Charter flights between Prague and Miami cancelled before they started

Thousands of Czechs were expected to visit the United States on Prague-Miami flights when the visa regime ceased to exist a few months ago. Travel agencies thought that with the favorable exchange rate they would fly some 7,000 tourists to Florida.

Nope. According to the Planes.cz server Czech Airlines withdrew from the route and so did the Travel Service charter airline. Both due to small demand.

I remember there were times when “summer holiday” in the U.S. WAS indeed ridiculously expensive. Airline tickets, visa fees and the fact that any immigration officer can send you home even if you have a hotel reservation and a return ticket — South Beach and Florida landmarks just weren’t worth it. Now the prices are much better, but Czechs -naturally- save money on things they need the least.

For example being fined by a beach buggy cop for sunbathing topless. I know, I know, Florida is more open-minded about this, but still

The Brno Reservoir: almost no water and some ruins of a flooded village

The Brno Reservoir is a major “free time destination” of Brno citizens.  It offers hiking trails, beach volleyball courts, beaches … including a nude beach… biking paths, etc. However, its water quality is far from normal. In fact once it gets a little hotter, it is considered unusable due to cyanobacteria contents. In other words…it is green. Which is why it is going to look like this this summer:

The reservoir will be almost “empty” so that specialized treatment can take place and the most toxic mud will be excavated. There will be even less water than there is now…which is expected to reveal the ruins of the abandoned village that was flooded when the reservoir was built…

There are experts who say it should work – finally. And there are other experts who say it is useless because the water “quality” will worsen again because many upstream villages have old WWTP’s (or none at all) and their effluent water composition is what makes water green.

Either way: people still visit the beaches even though they can not jump in and swim. And now they take walks in the dry river bed…

The City of Brno to remove illegal graffiti. It will cost us two million

The Council of the City of Brno agreed that the municipality shall pay TWO million for the removal of illegal graffiti on buildings in 22 streets of downtown Brno. This “street art” is probably the most pointless form of  “petty crime” there is… and I would be a loud supporter of corporal punishment. I know the Czech Republic is a civilized country, but a young man who spray-paints his “tag” on a 19th century facade of a building that has recenly been renovated for 4 million (an actual example from down the street) is not civilised. I think this country would use some laws that are applicable in Singapore…

Future high school students to take their tests

There are no school districts  in the Czech Republic, so students can basically choose any school they want. Most high schools specialize in particular social or natural sciences, languages, sports, etc. There are schools where you will have French twice a day, and there are some that will make you a future Nobel Prize material.

However, this is also the reason why almost all high schools choose their future students and have them take complex and tough written tests. Let’s say a school plans to open three classes of freshmen next September, so out of 2,000 applicants only 90 can get in (3×30)…

Oh yeah, classes. With some exceptions, Czech schools (elementary, junior high and high schools) are organized into classes of 25-30, which means you spend four years of high schools with the same people. And since there are desks for two, students often have the same deskmate all year.

The risk of not being accepted means that student often choose safety nets (schools they don’t want to attend, but they apply anyway because they know they can get in, so just in case…).  BUT! They can send THREE applications but almost all schools have the tests on the same days, so technically one of the applications gets wasted because students can physically attend/take part only in two testing days…

Whoever invented this probably failed math in high school…

The Pope will come to Brno in September, church leaders confirmed

AFP/Alberto Pizzoli

The Pope will visit Brno in September (Sep 27) and so far the plan is that he will greet his followers and other people who find it essential to see him on Brno International Airport. Brno councilman Jan Holik (Christian Democrats) said that Vatican envoys have seen the place and have nothing against it. Over 200,000 people are expected to come.

I wonder what this is going to do with hotel prices… since Brno is relatively close to four countries (Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland), thousands of foreigners are also expected to arrive.

TO BE UPDATED…

Czech travel agencies: forget last-minute bargains this year

(c) Getty Images

This financial crisis forces people to give up things that need the least, of course. In case of Czechs: seaside-resort holidays. For many families and couples there will be no Croatia, Greece, Spain or Egypt this year. Lucky bastards who live in Florida.

Czech travel agencies still do offer their services…  but they recently announced they significantly reduced their capacities (i.e. numbers of beds and rooms…) they pre-ordered last year, or well ahead. It means two things: they will sell out what they have faster and they will offer almost no last-minute departures that can be described as “buy today, fly in two days”.

Last year one could wait until a Tuesday, pick a destination, pay a ridiculously small price and pack to depart on a Friday. Not only there will be no such thing this year, travel agencies also INCREASED their prices, which I don’t understand, considering the fact that people have LESS money.

