Off to Český Těšín/Cieszyn

Last year was Nat's "not" going away party.  When we thought she was going to move back to Scotland, she and I took a weekend trip to Warsaw since she had never been to Poland before.  Well, our luck finally ran out.  Next month, she has to move back to the UK.  Though instead of Edinburgh she will move back to London.

Since her farewell trip last time was to Poland we figured we would do it again.  So this afternoon we're off to visit Český Těšín / Cieszyn.  It's a divided city that is partially in ČR and in Poland.

Apparently, after WWI, there was a disagreement as to whether the city should go to Czechoslovakia or to Poland.  The Olza River runs through the city so that became the border between the two countries.  It's hard for me to imagine a city, split in two, with border guards on each side.  The only example I can think of is Berlin during the Cold War.  With both ČR and Poland being Schengen members the border is now open.

http://3broshostel.com/en/

Some guys recently opened a hostel in Cieszyn and sent me a message.  They enjoyed my blog and knew that I liked Poland.  So they invited me to come stay at their place for a weekend.  And perhaps if I like it I would write about it.  Sounds fair to me.  So this afternoon, Nat, Eric, Krasimir and I are taking the three hour train to Český Těšín.  Then it should be a 15 minute walk to the 3 Bros' Hostel on the Polish side.

Annual Transit Pass

This week I renewed by Brno transit card for another year.  This pass gives me unlimited travel on every tram, trolley and bus in Brno.  A yearly pass cost 4750 Kč ($238).  One of the perks of the yearly pass is that on weekends, one person can ride with me for free.

The bottom part of the pass is good for three months.  So for an annual pass you get four tickets.

The pass is definitely worth it.  By the way, getting caught without a valid ticket is an on the spot fine of 700 Kč ($35).

Update:  The fine for riding without a ticket is now 800 Kč ($40).

Tatra Technical Museum

Tatra is the world's third oldest car maker after Daimler and Peugeot.  The company was founded in 1850 as a wagon and carriage manufacturer.

It's name comes from the nearby Tatra mountains in Slovakia.

The Tatra Technical Museum is located in Kopřivnice, a small town of 25,000 people, located in the north east part of the country.  It is about 35 km (22 miles) from Ostrava.  It's about 2,5 hours from Brno by train.


The museum does a great job showing the more than 160 years of the company.  If you're an old car lover then this is the place for you.

The Präsident

In 1897, the Präsident was the first motor car produced in Central Europe.  Of course back then it was Austria-Hungary.  Czechoslovakia didn't become a country until 1918.

T-57

The T-57 sport convertible was known as the Hadimrška.  It was produced from 1931 to 1936.  Notice the right-hand drive?  Czechoslovakia drove on the the left side of the road until 1938.  The Nazis forced the change when the land was under the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

The company stopped producing passenger cars in 1999.  What a shame because from a design perspective they were producing some very stylish rides.  At least until the Nazis and communists took things over.

Tatra still produces all-wheel-drive trucks.

The 815 GTC 6x6 expedition vehicle traveled around the world from 1987 to 1990.  In 37 months it traveled almost 150.000km (93,206 miles), through 68 countries, on five continents.

Here's a bit about Tatra from a 1993 episode of the BBC's show Top Gear that I found on YouTube.

Copyright BBC Worldwide Ltd

Going to Be a Godfather

WOW!!  I got some big news today.  I got blown away today when I was asked to be Tünde's godfather. Natalie is going to be her godmother.

Now we just have to figure out how the baptism will work.  It will be primarily in Hungarian and German, with a bit of English thrown in.

Teaching Tünde the peace sign

Now to figure out if there is a traditional German or Hungarian godchild gift.

Brno Bicycle Fest

My friend Jitka isn't one for camping so she didn't join us last week for the "real" Czech experience.  So yesterday, she took me to a bicycle event at the Velodrome.

Me on a high bike

It was sponsored by one of the local cycling associations.  Several people set records, in different age groups, such as 100 miles on a high bicycle, 1 km on a mini-bike, 10 miles on a wooden bicycle, etc.

Fun, but difficult, to ride

Part of the fun was playing around with all of the trick bikes.

Jitka on a mini-bike

Ride by jumping up and down

VERY difficult to ride!

BESIP

BESIP is the Czech Road Safety Department.  It's a part of the Ministry of Transport and is responsible for road safety.

It was recently announced that they will distribute an English-language leaflet to acquaint foreigners with the local traffic rules.  Apparently there is a rising number of road accidents caused by foreigners.

Czech toll road network

The funny thing is that the foreigners with the highest number of accidents here are Slovaks.  Followed by Ukrainians and then Germans.  Not quite sure why they decided to print the leaflets in English but OK.  Besides, aren't the traffic rules in Slovakia pretty dang close to the rules here in Czechland?

The leaflets will be available at gas stations, hotels and on the BESIP website.  Here's a link to the rules.  I really wish I had this when I was taking driving lessons and studying for my Czech driver's license. 

"Real" Czech Experience

With me taking a new position, a few of my manager colleagues surprised me with a little adventure.  Rather than just do the normal farewell drinks thing at a pub, I was taken out for a "real" Czech experience - something called 'tramping'.

