Zlin

Easter- ate far too much, spent far too much money, had an amazing time!

I was back in Brno sooner than I imaged. I wasn’t quite ready to leave London again and the first few days were pretty tough. But soon I was back in swing of things, and happy to be in Brno. The weather helped somewhat. The sun just hasn’t stopped shining. I wake up every morning thinking… today it must be grey, whatever happened to April showers?? Hence I have spent a lot of time outside, lapping up those rays. The first weekend back in fact, we went to a lake just on the Brno borders. I had no idea it even existed. We all brought some food and drinks and we had a very international picnic. There was all sorts of different gastric delights. It was lovely to see everyone again, I think there are quite a few people here I am really going to miss!

The following week was an interesting one. Our tutor had organised with his friend, who is also an art tutor, that Kirstie and I visit his faculty. Kirstie and I are always happy to visit new places, so we jumped at the chance. We were put in touch with one of the students from the faculty, Hana, who was to be our guide. The faculty was in a city called Zlin, 2 hours from Brno. It is famous for one thing… Bata shoes. The whole city was basically a factory for the shoes, most of the architecture was designed and built by Mr Bata himself. Therefore the city has a very distinctive look.





On first arriving into Zlin, Hana drove us to the university (for the next few days Hana drove us everywhere). Where we joined an English class. We were in the class for about 2 hours. It was tiring stuff, but I like to think that we were quite helpful. The girls were practicing for their English exam in a few weeks. They were encouraged to ask Kirstie and I questions. Annoyingly, most of the questions were 'how can we get a job in England'. This resulted in some tactful replies, but it was still difficult not to give them too much hope.

We stayed the night at Hana's flat. It was an interesting experience. We had already met her British Bulldog when she picked us up from the train station, but we were yet to meet her other animals. Now Hana is the sweetest person, and I am very thankful for her generous welcome that she showed us, but sadly, she has some really smelly animals! The hamsters, fish, dog all accumulated into a smell that I am not at all accustomed to.

The next day we continued the tour to Olomouc and a nice stately home with some beautiful gardens. Having been to Olomouc before I was happy to return and see the town again.

VIENNAAAAAAAAaaaaa

The following weekend I was off again. This time I finally got to Vienna. Kirstie and I were becoming more and more frustrated that we hadn’t visited what is our nearest big city. It is only two hours away on the bus, the ticket is ridiculously cheap and its not like we don’t have the time. We had no excuse. We booked our ticket. It was our new friend Irma who was the original catalyst to our eventual decision. Irma is Hungarian with lots of her friends studying in Vienna. When we told her how quick and cheap it was to travel there from Brno, she was determined to get there as soon as possible. Therefore, with Irma leading the way, the following weekend we were on the bus. One of our main problems preventing us from going to Vienna sooner was the expense of staying there. However amazingly this problem never materialised because thankfully we ended up staying with one of Stefan’s friends. What a stroke of luck that was. Tim, Stef’s mate, is working as a choral singer in Vienna. He has a small group who sing Renaissance music. Kirstie and I had quite a few questions about such a career; he was very obliging in answering them. Tim was also a very generous host, and we ending up staying for two nights, saving us a lot of money. Furthermore, he lent us a guide to Vienna, and gave us lots of useful advice.



Vienna is a great city. It has all the beauty and grandeur of Prague, but with an edge. It seems the art scene is more open and interesting, with galleries and exhibition on every corner. The city also doesn’t feel crammed with tourists, I think due to the fact that it is quite a spacious city. None of the Prague style narrow lanes. Kirstie and I spent most of the time going from gallery to gallery. Stopping in cafes every now and again, eating lots of schnitzel and spending far too much money. Best not to think about it. We met up with our friend Irma a few times, and she took us to some of the places she knows. All in all we had quite the insiders visit to Vienna. We got recommendations and advice that made our stay so much more interesting. I have a special thanks to my friend Daniel, who lives in Vienna; he sent me an e-mail with loads of places to go!

There was only a week or so left in Brno after Vienna before I was due to fly home for Easter. Not too much happened in this time. Our friends Lena and Filip held an exhibition at our faculty and I visited a cave complex north of Brno called the Moravian Karst. The caves were impressive, but having seen a fair few caves in my time, they don’t really excite me any more.

Easter- ate far too much, spent far too much money, had an amazing time!

OOPS, I've been busy

Firstly, apologies for not keeping this Blog up to date. I have negligent to my regular readers and I am sorry. Since Francis visited Prague I have been on quite a few more trips. I have since visited Leipzig, Vienna and Zlin. All of which I will tell you a little about now…

The weeks after Francis’ visit were filled with Erasmus parties. The students who were only staying for the first semester started to leave, many leaving parties as a result, and the new Erasmus students arrived, many welcoming parties ensued. I also managed to completely miss Pancake Day! I was devastated! But all was not lost, I decided any Tuesday could be Shrove Tuesday and I proceeded in planning a late celebration. I have to say it was the best Pancake Day I have ever experienced. Mainly, I think, because the majority of the people at the party were French, and then French knooow how to flip a decent crepe. I was happily satisfied with my pancake consumption for the year.

Also this Semester I have started having private Czech classes. Last semester we were having classes in conjunction with our university. But surprise surprise, funding ran out, and we were left to either give up learning Czech, or seek other means to gain the information. We decided, quite simply, to employ our old Czech teacher privately. We are paying her, what in my opinion is a very cheap rate. But she suggested the price and she seems to have given herself the task, to not only teach us Czech, but also give us a crash course in Czech culture. It seems to me it is not such a measly sum by Czech standards. I will miss learning Czech; I will miss learning a language. I have decided on my return to Britain, I will definitely start learning a language properly. First on my list is Spanish, but I will try and improve my Polish as a side project. There is something about learning a language that really keeps your brain alive.

The week of my delayed pancake day, I visited my friend Johannes in Leipzig. I ended up going later than I originally planned. I was advised to buy my tickets on the Internet to get the cheapest price, this involved waiting for them to be delivered. Finally I received my tickets and I departed for my 6-hour train journey. The journey passed without incident. I arrived to Leipzig relieved to at long last stretch my legs and of course to see Johannes waiting for me.

I stayed with Johannes’ parents. Lovely people, but with limited English. This was very frustrating for me. I find it very hard not to communicate with people, especially people I am staying with. However, when Johannes was around, I was able to hear a translation, I suspect, a little edited from time to time. I was made to feel very welcome, and I felt a little spoilt. Johannes’ mother is quite the accomplished cook, and she whipped up a few delicious meals. I was assured it was all traditional German grub, just what I had hoped.

Leipzig is a vibrant student city. In proportions it felt quite similar to Leeds. There are lots of trendy bars, nice shopping streets, and most important of all, an impressive modern art gallery. Johannes and I wondered the Leipzig streets, did a little cycling and drank a few German Beers. We had a very lazy time. Unfortunately we might have been a little more active if the weather had not been so miserable. I don’t think it really ever stopped raining. However I had a lovely time, and I really enjoyed my true German experience. I have to say that the German people, what I have experienced of them, are delightful, very friendly and accommodating. I look forward to my next German trip. Next on the list is Jena, to visit my friend Anne. I can’t wait!