Post by Patti Stirk.
Starting a new series of posts showing some love to the many other amazing places we were fortunate to visit and want to share.
Throwback Thursday love to Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Author: gse7390to2240
2 Excursions from Liberec
Czech Paradise Hike – Saturday, May 30th, Turnov, CZ
On Friday, May 29th we were transported from our new host family homes in Liberec to a nearby historic resort town called Turnov. “Pack a bag for two nights Group Study Exchange team, we’re going away for the weekend” we were informed. To an aptly named place called Česky ráj or “Czech Paradice”. No really, that’s how everyone refers to it.
RC of Liberic and a nearby German Rotary Club get together annually for high-activity weekends including mountain hiking and long-distance biking. A very large commemorative trophy (think Stanley Cup) goes back and forth between the two clubs each time.
Saturday morning GSE Team 7390 donned our district t-shirts and opted for the ~12km hike. Being typical Americans, we figured there was some competition for the cup and hoped to assist our Czech hosts in winning the cup. Nope. Just a lovely albeit SLOW walk in the woods and up a volcano top to a castle ruins with pre-packed snacks and a traditional Czech lunch in a restaurant along the way. Snack bags were packed by the kind people at sheltered workshop supported by RC of Liberec. (See previous Liberec post)
Snacks for Czech hikers.
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En masse with about 35 Rotarians and families, we drove to the trail head. We parked and set out from the Hrubá Skála Chateau. The original castle here was rebuilt into a chateau in more recent history.
Early in our hike, the first attraction was a view of the Hruboskalsko rock formations.
We took the red trails from Libošovice to the Žehrovka River valley and walked upstream to the Podsemínský mlýn Mill and on to Nebákov (a pond and a restaurant). The local mill was built in the Baroque style but the original structure dates back to at least the 15th century.
We then took a rocky road and climbed up to a plateau above which the two peaks of the Trosky castle ruins loomed. 
After a group lunch of traditional Czech food we plodded on toward the castle ruins. Meeting and chatting with new friends from both Czech Republic and Germany as our group slowly made our way onward and upward.
The vistas from the tower ruins is nearly indescribable. Much better to show you in photos. We were able to see the Turnov area and the Ještěď mountain area where we dined two nights prior.
The weather turned colder and as temperatures dropped we hiked our way quickly back to our cars. Back to the hotel for a joint Rotary meeting after and impactful day.
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Night of Churches in Turnov area
Friday, May 29th
After dinner adventuring in Turnov included checking out a late night church open house for “night of churches”.
After an eery drive on unpaved paths through the dark forrest at night, we made our way into a sculpture protected Baroque St Anna chapel and The Three Kings convent, Mnichovo Hradiste.
Inside we were treated to a visual as well as an acoustic audio treat. Five acoustic singers were performing a concert of very old-time, almost Gregorian sounding music. Accompanied by a guy on a manual bellows organ, four women singers delivered a great concert. Sadly the song descriptions were all in Czech and do we got very little detail about the songs, composers, or even era of the music. I am attaching two video samples.
A random boxer dog was in the church so I sat by him in a pew. Very regal and upright fellow. But eventually he too gave way to the late hour of the day and started leaning up against me. Ultimately he ended up splayed across my lap, snoring peacefully. Can’t deny being a bit envious as we’re always GSE tired. Offically adding this to the list of random events in this GSE exchange.
GSE Sidebar:
Sometimes you arrive at a new host family’s home and just never want to leave. Liberec was such a case for me.
Dr. Vojtéch Pražma’s family shield
Vojtéch’s brother, University of North Carolina ENT professor Dr. Jiri Pražma took up painting in his retirement. Where can we buy his paintings? Lovely addition to this recently restored Art Deco era home.
Last official GSE day – Podebrady, Czech Republic
We spent our last official day of the trip in Podebrady, with our friend and outbound GSE team member Jakub Charvát. We hadn’t seen him since before our departure on May 8, so it was great to see him again. He wasn’t at the district conference in Košice because it was his wedding weekend.
We started off with a walk through the spa resort park, where we saw installations from the Rotary Club, and cool features like the clock where the date is “planted” each day. We also walked around the town square.
Next, we went to Jakub’s office which is in a castle! After talking about public transportation in the area, we got a laugh out of him casually saying he parks at the castle when he drives to work 🙂 Jakub works as a manager at the city’s cultural center. We liked hearing about the programs he organizes and the marketing and branding plans for the city.
