Just south of Brno, on the road to Vienna, lies the town of Rajhrad. The town is the site of an old Benedictine monastery. This is the original provost of the Břevnov Benedictines established in the middle of the 11th century, rebuilt into a baroque monastery with the Church of St. Peter and Paul.

The visit was prompted by the fact that on display there was the Kodex Gigas - a huge book (actually a copy) made by monks in the Middle ages. The story goes that a monk who was in serious trouble volunteered to write it over night and succeeded in doing so with the aid of the Devil. The Devil's image appears in the book as a result.

The Devil

The book was worth seeing but that monastery turned out to be a total delight too.. well worth a visit.

The Monastery

I have never been a fan of zoos and perhaps that explains why after two-years, I made my first visit to the Brno Zoo this weekend.

Actually, it was a great day. The zoo has quite a lot of interesting animals and displays and is very well thought through. The downside is that - like almost everywhere here - it is being worked on and improved so that there are large areas which remain off limits.

The zoo is on a hillside on the edge of town. That means you get to do some walking! However, if you want you can take a train upto the top and then walk down. The train costs a small fee but was well worth it. Be sure to check out the Kid's zoo too if you have kids. There is a petting zoo and quite a lot of other activities there for smaller kids.

I enjoyed the Polar Bears and also the Zebra and Giraffes... the Tigers were no were to be seen though.

The zoo is quite cheap to enter at 80kc per adult and I must admit, quite a good way to pass an afternoon.

Being a Brit that spent over a decade in the USA, I have no problem consuming bread and butter with my fish and chips or curry and rice nor do I worry about what goes in my sandwich - crisp butties I find delicious. But here those things are frowned on and even looked at as rather strange.

Czech's it seems don't mix their starches. They wouldn't dream of eating bread with a meal that includes rice or potato already and the idea of a chip or crisp sandwich likely turns their stomach! They have a much better and more balanced diet than us Brits/Americans for sure.

Here a meal would start with soup - usually home made - followed by meat or fish with pasta/potato or rice and plenty of salad and vegetable items. They may or may not eat dessert. It's great food for sure and even my dentist could tell I had changed diet the last time I was in Houston having my teeth checked.

Just down the road from Brno is the town of Vyskov. There you will find what passes for a zoo. In fact, the zoo is quite frugal and resembles a small farmyard but.... entry to the zoo also includes a trip to DINOLAND!

The trip to Dinoland begins by boarding a 'train' that takes you on a short 10-minute journey to the actual Dinoland location. Once inside, you are treated to a walk through a forested park full of Dinosaur models and exhibitions - some animated! It's actually very good! Your walk through the forest is also punctuated by Dinosaur sounds which can frighten smaller children but, for smaller kids, there is a sand pit in which they can dig with other kids for Dinosaur bones.

Of course, there are plenty of small bars, stores and cafes to sit down and enjoy the atmosphere with a cold Czech beer too...

Well worth the trip!

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.