Czech Adventures - Part II

Hello and welcome to a Czech Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac by way of our old stomping grounds Brno. Today is July 12.

Last week, I left you all in the lurch with To (e)board or not to (e)board where I shared my conundrum to take or not take an electric skateboard on my international flight. As the saying goes, “All’s well that ends well,” my clever nephew (for whom I schlepped the e-board) was aware of the airline rules. He’d only purchased e-board parts which were easy enough to check all the way through. There was no battery. For those who are emotionally invested in this story and want to know how many watt hours (Wh) his battery has (which was safely already in the Czech), the answer is 850. Well above the allowed limit. Even if I had unwittingly, obliviously checked the bag, I would have been fine. In any case, a good lesson was learned by all.

This year, I’m only in Czechia for a week. Past visits have ranged from 2 - 7 weeks, so the shorter trip is an adventure in itself. With such a short time, the urge to do it all is far less. On the other hand, I’m here, so we might as well do something. 

The first stop was in Hodonin to see my former Berlitz colleague. It was raining, so we pretty much stayed tucked in for coffee and chats. And prosecco.

On Monday, kids and I took the train from Hodonin to Vizovice. It rained, so it was the perfect day to travel. That evening, the rain let up, so we trekked to the top of the hill beyond the neighborhood and did a loop around the cluster of houses that sit higher up in the hills than where we are.

Tuesday, I slept half the day away. No worries - it was raining. By evening, I realized that if we continued to do nothing, we’d miss everything, so we packed our swimsuits and went to the city pool in a nearby village. This indoor venue kept us out of the rain while we enjoyed a whirlpool (it whirls!) an exercising pool, hot tub, and sauna. 

Wednesday morning it was raining. By this time, I was regretting the two pairs of shorts I’d packed as the cloudy weather persisted. But the radar promised us a pause in the rain, so we went to Hrad Buchlov in the afternoon. There’s nothing like a good 13th-century castle to lift the spirits.

Thursday morning befell more rain and again, I dawned my leggings for the 5th day in a row, wishing I’d been able to wear something less sporty and more dressy. But we were headed to another castle, so I set the dress to the side. Thursday provided intermittent rain, but stayed dry long enough for us to explore the castle of Stary Jicin, “Old Jersey,” according to my nephew. The rest of the day was spent with relatives with more coffee and chatting. I finally tried an Americano coffee and will happily go back to my old standbys of cappuccino, flat white, and the occasional latte.

I posted some pics on Facebook which make my friends around the world happy. 

Thursday also brought more 50th birthday mini-celebrations, first with my sister-in-law, and then with my parents-in-law. Czechs are great at celebrations.

Kids and I have been watching The Boy in the Striped Pajamas on Hoopla. Watching this movie about a friendship between two eight-year-old boys - one German, one Jew - while in Europe, has really grabbed my children’s attention. We discussed world events and the dichotomous danger of Us versus Them thinking; how people can find themselves supporting inhuman acts like vilifying certain sects of society, mass deportations, and corralling people into camps to be “processed.” The kids can hardly believe these things happened - can happen. I explained people fall into this narrative trap because such actions initially appear to only affect a nondescript group of people thought of as “Them,” and never “Us.” (Until one day it does.)

With only 15 minutes left of the film, after Bruno and Shmuel hatch a plan for Bruno to sneak into the concentration camp so Bruno can help Shmuel find his father (Bruno owes him a kindness), my children ask me to stop the film. It was late; almost midnight. But more than needing to get some sleep; they felt the fear, disbelief, and discomfort of the possible unhappy ending to the film’s Us and Them worlds overlapping.

Friday morning, the sky held the perky promise of blue skies and I jumped right into one of the summer dresses I brought with me. Breakfast brought conversation about the film. Kids told me about Plot Armor - a literary device that protects the main character from dying. We still haven’t seen the end of the film, but I suggested that perhaps the point of this story is to remove Bruno’s plot armor.

These trips to Czechia are usually about seeing as many relatives and historic sites as we can. Because the kids have already been here for two weeks, I’ve found this trip to be far more about me spending time with the children; to fortify them with some mama love for the remaining time without me before they return home.

I definitely feel the regret that I won’t be staying longer.