Our favorite part of the day was wandering around the courtyard in the castle where an art installation with giant hearts for each country in the EU were located. The hearts were designed by art students in the Czech Republic.
After lunch we took a cruise on the Labe river, which was great! Since Sarah loves boats, she felt right at home. Our schedule is usually packed with activities, so we were so grateful for a relaxing afternoon with Jakub.
Podebrady is known for their mineral springs, and we saw several fountains throughout town where mineral water can be accessed. We didn’t all like the taste, but we had to at least try it.
After some yummy afternoon zmrzlina (ice cream), and a few more sites around town, we headed to our final Rotary meeting. It was great for us to connect with Rotoract members (college aged students), and get to know club members from various industries. Jakub’s wife Martina was there as well, so we were happy to finally meet her.
Read more about Podebrady here!
Exploring Liberec, Czech Republic
We arrived in Liberec on Thursday May 28 via Prague, thanks to RC Liberec President-Elect Martin Šubert and Rotarian Petr Sluka.
We first had a brief visit with our hosts for the next few days — the summer home of GSE team member Jana Šrytrová’s family for Sarah and Theresa, and the Art Deco home of Vojtek and Juliana for Kim and Patti.
We all met up at Ješted, a restaurant and hotel at the top of a mountain overlooking Liberec. We could even see Poland and Germany from the top! The views at sunset were amazing, but it was definitely windy when it was time to head home. Liberec has a lot of great outdoor activities to enjoy all year round and the team agreed it was one of our favorite cities by the time we left.
Friday May 29 was a vocational day full of activities with our friend Jana. We started out visiting the Liberec office of Czech public radio. It was nice for us to be able to compare their studio with other radio stations we visited.
Our next stop was city hall, where we toured the beautiful building and had the opportunity to see the city from the clock tower. We had great weather that day and enjoyed people watching from up above.
After city hall, we headed to an organization that Jana cooperates with and has a great mission. Koloseum Liberec helps individuals with varying physical and mental disabilities. We were able to see some of their workstations including the kitchen, craft workshop, computer room, and more! We learned that the organization is able to earn money towards their expenses through these activities and renting space in their building. The public can enjoy a great lunch for the equivalent of about $1 USD, all prepared by the employees. We thought it tasted great! We also had some free time after lunch at the new playground in the back 🙂
Our next stop was the Home Credit Arena, where we were treated to a private tour of the home of the Bílí Tygri (White Tigers) Liberec hockey team. Jana was a former cheerleader, so she knew everyone and got us a great gift — personalized jerseys! The arena is also used for other sporting events and concerts.
Our last stop of the day was Rommy Agency, a marketing agency that does a lot of graphic design work for companies around town, including the arena.
After our busy day, we packed our bags for the weekend to head to Turnov, near Czech Paradise, to enjoy a weekend outdoors. More on that next!
Check out more about Liberec here:
A Special Memorial Day in Banská Bystrica
“A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” – Ernest Hemmingway
While our friends and family at home were hosting backyard BBQ’s to celebrate Memorial Day, our team visited the Museum of the National Slovak Uprising. Rotary connections were able to secure a private tour for our group, so that we could learn about the events leading up to the Slovak uprising, and the important roles Slovak soliders played in World Wars I and II, and the uprising.
After remembering both the Slovak and US soliders, the group had the honor of meeting the Deputy Mayor of Banská Bystrica, Jakub Gajdošík. He told us about the events happening in the city, including a big independant film festival, taking place that day.
We then took a tour of the town square and important buildings in the city, including climbing the clock tower for beautiful views.
The Church of the Virgin Mary’s Ascension provided a great architectural lesson, as we could see many different styles on the same building.
The city walls, as seen here, were very high, and incorporated holes for weapons.
The next day, we met up with outbound team member Erik, who visited our Rotary district in Pennsylvania. We received a tour of Slovak Public Radio’s Banská Bystrica office, complete with homemade cookies from a co-worker! It was really a great experience to see one of our fellow team members at work. Erik is a radio host.
After an awesome vegetarian lunch, Erik and a co-worker were able to take us to nearby Banská Štiavnica for a hike to the Calvary there. Calvaries were built to bring important moments of Jesus’ passion closer to the people. The one we visited was built in 1744 to 1751, and is currently undergoing restoration, after falling into disrepair during the Communist and Socialist rule. The site and surrounding town were listed as a UN-ESCO World Heritage site in 1993.
