In January, the Czech President appointed Bohuslav Sobotka as the new prime minister.
Sobotka is the former finance minister and chairman of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD).
He wants to raise pensions and the minimum wage while keeping the budget deficit below 3% of GNP. He also favors closer links with the rest of Europe and potentially adopting the Euro around 2020. But that's six years away and he's the 11th prime minister since 1993.
One of Brno's sister cities is Leipzig, Germany. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the city partnership there is an performance exchange between the National Theatre Brno and the Leipzig Ballet.
Last night, Claudia, Krasimir and I joined Helena and Fero to see Chaplin at the Janáček Theatre. Mario Schröder is the director and choreographer. His Chaplin originally debuted in 2010. The performance was great!
There was a stupid note posted in my building this week. Perhaps not stupid. More like painfully obvious. Here's the gist of the note...
Heat in our building is regulated by radiators.
5 is the maximum heat setting.
Don't regulate the heat in your flat by opening the window.
I think that I was more annoyed that there was this big notice posted in Czech. Thinking that it must be something important, I made an effort to figure out what it said and then became disappointed that it wasn't something more substantial.
So maybe it wasn't a stupid note. Perhaps it was just annoyingly disappointing.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was also known as Austria-Hungary and the Dual Monarchy. In 1867, the Habsburg Empire (Austria) joined up with the Kingdom of Hungary and became the second largest empire in Europe after the Russian Empire.
It was a pretty odd setup. The Habsburg monarch ruled Austria and the Hungarian king ruled Hungary. There were two capitals - Vienna (the main one) and Budapest. Austria and Hungary each maintained separate parliaments. There were no common laws between the two. Any proposed law had to pass both parliaments.
There was no Austro-Hungarian passport. A person was either an Austrian citizen or a Hungarian citizen.
The empire was made up of many ethnic groups. The official languages were German, Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Croatian and Italian. The unofficial languages were Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Bosnian, Rusyn and Yiddish.
Following the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia. Austro-Hungary was allied with Germany, Serbia was allied with Russia. Everyone else got pulled in due to various military alliances and we ended up with WWI.
At the end of WWI, in 1918, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy collapsed. It's amazing that Austria-Hungary even lasted for 51 years. However, from the empire came an independent Czechoslovakia. Update: I've received lots of feedback that the second map above isn't accurate. I didn't draw the map. Maybe this map will be better received.
Portugal, on the Iberian Peninsula, is mainland Europe's westernmost country. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Spain. The Portuguese Republic includes continental Portugal as well as the Azores and Madeira Islands in the Atlantic. All together, it is home to over 10.5 million people and is a little smaller than Indiana. Lisbon is the capital and its largest city.
The area of Portugal was ruled by the Romans, Visigoths, and the Moors. In 1139 it became an independent kingdom. During the Age of Discovery, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal became the first global empire.
In 1910 a revolution deposed the monarchy. In 1933, António de Oliveira Salazar took over the country. The right-wing Estado Novo regime held power until 1974 when the Carnation Revolution removed the regime from power.
Although Salazar was pro-fascist, Portugal was officially neutral during WWII. Portugal exported goods to both Germany and the Allies. However, 10,000 men were sent to Northern France, under the British flag to fight Germany.
Of all the modern European colonial empires, the Portuguese Empire survived the longest – almost 600 years. Macau was handed over to China in 1999 and East Timor gained independence in 2002. Today there are 53 different countries on territory that was once ruled by Portugal. With more than 250 million speakers, Portuguese is the world's 6th most spoken first language.
Portugal was one of the world's first countries to abolish the death penalty. The maximum jail sentence for a crime is 25 years. In 2001, it fully decriminalized drug use including the possession of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and LSD. Decriminalized. Not legalized. The country treats drug use as a medical problem and not as a criminal issue. As a result overall drug addiction has actually decreased in the country along with the number of new cases of HIV infection. Here's a video I found out on YouTube which talks about the country's drug policy.
