Brno Airport

Letiště Brno-Tuřany is the Brno-Turany Airport and it is located within the city limits.  It was built in the 1950s and in the 1980s it was used by the Czechoslovak Air Force.  In 1989, the airport returned to civil use and today it is owned by the South-Moravian region.

The airport code is BRQ and it is the country's second busiest.  This is also where we saw the Pope back in 2009.  2011 was its busiest year with 557,952 passengers.

My new landlord was the architect for the new departure hall and it won "Building of the Year" in 2007.

It is really convenient to fly in and out of Brno.  If only there were more destinations.  Ryanair has flights to London Stansted and Wizz Air has flights to London Luton and Eindhoven.  A few years ago Ryanair flew to Alicante (Spain) and Wizz Air used to fly to Rome.  I loved the Rome flight but I guess there wasn't enough demand for these flights.

SmartWings does have seasonal charter flights to Antalya, Burgas, Corfu, Heraklion, Hurghada, Kos, Lamezia Terme, Marsa Alam, Ostrava, Palma de Mallorca, Preveza, Rhodes, Tenerife-South, Tirana, Varna, Zakynthos.

This year BMI Regional is now offering daily flights to Munich.  Well at least six days a week.

Hopefully this is the start of more direct flights so that I don't always have to fly out of Vienna or Prague.  With so many international students here I'm sure there's got to be enough demand for flights to Spain or Italy.  My vote is for a direct flight to Dublin.

Update:  Wizz Air cancelled the Brno-Eindhoven route.  The last flight is October 2017.

Update:  Ryanair will start flying from Brno to Berlin Schönefeld in Spring 2019.  The first problem is that it's Ryanair and Ryanair sucks.  The second problem is that the flights aren't convenient as they only run on Tuesday and Saturday afternoons.  Update: December 2019, the Berlin route will be cancelled by April 2020.

Update:  In February 2019, the British carrier FlyBI collapsed and the route between Brno and Munich has been cancelled.  The reason for the collapse was given as a spike in fuel and carbon costs and uncertainty about Brexit.

Update 2021:  In April, SkyUp is supposed to start flying between Brno and Kyiv.

Finally Moved In

Over the last month I've been moving things over to the new flat bit by bit.  Basically things I could live without until I was finally out of the old flat.  Claudia helped out with a few car runs after work a couple of times.  There were a couple of reasons for the phased approach.  One was I already have the new flat and I have the old flat until the end of March.  But the main reason was the bed.

My old flat came furnished but I didn't like the two single mattresses it came with.  So a few years ago I purchased a new mattress but I was still using my landlords's bed frame.  The new place came unfurnished but I purchased the bed frame from the previous tenant.  So I was't going to do the final move until I would be able to have my mattress in the frame.  Yeah, I know...first world problems.

Anyways...the chaps from Foreigners.cz ,who built my new furniture, showed up with a van and we moved everything over in a few hours.

I did feel great to actually spend the first night in my new place.  Although I was pretty close to the centre, my old place was pretty quite.  Now I know what quite really is.  This neighbourhood is very peaceful.  The only noise in the morning comes from the nearby church bells.

It's wonderful to be officially moved in and I've even had my first guests.  Helena, Claudia and Tünde stopped by this afternoon for coffee and cake.

I need to do a final cleaning at the old place and at the end of the month I'll turn over the keys to the landlords and sort out the security deposit.  While moving is one of my least favourite things at least now it's over and time to start nesting here.

Another Wrocław Trip

Dominican Monastery

It's been a busy couple of weeks.  Two weeks ago was the latest London adventure, then last week I needed to spend a couple of days in Székesfehérvár for work.  This week I was back in Wrocław for a few days and just got back home last night.

Out with Paweł, Dawid and Andrew

No time for any sightseeing this time.  Of course I've been to Wrocław so many times I think I've pretty much seen everything.  I did manage to snap of picture of the Dominican Monastery but only because I could see if from my hotel room.

One night I went out to dinner with a few of the guys from the team.  And yesterday I surprised the team with a sushi lunch which turned out to be a hit.

I was quite thankful though to sleep in my own bed last night.  Tonight I need to do some final packing and it's my last night in my old flat as the movers come tomorrow.  Wish me luck.  

Re-register with the Foreign Police

I had hoped when I received my last ID card that it would be a very long time before I had to go back to the Interior Ministry.  That hope was short lived.  I actually needed to make two visits but I just combined them and did everything at once.

1.  Since I have a new passport I needed to give the information to the authorities.
2.  Since I'm moving I need to update my ID card.  I needed to show a copy of my new lease, provide biometric data and buy a 1000 Kč (~$39) stamp.

I'm not 100% on the law but I believe that you need to report a new address within 30 days of moving.

Oh a joyful day of bureaucracy but, all and all, it was't actually too bad.  I did manage to do everything in Czech.  It should take about two weeks before my new ID card is ready.  What's nice is that I got to keep my current card while my new one is in the works. 