For our last evening in town, Rotarian and politician Martin Klus took us to dinner at the Barbican – the former entrance to the castle, constructed in 1512! Once home to a moat and drawbridge, the facility now houses a stylish and tasty restaurant!
A big thank you to the Rotarians of Banská Bystrica for a wonderful stay and a shout out to Erik! We miss you!
District Conference in Košice!
We’ve had a busy schedule the past few days, but we want to share photos from the district conference in Košice last week (May 21-23). We were excited to reunite with some of the Rotarians from our earlier travels, as well as the GSE team who had just returned from Pennsylvania.
We were greeted by Rotarian JuraJ Paulinsky at the train station on Thursday and he took care of us all weekend (Thank you again!!). That night, we enjoyed a brief tour of the area near our hotel and dinner with current and incoming district governors.
We had a busy day on Friday. Our first stop was a tour at U.S. Steel. We met with Rotarian and company VP Martin Pitorák, Director of Public Affairs Ján Bača, and Media Relations and Visitors Center Manager L’ubomíra Šoltésová.
USS is the largest employer in Slovakia with about 12,000 employees. We were impressed by the variety of employee-centric activities including their artist program, where employees are encouraged to use scrap metal to create beautiful sculptures that were displayed throughout the office and sold at auction. The “students” in the program also use paint and photography. Photos from the program are used in USS’s marketing materials, which we thought was a great idea.
We couldn’t take many photos, but we got one in our protective gear at the start of tour!
On Friday evening, we gathered with other conference attendees for a group photo, and then enjoyed a performance by a gypsy band and socializing with Rotarians from around the district.
On Saturday, both GSE teams presented information to a large audience of Rotarians following a performance by the inbound youth exchange students. That evening, there was another concert with two amazing violinists. Afterwards, there was more socializing with our friends as well as the chance to meet some of the youth exchange students.
The only team member not in attendance was Jakub, who was married on the 22nd! Patti held up his photo on his phone so he could be part of the photo 🙂
As always, check out Facebook for more posts from our travels!
Beautiful Bratislava!
Bratislava Castle
We’ve posted ahead a few days. Let’s backtrack to Bratislava! On Wednesday, we spent the entire afternoon spent touring this colorful capital of Slovakia. Our team was fortunate enough to go on a personal tour with Rotarian Martin Sloboda, founder of MS Travel Agency. We knew we were in good hands – Martin literally wrote the guidebook to Bratislava! You’ll even find Martin quoted in famous travel writer Rick Steves’ tour books. And if you stop in a Bratislava souvenir shop, chances are, the postcards you bought were taken none other than Martin himself.
We began the day with a bird’s eye view of the city, stopping at a viewpoint in the same neighborhood as the United States Embassy residence. We walked the steps of Slavín War Memorial, the only official cemetery for fallen Soviet soldiers. From there, we embarked to Bratislava Castle and enjoyed lunch nearby with scenic views of the city from above, looking downward to sites such as St. Martin’s cathedral. We sampled local delicacies such as Danube Stew (with seafood from the nearby Danube River) and Wienerschnitzel (a thin, breaded and fried schnitzel made from veal).
Then, it was off to Old Town Bratislava! We explored Old Town Hall, took in the ambiance of Hlavné námestie (a popular square) and strolled along Michalská ulica (St. Michael’s street), peeking in the passageway’s many galleries and cafes. Old Town had an antiquated charm that reminded me very much of Vienna. Live piano music filled some of the cafes and spilled out onto the square. It was like being transported to a different era! We stopped at Kaffee Mayer to enjoy a slice of Marcipánová torta (marzipan cake). Martin shared with us that this was his wedding cake – the very same dessert from the very same café!
Throughout the tour, Martin shared insight that only a local could offer. For instance, some of the best café’s aren’t the ones that line the main streets – they’re the ones that are tucked under arches and in courtyards not immediately visible to the public. We enjoyed taking a look at many courtyards, statues, and cultural sites not in plain sight.
