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Europe » Czech Republic » Moravian-Silesian Region » Ostrava October 25th 2019

Với blog này, tôi muốn lưu lại suy nghĩ và những cái mình cảm nhận được khi quan sát cuộc sống của công đồng người Việt Nam ở xứ người. - Ostrava là 1 thành phố với tôi, cũ kỹ, có vài nơi hiện đại, nhưng nhìn chung là không đẹp. - Tàu điện ở đây chạy tùm lum, và tôi không biết làm sao để bắt được xe lửa để đi. - Khá giống Balan - Thích cách quan tâm tới gia đình của con người ở đây, cuối tuần, đi chơi với người yêu, đưa vợ con đi công viên chụp hình, cưỡi ngựa, đạp e, kayak - Xài 1 thứ tiền khác gọi là Cu, tiếng khác (tiếng Anh không phổ biến) - Eduroam xài được cả ở Balan và Séc, thấy lạ ... read more
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Day 7 contd. in the Footsteps of a Polish POW, Geordie Hussar. Our guide at the Bruntal Museum (see previous blog) told of two or three English soldiers who had befriended a Czech worker and secured a map of the area. They had escaped from my dad's work camp E352, Machold's Linen Factory, but no one ever knew if they were successful. Hugh Patterson gives this account: ‘My pal Jimmy took a fancy to the idea of sneaking out, together with someone else, who had someone (a girl) to see. He might have been called Alan, I don’t remember. Anyway, they had a go, but were unlucky or unskillful. They were recaptured and taken to another camp..... ….. It was increasingly rumoured that the Germans were retreating from the Russians, first marching any prisoners further back ... read more
The hills of Postrelmov
Dad having a good time: three weeks hidden away with a Czech family
Postrelmov chapel


Day 7 in the Footsteps of a Polish POW Geordie Hussar, Bruntal Today is the day where we truly walk in my Dad's footsteps. As we arrived in Bruntal, mid morning, we crossed the railway line, a marker for the Emmerich Machold Linen Factory where my dad was a POW working in camp E352. (He calls it 22a in his memoir but, this doesn't tally with other documentation). His photo clearly shows at least five markers for where his POW camp but was sited: 1 a factory chimney 2 a factory building 3 a railway line 4 a signalbox 5 a big house or houses We walked on the east side of the line opposite the station and found 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, with ease. The factory looks the same as my Dad's photo, ... read more
The S signal box view towards the camp 2018
The Machold Factory buildings 2018 without trees iocluding the view.
Our guides on the balcony where Adolf Hitler stood to address Freudenthal.


Day 6 In the Footsteps of a Polish POW Geordie Hussar To Czec Silesia via Slovakia. It’s time to leave the youthful grandeur of the Tatra Mountains thrusting at the top of Carpathean crescent. We’re heading for the maturity of elevated valleys and the more rolling ancient geology of the Sudetes. German officers made the Tatras their playground in WWll, but Sudetenland was the first territory to be at issue (and then taken) which set the whole thing 'a 'haad'. The word "Sudetenland" only came into existence in the early 20th century and did not come to prominence until after the First World War, when the German-dominated Austria-Hungary was dismembered and the Sudeten Germans url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germans_in_Czechoslovakia_(1918%E2%8... read more
Sudetenland in khaki.
Slovakian May Tree
Opava Town Hall


On July 16, my friend Anne and me left Belgium to go to the "Colours of Ostrava" festival in Czech republic. As always, our trip started as a mess : instead of leaving at 10 AM as planed, we left at 11 AM because Anne didn't have her passport and I did. Actually, first we agreed we wouldn't take it, but then we I decided it was better to take it and I hadn't told her, so she didn't bring hers and we had to go back and get it... This first day wasn't so good anyway. We wanted to get to Jena and spend our first night there, but we got into a lot of traffic jams and so we arrived pretty late at our hostel, then we couldn't find a nice restaurant and when ... read more
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Today, I did Ostrava Zoo. I will not be doing an exhibit by exhibit 50 million word review but I will be generally discussing the zoo – the good points, bad points and my general opinions. Ostrava Zoo is located in Ostrava (obviously) which is a city in the Czech Republic and fairly near to the Polish border. I’m going to be honest here and say that Ostrava is really quite a depressing city, it is an industrial city and the skyline is covered with the towers of factories, some are shut-down and rusting and some are still bellowing smoke. There used to be lots of coal mining going on around the city (though this has stopped now, I believe completely) and as a result there are lots of huge slag heaps and old railways for ... read more

Europe » Czech Republic » Moravian-Silesian Region » Ostrava February 12th 2015

This is not only my first visit to the Czech republic but also my first enter into Travel blog. I have meant to blog about my travels since I read Judy Lay's blog but without success until now. (Judy Lay is my role model on this, we met in Crakow in 2006 - then again in Iceland but unfortunately I lost connetion to her, which I am so sorry for). As for my visit to the Czech republic- I am staying in Ostrava. I have a meeting here for two days, otherwise I would probably have chosen Prag (Praha). My trip began at Keflavik international airport yesterday and I flew to Copenhagen. I managed to sleep all through the flight so that was an easy one. I went into the city of Copenhagen and checked my ... read more


April 2, 2012. I went to visit a friend who lived in a village near Ostrava. (This was not a backpacking trip.) I learned a lot about European history during my stay with her. There had always been Germans and Czechs living in Bohemia and Moravia (and a whole bunch of other ethnic groups such as Pols, Hungarians, Jews, and various other Slavs) but I guess Czechs made up the majority. For example, when Charles University was founded in 1348 in Prague during the Golden Age of Czech history, the university was divided into Czech, Polish, Saxon, and Bavarian "nations." The house my friend lived in was originally German. When the Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia after WWII, they were not given much time to move and they weren't allowed to take much with them, so ... read more
Jewish cemetery in Trebič


Monday, Lenka had to go back to work so I had a nice rest day by myself. In the afternoon I tagged along for the daily dog walk, since I'd been sitting around doing nothing all day. We had a lovely stroll through the forest and 10km later we were on the home stretch walking along a tree lined roadway and were able to snack on some cherries straight from the tree. Cherry trees are everywhere throughout the country and free to whoever wants to help themselves. And to think I paid half a fortune for a punnet of cherries in Prague. Also planted along the roadside were plum, pear and other fruit trees which were still to come into fruit. In season going for a walk is a variable fruit salad feast. Tuesday, I caught ... read more
Smurf flavoured ice cream
plate of worms?


Yesterday, Friday 10th June I left Cesky Krumlov for a long 421km journey across the country to town called Opava. I am visiting my friend Lenka who was my inspiration to visit Czech Republic. I left the hostel just after 8am and after 1 bus and 3 trains (the first of which was 45mins late and threw out all my connections) later, I reached my destination approximately 11 hours later. I was glad to see a friendly face at the end, or I should say 2 friendly faces: Lenka and her dog Tara!. View from the trains confirmed the whole country is green either by pasture or forest. Totally exhausted from doing nothing we crashed early. Next day, Saturday, Lenka drove us to a nearby village of Hradec nad Moravici, which is on the river Moravici. ... read more
lunch
and a beer!
my friend Lenka




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