Odd Czech things: sign boards saying what the particular store sells

I bet every Czech finds their nation odd in some way. To me one of the weirdest thing is our store naming and signage habit that seems to have survived the pre-1989 times when everything was state-owned.

You can see dozens and hundreds of stores/shops in the Czech Republic where the main sign will not name the owner but the merchandise the store sells. In the U.S., the name of the retailer TOYS R US yells at parents and kids from above the entrance to … enter. In the Czech Republic the sign would usually say “TOYS” with no specification of the owner.

It is really odd because the signs say the obvious. You can SEE that the store sells toys.

Same thing with sign boards that say “FLOWERS” (not let’s say Angela’s Flower Garden), or “MEAT” (not Tom’s Deli).

Makes me wanna do a little sightseeing with a camera to illustrate the …well..oddity.

Nazi swastika spray-painted on a house owned by the city

The municipality of the City of Brno (or one of its boroughs) does not care much about its property. It has been ignoring a serious violation of the law. Some vandal spray-painted the Nazi swastika on the facade of an old “apartment building” owned by the city. True, the city owns many buildings and it can not guard and control them all, but still…

According to the Czech Penal Code it is against the law to “promote movements that oppress people” (rough translation). In other words, swastika in public is against the law, even if spray-painted as an act of vandalism that does not reflect the graffiti author’s actual political views. I am almost sure that this act of vandalism is football-related…

A private house (wall/fence/etc.) owner can be ordered by authorities to remove such graffiti at their own expense and they can seek compensation in court if the vandal is actually convicted. I wonder why it does not work the same way with a house that is owned by the city.

The truth is that the house is not located on a busy street in terms of pedestrian numbers and drivers who drive by have to pay attention to traffic lights. On the other hand, it can be seen by foreign tourists who arrive at the Zvonarka bus terminal. It is right across the street.

NOTE: the house is not abandoned/evicted. Coincidentally, only the first floor apartment that can be seen on this photo happens to be empty.

Czech Easter: we spank women because we love them. No violence involved.

Czechs and Slovaks have a very unique way to celebrate Easter. One one hand, women decorate eggs, just like women of many other nations (the Ukraine, Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Romania). But we also, well, beat up women…

Let’s explain…

It is a tradition in the former Czechoslovakia that women are spanked (or whipped) on Easter Monday. Men go door to door visiting their relatives, friends, colleagues, neighbors etc. They carry special hand-made whips that are made out of several (4-10) willow rods with ribbons on the end that touches the woman’s butt when she is spanked. Some really elaborate whips can be up to two meters long, they are used especially in villages where boys wear traditional national costumes.

The spanking is rather “symbolical”. It means it is not violent and it should not hurt. However, some men use rods that do hurt a bit. The symbolism of the spanking is to show that the men care about the woman who is being spanked. In return, the woman should give eggs to the men. Alternatively, chocolate rabbits and eggs are given (especially to young boys who would not appreciate a large number of hard boiled eggs), and adult men are often given a shot of alcohol beveage, especially home-made slivovitz (plum brandy).

Probably the only awkward element of this tradition is that the men shall recite a special Easter saying which “explains why they came and what they want the woman to do”. Adult men usually avoid it and they just yell like animals, while young boys who are taught to “recite slash sing” it still do it, especially when spanking aunts and grandmothers. Loosely translated, one of the sayings means “give me a colored egg, or at least an ordinary white egg, your chicken will lay some more” blah blah blah.

The photo is (c) Getty Images.

Twenty-four people injured in radio station money giveaway

It was supposed to be a PR event, but it turned into mass hysteria.

Twenty-four people from the city of Ceske Budejovice suffered various injuries in a crazy crowd into which a local radio station threw coupons that could be exchanged for money – in the overall amount of CZK 100,000 (USD 4,400). Most people sustained bruises and contusions. Seven ambulances were dispatched to the scene, and their patients included nine year-old children. According to local dailies 12 out of 24 patients were underage.

OK, I understand that some people count every crown they spend, but sending a child into a crazy crowd that goes after money is stupid and irresponsible.

Some mob violence cases were observed, as some people were really fighting for the coupons — i.e. they were hurting others purposefully, not just by accident (elbow in other person’s face).

So far there is no statement on the radio station’s website. Technically, they did not cause the violence. Those people could have stood patiently and they could catch the coupons from the air without hurting any0ne.  (yeah, right, like that would happen)