To conclude our tour, we strolled along the Danube before joining fellow Bratislava Rotarians for a special wine tasting event at Víno Mrázik winery, a cellar situated on Devín Castle grounds. Slovakia’s climate is great for producing a range of whites and sweet reds. The wine varieties we sampled were particularly unique – they were infused with black currant! We were also treated to traditional delicacies including various smoked cheeses, spicy sausage, and the famous bread with pig lard spread that the District 2240 GSE team mentioned in their Pennsylvania presentations. Don’t let the name fool you… it was delicious!
Our favorite tour guide Martin standing next to the travel book he authored!
Man at work!
One of several unique cafes we stopped in.
Martin and the team walk the steps of the Slavín War memorial.
A glimpse of St. Michael’s Street.
We got a behind-the-scenes look at a café being refurbished.
The Road Less Traveled – In More Ways than One!
A glimpse of the misty Tatras Mountains
A snapshot of the Tatras Mountain range
Kim posting here! Our team can now add “Road trip through the Tatras Mountains” to our list of Rotary adventures! Fellow GSE’r Erik (from the District 2240 team) picked up on our conversation about wanting to see the mountain range – if only from a car – and the Banska Bystrica, Slovakia Rotarians made it happen!
On Sunday morning, we said goodbye to our friend and Rotarian guide Juraj Paulinsky in Kosice and embarked our 4-hour drive to Banska Bystrica.
Though cloaked in fog, we got a glimpse of the Slovakian countryside that varied greatly from our usual tour of castles and city halls. We took a road that wound through the Tatras, a lush mountain range of the inner Western Carpathians. While foggy conditions obscured our view, the silhouettes of trees in the mist gave the feel of an Ansel Adams photo. At times, the fog was so dense it seemed we were driving right into the setting of a Brother’s Grimm fairy tale. Alas, we made it through the mountain pass safe and sound.
Any road trip wouldn’t be complete without food! We stopped at Koliba Bodega, a traditional Slovakian restaurant, for lunch and enjoyed traditional dishes including Goulash (thick, savory beef stew served with dumplings), Kapustnica (smoked sausage and sauerkraut soup), and local favorites like Vinea, a grape soda that Sarah and I have really taken a liking to (sadly, it’s only available here in Slovakia!)
Now, back to that road trip. We discovered our good friend and driver Honza Krejci(president of the Olomouc Rotary Club) shared our penchant for jazz and Frank Sinatra. The only Frank available in his playlist was a complete set of Christmas tunes. Driving through lush evergreens, it was almost appropriate. Picture our team and Honza singing classic holiday Frank tunes in a car packed with luggage… needless to say, we keep things entertaining. From there, we tuned into the Czech version of Johnny Cash. We enjoyed Cash classics like Ring of Fire and Girl from The North Country. We may not speak the language, but music is a pretty universal unifier 🙂
After unwinding upon our arrival to Banska Bystrica, we headed to Koliba u Sv. Krištofa for another traditional meal (we’re not returning home on this trip any lighter, I’ll tell you that!). Dinner was a feast of firsts. For the first time, we sampled national dishes like Halušky (potato dumplings with sheep cheese and bacon), Soušúlance makom (poppy seed dough rolls), and shots of Becherovka (herbal liqueur).
The team took an evening stroll through the city to finish out the day. The setting sun cast a beautiful glow over the city’s historic architecture, creating the perfect conclusion to a day of long travel. From the food to the scenery – and right down to the radio playlist – it was a day of firsts. We’ve found that even the days spent traveling from city to city are memorable. Thanks to our drivers for taking the road less traveled to give us a glimpse of Slovakia we never expected!
Road trip! The mountains can be seen behind us.
42 kilometers to Banska Bystrica!
Downtown Banska Bystrica at dusk.
Downtown Banska Bystrica castle at dusk.
An American in Olomouc
Dobrou noc! (That’s “Good night” in Czech and Slovak). Kim posting here. Hope everyone at home is enjoying the 3-day weekend 🙂
You might have caught a recent Facebook post of ours that links to an article about our visit to the Olemouc.CZ online news office and our meeting with local Rotarians. And if you followed that link, you might have noticed an article I wrote about the visit. The catch? It’s translated in Czech. For those interested, here’s the English version! (see below)
View the Czech version of the article here.
Our visit to Olomouc made the news! Team member Kim O’Brien also wrote a reflection on the town, which was translated for Czech readers. Thanks to all our Olomouc Rotary friends for making our visit so special!
