Lunch with the shepherds

Yesterday I rented a bike for a ride up the Iza Valley, which more or less follows the border between Romania and Ukraine. The ride was a bit of a let-down - the bike seat resembled a medieval torture instrument, and the standard of driving makes Northland look civilised - but I had a great experience on the way back when I hit a traffic jam on the highway into Sighetu Maramatiei. It turned out the traffic jam was caused by a flock of sheep. I followed the shepherds for a few kilometres, having strange scrambled conversations in a mish-mash of languages while they offered me swigs from a bottle of tuica (the local firewater made from plums). When they reached their pastures they shared their lunch with me and demonstrated their shepherds' bugle, which they seem to use to rouse the dogs. It certainly did that. A lovely bunch of fellows. They graze their sheep in the hills along the border, mostly for milk and cheese but also for wool.

A very merry cemetery

About 20km from the town I'm staying in (Sighetu Maramatiei) is a curious graveyard called Cimitirul Vesel or the Merry Cemetery. Every villager buried there is remembered with a wooden grave marker carved with a picture of the deceased and a poem, usually funny but sometimes sad or poignant. The carvings show people engaged in their favourite acivities, in their occupations, or in some cases how they died (like the poor fellow killed restoring the cemetery church). Public transport is thin on the ground so I got a lift from a glamorous off-duty police officer named Natalia (pictured here with her mum) who also insisted on paying my entrance ticket. That kind of hospitality is common in the Romanian countryside. 

The curse of Mount Gaina

There's one item I won't be able to cross off my bucket list this time, alas. I've long wanted to go to a folk festival which has been held in Romania's Apuseni Mountains every July for the past few hundred years. Called Targul de Fete de pe Muntele Gaina (or the Girls Fair for short) it was originally a way for shepherd boys, who were stuck up in the mountains all summer, to meet girls from the surrounding villages. These days it's a festival of folk music and dance held on top of 1800-metre-high Mt Gaina. Getting there was a mission. Alas, the first day of the festival was hit by torrential rain which turned the mountain into a quagmire and wrecked the stages and stalls. The performances went ahead but in a village in the valley which just wasn't the same. Normally about 5000 people attend but the weather kept numbers well down. I saw just one other tourist. 

The rain was more than any tent could stand so I found a dry barn to sleep in. If the farmer noticed he was kind enough to pretend not to see me. As I was hitching a ride out of the mountains the driver said: "The weather there is always shitty. That festival is cursed." 

* The photo shows a group of village women with Alpine horns, traditionally used to communicate across the mountains. 

Dusk in Budapest

After traipsing around Budapest for three hours looking for a place to sleep (that will teach me to book ahead in summer) I had just the evening left to explore. Luckily that was long enough to walk to my favourite spot in this big, buzzing city - a bastion near Buda Castle, overlooking the Pest district and Hungary's parliament buildings on the other side of the Danube. I watched night fall and the lights come on across the city before a hefty thunderstorm rolled in. 

I also listened to this guy, a fiddler on the ramparts. At 6am the next morning I was on a train to Cluj-Napoca in Romania.

On the road again

Phase three of the Favourite Aunties and Old Comrades Reunion Tour has begun. After a train ride to Brno in the east of the Czech Republic (pictured), a bus to Budapest and another train to Cluj-Napoca, I'm now somewhere in rural Romania. Finding internet access has been tricky so new blog posts may be far and few between...

The prettiest town in Central Europe

The little medieval town of Český Krumlov, nestled in a bend of the Vltava River about 30km south of České Budějovice, is still the prettiest place in all of Central Europe. In case you doubt my judgment I present here some photographic evidence. It is no longer the quiet, crumbling backwater I remember from the early 1990s and it's overrun by tourist hordes all summer ... but it's still beautiful. Český Krumlov, it was great to see you again. 

An epic road trip

A few days ago my friend and former student Martin Tůma had to deliver a crate of photos to South Moravia, which is pretty much the opposite corner of the country. Martin's wife Tereza and I decided to tag along and make a road trip out of it. Our first stop was Valtice, where the locals were celebrating the Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius (yep, that's a national holiday) with wine and music...

Next we stopped at a chateau in Lednice, the town where Martin studied...

... and a coffee museum in a very unlikely place, a sleepy village in the South Moravian hills...

On the way home we watched a dramatic sunset thunderstorm over the South Bohemian countryside...

... and stopped by the ruins of Landštejn castle. We left home at 7am and got back at 11pm. Pretty good for a day's outing. 

Up a hill, down a mountain

Okay, so it isn't exactly a mountain, but at just over 1000m it is the highest point near České Budějovice. A few days ago my former students Klára and Lenka took me for a trip to the top of Kleť, along with their kids and Lenka's hubbie. We cheated by taking the chairlift to the top and, because this is the Czech Republic, we celebrated our achievement with beer and garlic soup at a hilltop pub while taking in the views across the rolling South Bohemian countryside. Thanks Klára and Lenka for a great afternoon out. 

A photographic time warp

Another of my former students, Martin Tůma, is now the operations manager at a museum in Český Krumlov. The museum is dedicated to the photographer Josef Seidel, whose studio hasn't changed since the business was nationalised in the communist era. The studio, props, backdrops and 160,000 glass negatives remain as they were when Josef's son was forced to shut shop in the early 1950s. It's like being in a time warp. Adding to the effect is Martin's vintage moustache. Thanks for the tour Martin!

Journalism, Czech style #2

One of my former students, Ondřej Hellebrant, now works as a journalist for a daily newspaper in the ridiculously pretty town of Český Krumlov. I can report that journalists in the Czech Republic face exactly the same issues we do in New Zealand, especially around staffing levels and equipment. Ondřej has to put out a local version of a regional paper every day with just two other reporters. He's a busy lad. 

