Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a small landlocked country in Central
Europe, situated south-east of Germany and bordering with Austria
to the south, Poland to the north and Slovakia (with which it
used to form one country of Czechoslovakia) to the south-east.
Regions
Czech Republic is divided into 3 historical regions:
Bohemia - the western part of the Czech Republic
Moravia - the eastern part of the country
Silesia - the north eastern part of the Czech Republic
Instead of these there are 14 political regions subdivided onto
districts.
Cities
Prague (Praha) - the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic
Brno: Largest city in Moravia, Moto GP Grand Prix every year
takes place here.
?esk? Krumlov: Beautiful old town and castle
Jesen?k: Spa and touristic resort (especially in winter)
Karlovy Vary aka "Carlsbad", historic (and biggest
Czech) spa resort
Karvin?: Spa close to Ostrava
Kutn? Hora: Historical town with famous St.Barbora cathedral
and old silver mines
Novosedly : Village in the Moravian wine region, you can go
on a great horseback trip through the vineyards
Olomouc: Vibrant university town; has the 2nd largest historical
centre in the Czech Republic
Pilsen (Plze?): Home to the Pilsner Urquell beer, the largest
city in West Bohemia
Other destinations
Krkono?e: (Giant Mountains) The biggest mountains in the Czech
Republic
?esk? R?j: (Czech Paradise) Towering rock formations located
north of Prague
Mut?nice Wine Region: Some of the best vineyards in the Czech
Republic and totally off the well beaten tourist path.
Karl?tejn Castle and the holy cave monastery: Hiking trip to
the famous castle as well as an off the beaten track monastery.
See
See the Moravian wine region by horseback in Novosedly
See Brno city
See ?esk? Krumlov - beautiful city with castle. Member of UNESCO.
CzechTek, the yearly freetekno party somewhere in Czech Republic.
Panelaks
Entering Prague on the train, particularly from the southeast,
one sees the infamous panelaks, or giant concrete housing blocks.
Czech and Slovak housing blocks have a very surreal quality
to them - driving past the Brno suburbs late at night is visually
reminiscent of the movie Blade Runner. Petrzalka in the Slovak
capital of Bratislava is the biggest panelak complex. Czech
writer Iva Pekarkova’s novel Truck Stop Rainbows does an
amazing job of expressing the particular sort of inhumanity
panelaks are known for breeding. If someone lives in a building
that is an exact copy of all the others for miles around, so
alike that even residents get lost, what does that bode for
the community living there? In a particularly ironic twist,
the real-life panelaks are crumbling as quickly as the communist
regime that built them: literally falling apart at the seams.
Alternatively though the Panelaks in contrast to what one finds
in Western European or American housing projects, are relatively
safe and friendly places albeit it bland. The dark exterior
shell hides a generally quite nice internal environment that
is usually well maintained by the inhabitants living inside.
The majority of people who live there are a cross section of
the lower to middle classes of Czech society (including a large
number of students and retired elderly people). Haje in Prague
at the end of the red (C) metro line is well worth the half
hour metro trip to experience a real live communist 'settlement.'
On the bright side, recently more flats in these panelaks have
been being bought, changing these developments from Communist
compartments into owned and cared-for properties. Unlike in
Western Europe, panelaks in the Czech Republic are being lived-in
and owned increasingly by the middle class, which tries to paint
them lively colors and individualize their appearance inside
and out. Some residents in such buildings don't find them isolating
at all, and on the contrary feel that they foster a communal
atmosphere.