Posted by Rotary GSE 7390 to 2240 on Wednesday, May 20, 2015
An American in Olomouc
By Kim O’Brien
The following article is from visiting writer Kim O’Brien, a member of a United States Rotary Club Group Exchange team traveling through Czech Republic and Slovakia from May 8 to June 6, 2015. The team is comprised of media and communications employees from Central Pennsylvania. Follow their travels on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/rotarygse7390to2240.
I wasn’t quite sure what type of vocational visits I’d encounter when first stepping off the plane in Czech Republic. But as my team made their way to the city of Olomouc, we were pleasantly surprised. The welcoming citizens, the history, the mix of historic and modern sites and business activity… this city casts a quaint charm unlike any place I’ve encountered.
As a marketing copywriter and journalist in the United States, I was excited to learn more about news production in the Czech Republic. A visit to the Olemouc.CZ headquarters gave me the taste of digital media info I was craving! And while the subject of news varies due to our locales, I realized that journalism in the United States runs a similar course to journalism across the globe. We’re all united in our goal to deliver timely, accurate news while keeping up with today’s ever-changing digital media standards. We’re all united in our goal of continuous improvement. Oh, and we also seem pretty united in our love for coffee. Hmmm… must be a news thing!
But all jokes aside, it was invaluable to get a glimpse into how a news site operates in a historic town such as Olomouc. We sat down to talk with editors, photographers, and writers responsible for creating, managing and uploading articles to the news source’s website. Olomouc, with a population of roughly 100,000 citizens, is the sixth largest city in Czech Republic. The site receives some 400,000 visits per month, with visitor habits tracked to better determine which news is performing best. In a city that boasts a broad range of periodic styles – Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, and everything in between – I’m impressed with how Olemouc.CZ operates as an extremely modern news outlet while still helping to preserve the historic beauty of Olomouc.
The Rotary team visit to Olemouc.CZ offered not just the chance to view journalism abroad, but connect with writers, editors, and photographers similar to myself. The rest of my teammates echo that sentiment, and thank the newspaper for taking the time to walk us through their daily operations.
Thanks to Martina, Barbora, Jan (aka Johnny Walker), Andres and the rest of the staff we encountered for your time!
A view of Olomouc from the top of City Hall!
Vocational day in Bratislava
Our vocational day in Bratislava was on Tues May 19, where we visited the public TV and radio stations in the city. The day started at the TV station where we were greeted by prime time news anchor Lubomír Bajaník, who gave us a tour of the facilitates. We got to see the various studios where programs are recorded, as well as the back offices. We saw a few school groups during our tour, and all the children seemed to look at Lubo like a celebrity, so we enjoyed the VIP attention. In addition to presenting the 7pm news during the week, he also travels to major news events for live broadcasts.
We had a few minutes to speak with one of the news editors as well. We asked him about the top news stories of the day, and how he handles reporting with shrinking budgets. While in the newsroom, we saw many reporters coming and going to follow up on stories.
The station has a morning talk show called Dãmsky Klub (ladies club), and we were able to look around the set before meeting two of the four hosts. They were very welcoming and wished us well on the rest of our trip.
After lunch, we headed to the radio station. The first part of our visit was an architectural tour, as the building is designed as an inverted pyramid. The building is well known in the city for its unusual design, and we appreciated learning more details about how it came to be built. For example, we learned it took 16 years to build because the project ended up requiring 4x as much money as originally projected. Also, the building has received few updates since its opening in1983, so it sometimes felt like we were in a time capsule.
After the tour, which even including crouching beneath one of the sound stages to see the acoustics from another angle, we spoke with the editor of the radio station. We were very grateful for Ingrid’s insight into how music and radio news have evolved, and appreciated hearing about her rise to the top of her field.
Check out more here:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_Radio_Building
That evening, we were with our host families. Although we are in hotels some nights for logistical reasons, we really treasure the opportunity the learn more about local culture through the lives of our host families. Patti and Theresa’s host families got together that night for dinner at a local restaurant in Marianka, the oldest pilgrimage site in Slovakia (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianka). Kim and her family enjoyed a quiet evening at home discussing a wide variety of topics, and Sarah accompanied her host to his ice hockey practice and to dinner.
After a busy day, we were off to bed to rest up for our tour of Bratislava with Rotarian Martin Sloboda. Kim will be posting about that next!
-TC
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