2018 Public Holidays

2018 is going to be another great year for travelling.  Like last year, there are only 250 work days this year.

Of the 13 Czech public holidays, only two of them fall on the weekend.  There are a couple of four-day weekends and five days off for Christmas.

Now to plan a few trips so that I can maximise my holiday time.

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.  

100 Years of Czechoslovakia

Šťastný nový rok!  Happy New Year.  And 2018 is a big year for Czechland.  Today is the 25th birthday for Czechia and Slovakia.

In 1993, Czechoslovakia split up in the Velvet Divorce into two separate countries.  At the time only 37% of Slovaks and 36% of Czechs favoured the split and, unlike Brexit, there was no referendum for people to vote.  The split was decided by Czech and Slovak legislators at Vila Tugendhat.

Today, only 46% of Czechs and 44% of Slovaks think that the split was a good thing.

On 28 October, the country will celebrate the 100 years since the founding of Czechoslovakia.

Czechoslovakia was established on 28 October 1918 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire broke apart.  As an independent nation, it meant that it was the first time since 1620, at the Battle of White Mountain, that Bohemia was not under foreign rule.

The establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state is still a public holiday in Czechland.  But it isn't celebrated in Slovakia.  I wonder if there will be any centennial celebrations in Slovakia this year?

PF 2018

PF 2018!  Šťastný nový rok!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!
It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone.  Every year it seems to go by all that much faster.

I was fortunate enough to visit 19 countries this year.

Happy New Year! Šťastný nový rok! Gott nytt år! Buon anno! Frohes neues Jahr! Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku! Boldog úl évet! سنة جديدة سعيدة! Godt nytt år! Bonne année! Bliain Nua Shona! 新年快乐！Hyvää uutta vuotta! ¡Feliz año nuevo! 새해 복 많이 받으세요! Guten Rutsch!

Annie

Last night we went to see the Irish production of Annie at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

The concert hall was built in 1865 as a exhibition hall before becoming an examination hall for University College Dublin (UCD).  The building was reconverted in 1981 with the main auditorium seating 1,200.

The National Concert Hall is home to the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Choir Ireland, and the Irish Baroque Orchestra.






The venue is absolutely beautiful.  And the show was very well done.





I had only ever seen the movie so the stage production of Annie was a bit different in terms of the story.  However, it was excellent!

Christmas in Berlin

I had a fantastic Christmas up in Berlin staying with Claudia's parents.  Only the snow was missing.  Even though it has been warm lately I was still expecting all of the snow we had there back in 2009.

On the 24th, Santa Claus came and brought Tünde a bag full of presents.  It was nice getting to be a spectator and not trying to dress up like der Weihnachtsmann.

On the 25th, we went to see a Christmas pageant at one of the local churches.

Later we went to see the Nutcracker at the Berlin Opera House.  Well we tried to see the Nutcracker.  Unfortunately, a pipe burst the night before and the stage was flooded.

So instead we headed over to the Gendarmenmarkt.  This is one of the few Christmas markets that stays open until New Year's.  All the rest normally shut down on the 23rd. 

Getting to Berlin

Last night I had a seven hour bus ride from Brno to Berlin.  This was my first time using Flixbus.

Flixbus is a German intercity bus service that launched in 2013.  They have been rapidly expanding and now have 120,000 daily connections to 1000 destinations in 20 countries.  This year they entered the Czech market and they are trying to compete with Student Agency.

I'm not impressed.  The yellow busses are better than the green busses.  The good thing was that it was a direct bus to Germany.  The bus went from Brno to Dresden to Schönefeld Airport so there was no reason to change busses in Prague.  The Schönefeld stop was more convenient than the Central Berlin Station (ZOB).  

The service on Student Agency is way better.  On the big yellow bus you book a specific seat and each seat comes with an individual entertainment system that allows you to watch movies.  With SA, you get a complimentary hot beverage and you can purchase soft drinks or snacks.  There was nothing on Flixbus and the Wi-Fi didn't work either.

At 9 am this morning I received an e-mail from Flixbus reminding me that my bus leaves at midnight and that I should be there at least 10 minutes early.  When they sent me the e-mail I was already in Rahnsdorf having breakfast with Claudia's family.

There are two airports in Berlin.  Tegel (TXL) is in the north of the city and handles 21 million passengers per year.

Schönefeld (SXF) is in the south-east part of the city.  It is mainly used by low-cost airlines and handles 11,6 million passengers per year.

The Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) was supposed to open in 2011.  The plan was to close both Tegel and Schönefeld when Brandenburg opened.  I remember years ago when there were protests about opening the airport.  I guess they need not have worried because people wonder if it will ever open.  Currently it's scheduled to open 2020-2021.