In 2010, Portugal became the 8th country in the world to legally recognize same-sex marriage.
The government is pretty heavily indebted. In 2011 it received a €78 billion bailout from the EU and the International Monetary Fund. The overall unemployment rate is around 18% but youth unemployment is around 40%.
Update 2025: Here are a couple of short videos I found on YouTube about Portugal.
Last night was Tünde's first New Year's. I made Mexican food last night. Krasimir, Claudia, Norbert, Tünde, and Heike came over for dinner and drinks. Who would have thought that Tünde would like guacamole? It was nice hanging out and playing cards.
It's been a great 2013!! Let's see what comes about in 2014.
Getting to visit 16 countries in a year isn't too shabby. So here's a shout out to all of the countries I visited this year.
Happy New Year! Šťastný Nový Rok! سنة جديدة سعيدة! Gelukkig
Nieuwjaar! Շնորհավոր Նոր Տարի! Bonne Année! Yeni iliniz mübarək! С Новым
Годом! Sretna Nova godina! გილოცავთ ახალ წელს! Glückliches neues Jahr!
Boldog Új Évet! Срећна Нова година! Hamingjusamur Nýtt Ár! Szczęśliwego
Nowego Roku!
We went out today and spent some time at the Christmas market. I made sure to get my favorite Vánoční punč - made from black tea, orange juice, lemon, cinnamon, honey and triple sec, topped with whipped cream. Absolutely delicious!!
Merry Christmas everyone!! And to my very international team at work... Merry
Christmas! Veselé Vánoce! Veselé Vianoce! عيد ميلاد سعيد! Geseënde
Kersfees! Gëzuar Krishtlindjet! Sretan Božić! Весела Коледа! Gelukkig
Kerstfeest! З Різдвом Христовим! Joyeux Noël! میری کرسمس! Fröhliche
Weihnachten! חג המולד שמח! Nollaig Shona! Buon Natale! Priecīgus
Ziemassvētkus! मेरी क्रिसमस! Linksmų Kalėdų! Среќен Божиќ! Selamat Hari
Natal! Wesołych Świąt! Feliz Natal! Crăciun fericit! С Рождеством!
¡Feliz Navidad!
In January, the Czech President appointed Bohuslav Sobotka as the new prime minister. 
One of Brno's sister cities is Leipzig, Germany. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the city partnership there is an performance exchange between the National Theatre Brno and the Leipzig Ballet. .jpg)
Heat in our building is regulated by radiators.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was also known as Austria-Hungary and the Dual Monarchy. In 1867, the Habsburg Empire (Austria) joined up with the Kingdom of Hungary and became the second largest empire in Europe after the Russian Empire. 
It was a pretty odd setup. The Habsburg monarch ruled Austria and the Hungarian king ruled Hungary. There were two capitals - Vienna (the main one) and Budapest. Austria and Hungary each maintained separate parliaments. There were no common laws between the two. Any proposed law had to pass both parliaments. 
The territory took up most of Central Europe. Using today's map, it covered Austria, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, large portions of Serbia and Romania, and bits of Italy, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland and Ukraine.
Portugal, on the Iberian Peninsula, is mainland Europe's westernmost country. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Spain. 
The Portuguese Republic includes continental Portugal as well as the Azores and Madeira Islands in the Atlantic. All together, it is home to over 10.5 million people and is a little smaller than Indiana. Lisbon is the capital and its largest city. 
Although Salazar was pro-fascist, Portugal was officially neutral during WWII. Portugal exported goods to both Germany and the Allies. However, 10,000 men were sent to Northern France, under the British flag to fight Germany.
In 2010, Portugal became the 8th country in the world to legally recognize same-sex marriage. .jpg)
.jpg)
It's been Christmas time at the malls for quite some time. But now it's really Christmas time.
We went out today and spent some time at the Christmas market. I made sure to get my favorite Vánoční punč - made from black tea, orange juice, lemon, cinnamon, honey and triple sec, topped with whipped cream. Absolutely delicious!!
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