Blogs from Trutnov, Hradec Králové Region, Czech Republic, Europe

Dag 12: 25 juli Vanochtend hadden we een wekker gezet om 6u30. Met kleine oogjes stonden we op en maakten ons snel klaar. Terwijl ik lunchpakketten klaarmaakte en fruitjes sneed, maakte Rick de kinderen klaar. Onze zakken hadden we gisterenavond al klaar gezet om geen tijd te verliezen. Op de planning vandaag: een wandeling tussen rotsformaties van Adrspach. We hadden een ticket geboekt in het tijdslot van 8 tot 9. Om kwart voor 8 vertrokken we met de auto en was het nog 3 kwartier rijden. Waze stuurde ons langs Polen en net op het moment dat hij ons een enkelrichtingstraat wil insturen (langs de verkeerde kant), heeft Rick geen netwerk. We moeten dus blijven rijden zonder een idee te hebben naar waar. Na 10 minuten was het in orde, maar wij waren onze marge kwijt. ... read more

As my train pulls into Prague, I watch the thick, overhanging clouds looming above the historic Bohemian city with concern. They obstruct the sun, bring rain, potentially spoiling the mood for everybody. Not the best conditions for a three-day music festival. Music? Indeed. I'm on my way to the 14th annual Obscene Extreme Festival. As the name suggests, this is not gonna be your run-of-the-mill summer rock festival with the occasional hard rock or heavy metal band thrown into the equation. What awaits me is three days of aural assault and straight up brutality. A closer look at the running order reveals band names like Gutalax, Human Scum, Splattered Mermaids, Vomitory, Necromorph, Bowelfuck, Rottenness, Vulvectomy and Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition. The genre these bands belong to could be roughly described as grindcore, although there are a million ... read more

We are now in Trutnov, East Bohemia, in the Krkonose - Giant Mountains -, my mother´s birthplace. We arrived here on Saturday afternoon after a pleasant three-hour train ride from Prague on a very old-fashioned, but incredibly charming train. The journey took us past harvested fields and meadows, and nearing the mountains, through large pine forests and hilly fields, very remote and beautiful. In our excitement at seeing the first signs for Trutnov, Mum and I got out of the train one stop ahead of the central station. We should have known something was up when all we could see were a couple of abandoned train tracks, with no station in sight, and when the chubby train conductor yelled at us in Czech out of the window us. 'He means hurry up! The train needs to ... read more