Perhaps the only real difference is that Ondřej's office is in the courtyard of a medieval castle...

Journalism, Czech style #1

Somehow I was talked into running a journalism workshop at my old school. Great students, hungry to learn and full of insightful questions. Here they are analysing different types of newspapers and the different ways they treat the same story. Most of these students also work on the school magazine, 4U, which I founded in the 1990s. I'm pleased to say 4U is even better these days. Earlier this year it won an award naming it the best student magazine in the republic. From left, Ondra, Daniel, Ema, Marketa and Pepa. 

The more things change...

... the more they stay the same. I was amazed to find the same ladies working in the school canteen, more than 15 years after I ate my last school lunch. A few even claimed to remember me. And they still cook some great meals. 

Venuše's last day before retiring. That's a plate of svičkova, one of my favourite Czech dishes. 

The Black Tower

The Black Tower (Černá věž, built in the 16th century) is the best-known landmark in České Budějovice. It also offers some pretty amazing views of the town. But what really surprised me is that the same guy who sold tickets to anyone keen to climb all 225 stairs when I first arrived in the Czech Republic, more than two decades ago, is still there today. For 26 years Jan Vančura has spent almost every day on top of the tower, 72m above the square. And he still looks exactly the same.

Přemysl Otakar II Square from the top of the Black Tower...

The yellow house in the middle of the photo with the bell-shaped gable is where I used to live... 

Here's a closer look...

I also used to live in the green panelák (prefabricated block of flats) in the middle of this photo. Except in those days it was a less cheery shade of grey... 

A bike ride to Austria

Last weekend my former principal Dana and her husband Laďa took me for a bike ride across the border to Austria. When they were students the border was closed, as was a 10km strip of land beside it. When Dana had to visit the border area for a geography project in the 1980s she had to apply for a permit and was accompanied by an armed guard. Things are very different now. There's a sign telling you you're about to enter Austria and the tarseal suddenly improves, but that's it. Not even a passport check. 

Here's Dana in Austria... 

...and me with a purple tongue from eating boruvky, berries which grow on the forest floor all over the Czech Republic every summer. Picking them is a national obsession, as is collecting mushrooms in autumn.

RIP Tante Maria

I've seen a lot of my old aunties on this tour, but for one I was too late. My Tante Maria (Aunt Mary), my father's youngest sister, died on June 22. I'm sad she's gone but glad she had the freedom to choose when she left us - not many countries will let you do that. She had been ill for a long time and her prognosis wasn't good. Tante Maria, may you rest in peace.

Not bad for a 751-year-old...

České Budějovice, you still look mighty fine - especially after dark. Not bad for a 751-year-old.

* The city of České Budějovice (population 93,000) was founded in the year 1265 by Czech king Přemysl Otakar II. 

Class reunion #2

The night after class reunion #1 I met some of the students of the class of 1997, the second batch of graduates from Česko-anglické gymnasium (Anglo-Czech High School). The turnout was smaller than the previous night's get-together but it's the quality that counts. From left, Gábi, Zlatana, Lukás, JP and Nikola. Thanks Zlatana for making it happen, to Gábi and JP for travelling from Prague, and Nikola for travelling from Frymburk. 

Class reunion #1

One of the reasons for visiting České Budějovice was to take part in the 20th anniversary reunion of Anglo-Czech High School's class of 1996. This was the first class at the school - they started in 1992 when the school roll was just 26 and there were just three full-time teachers, including me - and I'm still in regular contact with several of them. It was great catching up with them again and finding out what they're doing now. Many still live in České Budějovice, a few live in Prague, one is in Holland and one in Iceland (!). 
Alas I didn't think about getting a group photo until late in the evening when several had already gone home; also missing from this photo is Jirka, who flew from Holland just to take part in the reunion. In the picture, from left, are Eržik (former class teacher), Lucie, Filip, me, Honza, Klára, Karolina, Klára and Zuzana. It was great to see you all again. 

Eržik in action

Jana (now living in Prague) and Zuzana (Iceland, via Hungary)

The Garden Party

Every June the staff and students at Anglo-Czech High School, where I taught way back in the 1990s, celebrate the end of the school year with a garden party. This year's programme included a prizegiving ceremony, skits, musical performances and a haka. This is my haka crew, from tercie class, after our final rehearsal. They did a great job picking up the moves and learning the words in just a few hours. Before I left New Zealand I had some training from Mori Rapana at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds to make sure I taught the haka properly and respectfully. Kia ora Mori! 

Each year I sponsor a prize for the best student of English, and this year's winner was Kristýna Králová. Well done Kristýna!

Things I love about the Czech Republic

1. The trains

I was a bit concerned when I saw the fancy new trains in Prague but I needn't have worried. The trains that trundle between Prague and České Budějovice haven't changed - you can still open the windows, stick your head out, and feel the wind in your face. Once day Health and Safety will arrive in central Europe and the fun will be over, but for now you can still do it. 

I also love the way stationmasters put on their red cap, step outside and stand to attention as the train goes by, even in the tiniest country stations. 

2. Czech rye bread

O Czech bread,

How I have missed you. 

Your crunchy crust,

Your soft insides,

Your slightly sour tang. 

We have been apart far too long. 

Now let me eat you. 

3. Guláš (goulash) 

Served with dumplings and raw onion. No furher explanation required. Mmmm. 

4. Random meetings

You can walk around in České Budějovice at any time of day or night and be sure you will bump into old friends. Here is one such random meeting with Madla, Zlatana and Pavla. Na zdravi! 

To be continued.