And having a dryer over here is very rare since they are expensive to run because they use a lot of energy. Everyone just has a washer and it's either in the kitchen or the bathroom. You then have to use a drying rack or hang clothes up on a clothesline out on the balcony.

In the USA, there is no way you would not have a dryer. But I have gotten used to using my drying rack. I get a lot of sun on my balcony so it doesn't take clothes long to dry. Not quite sure how that's going to work in the winter but we'll see. And since it doesn't use electricity I can save energy, lower my utilities, etc.

Everyone says that your clothes last longer here because dryers break down the fabric. Which does makes sense. I've noticed that even with fabric softener, air drying makes your clothes a little "crunchy". But a quick run of the iron and it's all good. However, I am happy to now have a working dryer. The other cool thing is that the digital display on the machine is now set to English. Yeah!!

Smoke Free Day

I had some errands to run in the city center today and saw something interesting on my way back home. A bunch of students were doing a cigarette exchange near some of the tram stops. If you gave them your cigarettes, then they gave you preservativ (condoms). That's an interesting trade.

I found out later on that the students were all medical students and this was part of a smoke free day campaign. I wonder just how successful they'll be? Smoking is every where over here. But kudos to the med students for giving it a shot.

Czech Statehood Day

September 28th is Czech Statehood Day and it is a public holiday here. It sounds like it would be the Czech equivalent of the 4th of July but it actually celebrates St. Wenceslas, the nation's patron saint.  He's also the patron saint of beer.

Václav I (Wenceslas in English) is credited with founding the independent Czech state. He was murdered by his brother Boleslav in Stará Boleslav. 

In Prague, there is Wenceslas Square which has played host to some of the most important events in Czech history. 

• The Czechoslovak state was proclaimed here in 1918. (October 28th is the Day of Establishment of the Independent Czechoslovak Republic). 
• Protests against the Soviet-led invasion in 1968 took place there that ended the Prague Spring.
• In 1969, Jan Palach, a young student, set himself on fire there in protest of the Soviet occupation.
• Finally, the demonstrations of 1989 in Wenceslas Square saw the fall of the communist regime from the Velvet Revolution.

The Pope's Visit

Yesterday was absolutely amazing. Pope Benedict XVI gave an open-air mass at the airport for over 120,000 people. This was the first ever papal visit to the Brno Diocese since its founding in 1777. Now I can say I witnessed a part of Brno's history.

The Czech Republic is a very secular country but lots of people came from Slovakia, Poland, Austria and Hungary. There were even people at the airport when it opened at 4 AM. Way too early for me!
Claudia, a German friend from work, met Janelle and I in town at 6:30 AM and we left with others from church. The city had free buses that ran from the main station out to the airport. And we got to the airport around 7:30.

Father Josef got us great tickets!!! We were in A2, right behind the VIPs. Click the picture of the map to see where we were.

"At times one cannot help noticing, with a certain nostalgia, that the pace of modern life tends to diminish some elements of a rich heritage of faith. Yet it is important not to lose sight of the ideal expressed by traditional customs," the pope said, "and above all to maintain the spiritual patrimony inherited from your forebears, to guard it and to make it answer to the needs of the present day."

The Pope also made reference during his homily to Sister Marie Restituta Kafkova, a Brno-born candidate for sainthood who was executed by the Nazis in 1943.

Everything was incrediby well-organized. Mass started at 10 AM and lasted for about 2 hours - including welcome speeches, service in Latin & Czech, and communion for over 100,000 people. Wow!
I haven't told my grandmother yet but I got her a blessed rosary. She will flip out when she gets it in the mail. Now I just have to figure out the Czech post office.

Lots more pics and better video are already posted on Flickr.

Marcus' 25th B-Day

So Friday I was back in Bratislava for Marcus' 25th birthday party. He wanted guacamole for his party and I was able to get avocados in Brno so I made it Friday when I got there. I don't even mind bragging a bit...it was awesome!! Maybe a little too good because we wished we had leftovers the next day.