In addition to all of the bad planning, growth forecasts were never considered.  Once Brandenburg actually opens, it will already be at 100% capacity.  Now there's speculation about keeping Tegel open for good.  What a mess!

Here's a short video from last year that I found out on YouTube.  

©DW News

Update:  BER finally opened in December 2020.

Veselé Vánoce!

Veselé Vánoce!  Merry Christmas and PF 2018.

As the last working day before the Christmas holidays I want to wish my very international team a very Merry Christmas.

Veselé Vánoce! Veselé Vianoce! Selamat Hari Natal! Boldog Karácsonyt! Wesołynch Świąt! Καλά Χριστούγεννα! Fröhliche Weihnachten! შობას გილოცავთ! Geseënde Kersfees! Crăciun fericit! Sretan Božić! Gëzuar Krishtlindjet! Весела Коледа! 圣诞节快乐！Joyeux Noël! क्रिसमस की शुभकामनायें! Nollaig Shona! Buon Natale! عيد ميلاد سعيد! Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus! Linksmų Kalėdų! Feliz Natal! С Рождеством! ¡Feliz Navidad! கிறிஸ்துமஸ் வாழ்த்துக்கள்! З Різдвом Христовим! Chúc Giáng Sinh Vui Vẻ! Maligayang Pasko!

This year I'm spending Christmas in Rahnsdorf.  For the last five years I've hosted an orphan's Christmas lunch for a few foreigners in Brno who can't travel home for the holidays.  This year, I'll be the orphan in Berlin.

Tonight I've got a midnight bus to Berlin.  This will be my first time taking Flixbus.  This is a German company bus company that expanded in to Czechland this year.  Let's see how they compare to Student Agency.  The reason I booked with them is because they have a direct route to Germany without requiring a change in Prague.  Wish me luck!

New Brno Flights

In October, Wizz Air cancelled its Brno-Eindhoven route.  Well now they are leaving Brno completely.  In January they will end the Brno-London Luton route.

In June 2018 they will close the Prague base and only offer flights from Prague to London Luton, Bari, Italy, and Kutaisi, Georgia.

Wizz Air will still fly from Bratislava with flights to Skopje, Kyiv, Warsaw, Sofia, Tuzla, and London Luton.

With Air Berlin gone, Wizz Air is establishing a base, in 2018, in Vienna with 17 new routes.  From April they will have flights to Gdańsk, Tuzla, and Varna.  In June, they will have flights to Bari, Malta, Rome, Valencia, and Tel Aviv.  From November there will be routes to Billund, Bergen, Dortmund, Kutaisi, Larnaca, Nis, Ohrid, Tenerife, and Thessaloniki.  These are some great destinations and several of them are still on my bucket list.

The good news is that we're getting a new airline in Brno.  The Romanian airline Blue Air is establishing a base here.  The Blue Air Moravian Transport will be 35% owned by the the city and 65% owned by Blue Air.

At the end of March 2018, they will offer flights to Milan, Rome, Barcelona, Brussels, and Lviv.  Over the summer there will operate flights to Split and Dubrovnik.

I'm surprised that being a Romanian airline, and given the number of Romanians here in Brno, that there's no flight to Romania.  Perhaps it will come in the future.  I've never flown with Blue Air before but I'll have to give them a try.  So nice that there will be more discount airline flights direct from Brno.  Plus lots of new Wizz Air destinations out of Vienna.  Looks like there will be more travel opportunities in 2018.

Update:  What a complete disappointment!!  Flights were supposed to launch at the end of March but service was delayed due to legal processes.  Now the South Moravian governor announced the end of cooperation with Blue Air so it looks like I'll have to keep flying from Vienna, Bratislava, or Prague.  Too bad because it would be so convenient to be able to fly in and out of Brno.

Masarykův onkologický ústav

At Žlutý kopec is the Masaryk Oncology Centre.
Masarykův onkologický ústav (MOÚ) was established in 1935.

It is named after Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk - the first president of Czechoslovakia.

Like FN Bohunice, it is a teaching and research facility in cooperation with Masaryk University.

This is among the best oncology hospitals in the country, if not one of the best in Central Europe.

Each year, the centre treats 10,000 hospitalised patients and another 200,000 as outpatients.

The Radiation Oncology Clinic is one of only two hospitals in the country where children are treated with rays.

It has five linear accelerators which permits automated adjustment to the shape of the rays in order to treat irregular shaped tumours.
This minimises healthy tissue near a tumour being affected by the radiation.