Adventures in the Czech Republic

In my last post I was explaing that electric central heating in one of these old farmhouses is for the rich only. Worse is to come, as the ...

In 2005, following the success of the BBC's 100 Greatest Britons, Czech Television launched a competition to find the greatest Czech. W...

We Brits are told that we are reserved and private in our behaviour, compared to other nations that is. Looking at the Czechs superficially ...

I was waiting for a bus a fortnight ago in Cesky Krumlov. There was quite a crowd of people at the bus stop, but none of them were queuing. ...

One of the delights of Czech cuisine are the many recipes made using poppyseeds. To feed the Czech appetite for "mak" you will fin...

I have blogged about the wonders of the Czech swimming ponds in the past – these man-made ponds where the villagers spend the hot summer day...

In my last post I was responding to my Czech friend's comments about the British and finished noting the anger I felt when a civil serva...

One of the things that strikes me here in South Bohemia is how differently one feels about going abroad. Here it is about 30 minutes' dr...

One of the biggest faux-pas a Brit can make in the Czech Republic is to talk about the country being in Eastern Europe. This offends on at l...

The Vltava River on its way through Cesky Krumlov is high with meltwater from the mountains. The river is a mass of brown gushing water lapp...

My parents aren't internet savvie and would never read this blog if it required them to go online. This is a shame because it looks as t...

In the hallway of every Czech house, or in the case of many flats outside on the landing, you will find a line of empty shoes and slippers. ...

As I told you in my blog on the anti-radar exhibition (below) there was a short comic sketch for which a local man dressed up as an angel. I...

In shops all over the Czech Republic now you can buy chocolate devils, angels and St Nicholas ready for the Christmas celebrations. On...

A few days ago we had a severe frost. The night had been clear following a series of dull cloudy days and in the morning the sky was complet...

In my last post I talked about the Czechs as a nation of hunters and in previous posts I have talked about the Czech obsession with gatherin...

My husband was still asleep when I awoke early yesterday. The sun was already beginning to pour round the curtain into our room and it was o...

A month ago I tried to organise the removal of several piles of rusty metal, including old bedsteads, guttering, weird pressed metal kitchen...

It doesn't actually take long to notice the Czech interest in their Celtic roots and even in the British Arthurian tradition. There is e...

So why am I sitting outside a cafe in Cesky Krumlov? What was it that brought me to this place? Well, I suppose there were lots of points at...