Down on the border between the Czech Republic and Austria you will find two things. The first are prostitutes, sex shops and porno cinemas and clubs... not what this post is about. The second is duty free shopping in no-man's land.

We went to visit one of these duty free shopping outlets last weekend close by Znojmo on the border. The place is called Excalibur and its decked out like a theme park but actually is a great place to pick up pricey brand name goods for cheap. Also - a pretty good place fr a half-day visit with restaurants an entertainment too. One restaurant is actually aboard a real plane!

Happy Shopping!

Brno has a huge exhibition center near he city center and it is constantly booked for trade fairs and/or concerts. The Rolling Stones played there late last year and Linkin Park just this week.

I'd never been there until last weekend when we went to the Utility Vehicle show. Very impressive facility and quite a good show. One of the manufacturers had a Czech Pop Group and a former Miss Czech Republic on hand to drive traffic. They are in the first photo below...

Altogether, a great day out.

I haven't posted in a while because I have had the local variation on the flu. I'm guessing that the local strain has to be a little different to what I have built up immunity to cos it laid me good and low.... Shame really because lots of good stuff has been going on here and I have many photos to post including Kid's Day!

Hopefully, I will catch up over the coming week......

Living in the Czech Republic I occasionally come across folks with very funny names. For example, there is an actress/model here with the last name Bendova! and another with the last name Partysova! Of course these names are funny because they mean something in English too when pronounced but there are funny names here that require translation. Soustal is a last name that I wouldn't care to have because in English it literally is translated as F**cked! It would be sort of funny if Ms. Bendova got with Mr. Soustal but I suppose that is unlikely....

But funny names occur everywhere not just in the Czech Republic. I once worked with a Crystal Leer whose middle name was Chan. I mean, what kind of parents did she have that would give her the name Crystal Chandelier? In the UK, I also worked with a John Thomas and knew a guy with the unfortunate name of Peter Niss... think about that one a bit....

Know anyone with a funny name? If so share it and leave a comment here...

Originally posted at Rant Here

I have been in the Czech Republic around 18 months, I have taken Czech lessons and I watch Czech TV but I still struggle with Czech. Maybe I am getting a little long in the tooth to learn a new language but Czech is a tough nut to crack. I can understand reasonably well but cannot construct more than a simple sentence.

The Czech language is unlike English, French or even German - it has different roots. It's an unstructured language meaning that the word order doesn't necessarily matter but demanding a whole set of complex rules to ensure that, whatever the order of words, the meaning is clear. What am I talking about? Well, English requires you to construct a sentence in a specific way - there are clear grammatical rules to govern this and unless you follow them, your sentence will be meaningless. For example, I have to say "The cat is black" and not "Black is the cat" (sounding like Yoda here!). In this instance the meaning is OK but it is a simple sentence. In Czech, there isn't any sentence structure necessarily and so the focus is on how the words are constructed so that the hearer can determine object, subject, verb and so on....

Let me try an example...

In the Czech Republic an advertising firm is getting away with something that wouldn't work in the UK or the USA. Not only wouldn't it work, it would cause consternation, outrage and probably spark a whole bunch of 911/999 calls to the police. Yes, it's explosive alright.

You will see these advertisements all over but especially attached to public clocks and traffic lights. Yes folks, they are BOMBS!

Take a look...

The company who is using this campaign are identified in the photograph below...

The caption reads along the lines of "The right information at the right time".....

Bad timing for this ad campaign I would say?

This weekend marked the start of the Brno Fireworks competition and also a weekend of culture. The culture weekend involved a day of free entry to any museum or gallery in the city and free bus transportation to them to boot. What was very nice was that at various locations in and around the city, modern art was on display - still is actually.

It is modern art that's for sure. Large steel beer barrels turned into things labeled 'fish scales' and a black pillar labeled 'column' were amongst the items attracting attention in Namesti Svobody.

I photographed a few of the items on display to share them with you all.