Tramping is the Czech tradition of wandering the countryside with everything needed in a backpack.  We just call it camping in the USA but tramping is never done in a commercial camp site with such things as electricity and running water.   

I was told to show up at a particular train station on Saturday.  I was told that I needed to bring good hiking boots, extra socks and a sweater, a sleeping bag, alcohol, and meat to grill.  Other recommended items included a knife, a flashlight and a toothbrush.

We took a local train about 40 minutes from Brno and then about 30 minutes to Martin's family's chata.  The closest village was Řikonín.  Population: 35.  So small that there isn't even a pub.


A chata is a simple cottage next to a forest or river.  Most are built from scratch, without water or electricity, and are a great getaway.  They became popular back in the 1920s.  


During communism, it wasn't possible for Czechs to travel outside of the country so second homes in the country offered an escape from apartment life in the city.  Per capita, Czechs have the highest number of weekend houses in Europe.

Playing lumberjack

Once we arrived we got to work setting things up.  The first things to do were to get water from the nearby stream and to start chopping fire wood.

David chopping veggies

We played pétanque.  This was a bit of a challenge in the woods but still good fun.  

Martina grilling pork steaks

After we got the fire going we grilled pork steaks and špekáčky (sausages).  Of course there was plenty of beer and wine too.  After it got dark we moved inside and played cards and continued drinking.

Martin enjoying his steak

Luckily there was more than enough fire wood to keep the stove heater going through the night because it got cold.

This morning we packed everything up and made our way back to town.  I really enjoyed my first "real" Czech experience.  Thanks everyone!!  It was a lot of fun and I'm ready to do it again.

Flour

Flour is very different between the USA and ČR.

In the USA, flour is sold by its intended use: all-purpose flour, cake flour, bread flour, etc.

Over here, flour is sold according to how coarsely it has been ground.  Wheat flour is the most common type of flour but there are several textures.

For pastry flour you need to look for Hladká mouka výběrová.

Hladká mouka, "smooth flour" is the equivalent to all-purpose flour.  It's used for thickening soups and sauces, as well as, for pie crusts, Czech pancakes, and Christmas cookies.

Polohrubá mouka, "semi-course" is the equivalent of high gluten flour.  Czechs use it for making coffee cake and Christmas or Easter sweet breads.

Hrubá mouka is "course" flour and is the equivalent of first clear flour.  Czechs use this as the main ingredient for bread dumplings or noodles.  It can also be used in some cake recipes.

Pšeničná Krupice is the coarsest flour.  Very similar to semolina; white whole wheat.  It's normally used to make dumplings.

To make self-rising flour you combine 150g (1 cup) of flour, ½ teaspoon of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of baking soda (bicarbonate soda).  The baking powder is sold in 12g or 20g sachets in the market.  The only place to buy baking soda is at a pharmacy.

American Bisquick

This is all way to complicated for me.  I love my Bisquick.  It's a boxed mix of flour, salt, baking powder and shortening.  I've received a few care packages which has kept me from having to deal with the Czech flour situation.

British Bisquick

Bisquick isn't available here but it is available in the UK.  Nat normally grabs me a couple of boxes every time she's back there for work.  The UK Bisquick comes in a different box but it's more or less the same.  Except that the American version is bright white while the UK version has a beige tint to it.

Here's a recipe I found online for fake Bisquick.  Combine 1 cup of flour, 1½ teaspoons of baking powder, ½ teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of oil or melted butter.

EDIT:  Natalie found 100g sachets of baking soda at Tesco. 

Czech School of Atlanta

Atlanta is getting its very own Czech school.  Who would've thought!?!

The Czech School of Atlanta will begin offering Saturday courses on September 14th.  With approximately 700 to 1,000 Czech families in Atlanta (again, who knew?), the goal is to teach kids Czech language, history and cultural heritage.

Classes will be offered at the Sandy Springs Middle Charter School and initially to children between 2 and 12.  The goal is to eventually offer courses for older kids and adult language courses.

Attending the opening festivities will be George Novák, the Atlanta-based honorary consul general of the Czech Republic.  I never even knew that Atlanta had an honorary Czech consul.  Had I known that in advance, I bet I could have met someone in the ATL that could have given me some inside knowledge about Brno before I began this adventure.  Oh well, live and learn I guess. 

Altes Fischerdorf Rahnsdorf, Germany

Bottle time with Tünde

Claudia, Norbert and Tünde just happened to be in Berlin this past weekend.  So on Saturday morning, after the Pet Shop Boys concert, I took the train out to her parent's place in Rahnsdorf to spend the rest of the weekend. 

A few of Claudia's friends from Berlin also stopped by to see the baby.  It was nice and relaxing just to hang out with everyone. 


On Sunday afternoon, we took a 20 minute walk over to Altes Fischerdorf Rahnsdorf which is Rahnsdorf's old fishing village. 

The old fishing village is off one of the main roads.  The first fishermen were here in the Middle Ages. 


In the center of the village is the town's oldest church.  Construction on the Evangelical church began in 1886 and it was consecrated in 1888.  This was the church where Claudia was baptized at.

The village is on the Müggelsee.  It is a very popular spot in the summer.





It's also a great place to come for some freshly smoked fish. 






This is also home to Berlin's only "muscle powered" ferry across the water.