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.

My Japan Badge

I am loving this Fitbit I bought last year.  Today I earned my Japan badge for walking 3,007 km (just over 1,868 miles).  Not to bad for one year.  Fortunately, I have these weekly step challenges with Martin and David to keep me motivated.  I wonder how many steps I'll do this year.

Circumcision

OK, so here's a random topic.  Circumcision.  I'm not going to get in to the whole cut vs. uncut debate.  There are pros and cons to both.

What I will say is that male circumcision is way more common in the USA than it is here in Czechland.

©Wikipedia

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), circumcision in the U.S., is between 20-80%.  It does vary by geographic region, religion and ethnicity.  If someone asked me I would say that at least +70% of guys in the USA are cut.  In Europe, most men are uncircumcised; probably around 80%.

This is also my biggest Czech language faux pas.  So many years ago someone at work used the phrase dělát opičky which translates to "making monkeys".  So if you are goofing off, or monkeying around, in Czech you are "making monkeys".  Later that evening I was telling my Czech teacher what I had learned.  I said it and I got a blank response.  So I said it again.  I tried to explain and said it again but the whole time she just had this confused look on her face.

Then all of a sudden she got it.  Dělat opičky.  Apparently I had really butchered the phrase.  When I asked her what I was saying she began to blush and explain that it was something for little Jewish boys.  Go figure!  I was saying Dělat obřizky...to perform a circumcision.  I never made that linguistic blunder again.

I told my mates at work what happened and they all fell out laughing.  This got us on the topic of "German war helmets" and "turtleneck sweaters" and it was rather interesting trying to explain that I am cut but not Jewish.  Who knew that over here I would be exotic?

More British Vocabulary

I wrote before  that when Czechs learn English in school it is usually British English that they learn.  For some things it is just easier for me over here to use the British version, like flat instead of apartment.  



I also work quite a bit with folks in, or from, the UK so over the past few years I've continued to come across many other differences in vocabulary.  Most of these are pretty common in Ireland too although the Irish have some slang that is all their own.  Here's some more common English English with the American English definition.

Ace ... excellent
Anti-clockwise ... counter clockwise
Bell end ... penis
Bob's your uncle ... and there you have it
Bollocks ... something not good
the Dog's bollocks ... something fantastic
a Bollocking ... a severe telling off
Bugger all ... nothing
Candy floss ... cotton candy
Car boot sale ... yard sale; garage sale
Chav ... white trash ("council-housed and violent")
Cheeky ... flippant
Fairy cake ... cup cake
Fancy dress party ... costume party
Fanny ... vagina (the Brits find it quite funny when Americans call a bum bag a fanny pack)
a Fiver ... a £5 note (€5 in Ireland)
Gutted ... a state of extreme despair
Hoover ... vacuum
Knackered ... exhausted
Knickers ... panties
Mate ... buddy; pal; dude
On the piss ... out on the town drinking heavily; out to get drunk
Pissed ... drunk (In the USA, pissed = angry)
To take the piss ... being sarcastic; a smart ass
Pear shaped ... a disaster
Ta ... thanks
a Tenner ... a £10 note (€10 in Ireland)
To know one's onions ... to be well versed on a subject
To lose the plot ... to go crazy
To pull ... to pick up
Out on the pull ... looking for some action
To snog ... to make out; serious kissing
To throw a spanner in the works ... to mess something up; make a mistake

Left side is bad; right side is good

Be very careful when you flash a "peace sign" in the UK because it could be confused and get you into trouble.  A peace sign showing the inside of your palm is fine.  A peace sign with the back of your palm showing is the two-finger salute and is the equivalent of throwing up your middle finger.

Update:  Here's a bit about Cockney rhyming slang.

No Más Bebés

On 1 February, a documentary called No Más Bebés, will be broadcast in the USA on PBS (the Public Broadcast Station).  "No más bebés" is Spanish for "No more babies".  The documentary is about Madrigal v. Quilligan, which was a civil-rights lawsuit in 1978 where 10 poor Mexican-American women sued the Los Angeles County University of Southern California Medical Centre.

The women charged the hospital and doctors had sterilised them without their informed consent.  Some were sterilised during labor, some were pressured into signing away consent, and some refused but were sterilised anyway.

The California judge ruled for the hospital.  Even though the women lost it pushed the federal government into enforcing regulations against sterilisation abuse and brought women's issues forward for Mexican-American women.

Here's the promotional video for the show that I found on YouTube.

My brother-in-law's mother, Helena Orozco, was one of the plaintiffs.  My 13-year old niece did a project about this as her National History Day entry at school.  She did well and will now advance to the county level competition.  She was also interviewed and quoted in Claudia Dreifus' article about this in The Nation.

My niece never got to meet her grandmother, who died before she was born.  I'm glad that she had the opportunity to see her grandmother in the film.  I am blown away by my niece's maturity and civic awareness at such a young age.

Good luck Emme!!