Another positive about the Czech Republic has to be the coffee. Like many European countries, the coffee here - in all its forms - is excellent and consistent. I guess I have been used to that horrible burned stuff that is sold in the USA where the pot is heated for hours and hours until it tastes like tar and that weak instant stuff so often found in the UK. No - the coffee here is outstanding.

You won't find many American style coffee shops here though. Few if any Starbucks. You will most likely buy your coffee at a normal restaurant or bar. But don't let that put you off.

If you are used to a Starbucks, you won't be disappointed by the variety either. Not just Espresso but Late, American style, Iced Coffee and much much more.

For a nation better known for quality beer and beer drinking, the coffee here is simply outstanding and a pleasant surprise.

I have tried to avoid this topic directly for some time but the masses of Stag Party revelers you see in Prague disturb me and actually anger me in the way that they treat the Czech Republic and the Czech female generally. There is a general perception so it seems that there is a high level of prostitution and sexually oriented businesses in the Czech Republic. Well, I haven't seen it - though it is fair to say I am not looking for it either.

What is true is that Czech women are attractive generally and many have that 'look' - I guess a sort of eastern European look that makes them seem even more attractive to 'western' male eyes. Additionally, it is also fair to say that Czechs have a more liberal attitude to sex and pornography/erotica than many other countries do - maybe it was communism maybe it wasn't - but sex is isn't something to be embarrassed and ashamed about here.

I did a bit of research on the sex industry in the Czech Republic and if you truly are interested here is a good article that offers some facts and figures on the sex industry here.

Each year Brno holds a firework competition and it is about to start. The competition is truly international and features displays almost every day for two-weeks that are truly spectacular and should no be missed. I posted the schedule a while ago and you can find it here.

Yesterday, one of the Czech TV stations - Nova - launched it's new website for news. It has been the subject of a major TV ad campaign in recent weeks featuring humorous advertisements. The site is now available but it's rather an interesting site!

First, it features comic videos, topless models and even video of the news read as the newsreader strips naked. Second, not much real news to be found there and third, of course, it is in Czech. It reminds me more of The Sun newspaper out of the UK than a legitimate news site.

You can find the website at www.tn.cz - have fun there.....

As most European countries adopt harsh bans on smoking in public places that trend is resisted in the Czech Republic. In a European survey, the Czech republic was 25 out of 30 in terms of moving to discourage smokers. It seems that almost everyone here smokes and it's going to be an uphill struggle to change that mentality.

What this means to you the tourist is be prepared. Unlike the USA and UK, smoking is tolerated everywhere and you'll be hard pushed to find a non smoking table outside of some of the main tourist areas. A trip to a local pub will see you headed for he shower to wash away to the smell of smoke from you clothes and hair. On the other hand, if you are a smoker - it is paradise here... cigarettes remain cheap by comparison with most other places.

But don't let the smoking habit here put you off visiting us. You would miss far more by not coming here and putting up with a little second hand smoke.....

Having recently written about Karel Gott, I was dismayed today to learn that he had a bit of a fender bender with an American driver in Prague overnight. Why? Well, when I complained that he was abysmal I really didn't anticipate one of my blog readers deciding to take matters into their own hands!

Driving in the Czech Republic can be quite dangerous. The road system isn't very good and reminds me of the UK in the 70's before the era of bypasses and good motorways. Even the main motorway between Brno and Prague is poor in many parts with a road surface that shakes and rattles your bones and only two lanes in each direction.

Not only do many roads pass through towns requiring you to slow to 50 kmph but the road surfaces are very poor and most lack good painted lines in flourescent paint making driving in the dark hazardous. Consequently, road statistics here are not good. The Czech Republic has about 28,400 traffic crashes per year. In these Accidents 36,610 people are hurt and 1600 killed. According to reports, traffic fatalities are increasing in the Czech Republic, making it one of the more lethal places to drive in Europe.

Despite the fact that the law has no tolerance for drinking and driving (blood acholol limit is zero), driving impaired is still a factor of the road scene in the Czech Republic. Of a total number of 190 718 road traffic accidents there where 9552 road traffic accidents caused by impaired road users in 2002.