My friend Milka was very kind in inviting me with her friends to a village in the Slovensky Kras national park for new years. It was a spectacular time with wonderful people! During New Year's Eve the wine, Hungarian cherry liquor, and champagne flowed merrily down the old gulliver. And even a village with maybe 100 people had fireworks!! The following day we got over our headaches and spent the afternoon in the hills. We brought a sled which was the key to our joy out there. We happened upon some dried, thick vines which we used in creative ways: limbo, tug of war and Tarzan activities. Then we carried a 10m strip of it up a hill which we used to collectively carry the lucky rider on the sled!! To je proste zabava, vis? ... read more

Just after Christmas I travelled to a village called Podmanina near Povazska Bystrica, which isn't far from Trencin or Zilina. Since the whole country has beautiful nature this place is no exception. The mountains might not reach as high as the Tatras there, but the rock formations and beech forests more than make up for it. Sadly, there was no snow so I couldn't try cross-country skiing. The best way to travel in this region is lightly- take a train and go to tourist info to find privats or pensions for as cheap as 10 or 20 euros. Local grandma's will provide the accomodation, and you'll also support the local economy. Thanks Dominika and her family for showing me around. I was at this stretch of my trip for about 3 days... read more

There’s a rather ordinary square which I pass daily in Prague that has a rich story to do with pink tanks. It is called Svandovo Namesti and is between Andel with its massive shopping centre and Mala Strana the ancient district of town below Prazsky Hrad(Prague Castle). Last year when browsing through a 15-year old map of the city I noticed that the name used to be ‘Namesti Sovietskych Tankistu’, which roused my interest in a place I thought was named after the theatre of the same name across the street. Just today I chatted with my flatmate Wernie, who always has a story to tell, told me that where the large granite fountain now stands was the #23 Soviet Tank, which was supposedly the first Soviet tank to enter Nazi occupied Prague. This is ... read more

I think this is a good example of the gritty Czech ingenuity. What you are looking at is a converted trash bin. Yes, someone saw a trash bin one day and let a thought linger. That man was the brother of Hanka, a friend of mine. Hanka’s brother is a butcher in the shop below his lodgings. It’s a relatively small ‘reznictvi’ or butcher’s, but he wanted to smoke some quality pork. So one day as he likely was waiting for a bus his gaze fixed upon a disused trash bin and a light flashed. Yes, its dimensions could suit smoking pork quite nicely. All it would need is a spit(rod) and an engine to rotate it slowly. And there you have a basically free, helluva grill to cook a whole pig if you wished. ... read more

Perched on a corner of the Vltava’s river canyon. I took this bus ride daily to the pit of the panelacs (prefabs). These were what were considered model communities in communist times. Ideal because they were completely bereft of community, or unity among local people to support and believe in themselves. I lived on the sixth floor in a tiny room with children’s wallpaper around me and a fold-up, sound porous door. The only blessing was a huge south facing window to warm my winter mood and sometimes even sunbathe. The most uncomfortable thing for me were the elevator rides. When you’re inside with other people(often) you might say a “dobry den”, but you will definitely exchange “nashledanou”s. But certainly nothing more. There I believe there was only one elderly lady with whom I had ... read more