The party was a blast!! We reserved a room at the Presidentka pub. There were around 25 people that came and most were from IBM. But Eric, one of the marines from last weekend, and his girlfriend Zuzka made it to the party also.

It was also nice to have Janelle back from New York so that the 3 amigos were together again.

We even introduced everyone to Jello shots. Of course, the "downside" was that Marcus or I had to keep demonstrating how to do them. They were a big hit!!

Later on a few of us ended up at Channels in Old Town. It was so much fun dancing and acting crazy. Then Janelle had the bright idea to do flaming shots. Basically it was a buttery nipple shot with absinthe floated on top so that the drink would catch fire. You put the straw in the glass and suck down the drink before the straw catches fire and melts. Good times!!

I swear one weekend I will go to Bratislava and actually see some touristy stuff. But last weekend was the wine festival and this was an overnight visit just for the party. I had to be back in Brno on Saturday afternoon, with Janelle, so we could see the Pope on Sunday.

I've uploaded all of the party pics on Flickr. And my family will be happy to know that I've finally uploaded some where I'm actually in the picture.

Pezinok Wine Festival

This weekend I made my first trip since moving to Brno. A round trip train ticket to Bratislava is only 345 Kč (~$20) and takes 1.5 hours.

It was nice to get away for the weekend but the difference was amazing. In Brno, I feel like I live in Europe. In Bratislava, I felt like I was in Eastern Europe for the first time. To be fair, I did not see much of the city but everything seemed so gray. Besides, this weekend was all about going to Pezinok. And I know that I'll be back to Bratislava often to hang out with friends and to actually check out the sights.

On Saturday, Marcus' friends Quentin & Alena joined us on our 20 km pilgrimage to Pezinok. He's French and she's Slovak and they are a lot of fun. The festival was more like a carnival with rides, games and vendors. We found this perfect wine bar with outside tables and 1 liter pitchers of wine for €3 (~$4.50). Needless to say, we went through lots of pitchers. =)

While waiting for the last train back to Bratislava, Marcus and I ended up meeting some of the U.S. marine embassy guards. They were a lot of fun to talk to and we ended up clubbing with them back in the city. I forgot what it was like to party with marines.

Marcus & I decided to go on this ride just to get the day started. It was €4 but so worth it. Thank goodness we had the sense to ride it before we had any wine.

Overall it was great weekend with lots of laughs. The rest of the pictures are already up on Flickr.

Hlavní nádraží

Hlavní nádraží is the main train station in Brno. It started operating in 1839 and is the oldest station in the Czech Republic.

This is also the main hub for the trams so if you get lost you know that you can at least always make it here.

The station has been going through renovations but I don't know how long they have been going on or how long they will last.

There used to be a second tower clock, on the right side, but it was destroyed in World War II. I'm told that there is a poll to vote if the second tower should be rebuilt. Not quite sure why they didn't rebuild it before...
There is also talk of building a new, larger station in 2010. However, given the economic situation in the world today who knows if that will happen?

First Mail

Today was an eventful day. I finally had something in my mailbox...a letter from the U.S. It's about damn time ya'll!!! But then again, with Skype, Facebook, Sametime, and IM's it's not like I'm not in the loop. I don't know if I could have been done this whole expat thing pre-Internet.

I found a gym that I can go workout at. It is only about a block away from my flat. And I don't need a contract. It's 65 Kč (~$3.60 U.S.) per visit or 600 Kč (~$33) per month. It's going to be nice to start working out again. And once my household goods get here in about 5 or 6 weeks, I'll have my spin shoes and be back on a bike. http://www.spinningafitness.cz/

After work I went to the tram station and bought my 1st train ticket. It is always cheaper to buy a round-trip ticket and the cool thing is that the return portion is good for 30 days. So you have a lot of flexibility when traveling.

This weekend is my first road trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. Marcus and I are going to a wine festival in Pezinok on Saturday. It should be a lot of fun. Now I've been told that Bratislava is not really as bad as they portrayed it in the movie Eurotrip. Let's hope not...