Blogs from Paseky nad Jizerou, Liberec Region, Czech Republic, Europe

Today, we didn't have any appointments. We were finished with lessons and so we could take our time 'cos carrying two sets of skies and poles in ski boots can be very exhausting! We decided to take the 10:00 ski-bus and also use the time to take a few more photos of the scenery and also the other skiers. Roky is a place that now relies heavily on tourism and as such most of the houses were either pensions like our own, ( private homes rented out ), apartment hotels or chalets and most things were written in Czech and German with a sprinkling of English here and there. Its rare to hear English voices. They're all in France or Italy me thinks! It was a little misty today and it pretty early became difficult to ... read more

Roky is a haunt for Czechs and East Germans so most people spoke both languages. We spoke German too but for extra security. I wanted an English-speaker thus we were partnered with George, a young 20-something Czech. We were a very mini-group of three. Veronika ( a 6 year old Czech ), “The Small Young Gentleman” ( another 6 year old ) and me ( a complete adult ) and we were going to have private lessons on Horni Domky!!! Horni Domky spreads out over the southern slopes of Lysá hora at an elevation of 630 to 1,315 above-sea-level. By way of comparison with others, it is one of the best ski locations in the Czech Republic in terms of its position, exemplary ski slopes and facilities. It is mainly popular for its large diversity and ... read more

So after vaguely mentioning to a friend that I might volunteer for an English camp a few months ago, she promptly marched me up to one of the Czech girls to sign me up… I’ll admit that I very nearly got terribly ill and couldn’t go… But I’m so glad I did! It was located at a hotel (a term I’m using loosely… it was more like school camp facilities - including shared rooms and communal toilets) in the Czech mountains (complete with sheep grazing under the currently defunct ski lifts) and was organised by a Czech church here in Prague. There were about 30 kids aged 15-25, Czech leaders, plus the “native speakers” who all sign up to come for a week out of their summer holidays. Most of the kids were Czech, and the ... read more