Hitch-hiking Back to Balkans. Day Three. Bits of Czech Republic.

Ostrava, Czech Republic 2011

The morning starts just right after 6 AM. We’re having the last coffee together this summer. I have no doubt there will be more, as Europe appears more and more to be an extremely small village, where everything and everyone is connected. Agnieszka makes me sandwiches for the long way, as with hitch-hiking you never know where and when you’ll exactly end your day, as she says, though my destination is clear for today - Ostrava, where Adam is expecting me, so we can continue our journey to Balkans together tomorrow.

We take a tram from Agnieszka’s place (she actually lives quite close to the Old town - at least you can see Wawel Castle on the other side of the bridge, when you come out on the busy street) and get off at the main bus station. We go to the platforms, looking for my bus, or actually the bus, which I’m not taking to Katowice. We wait for the passengers to come, as it’s almost the departure time. We don’t know yet, if our idea of selling the ticket on the bus will work - as everyone appears to have a previously purchased ticket. But we’re lucky - just 1,5 minutes before the bus should leave appears a guy, who is in a complete rush, trying to manage to get on the bus, so that it’s not leaving without him. Agnieszka asks the guy in Polish, whether he needs a bus ticket to Katowice and luckily he really does! He gives Agnieszka 10 Polish Zlots in cash and he’s gone with the wind and the bus. We’re happy to have some benefit out of this morning’s bargain activity, and moreover Agnieszka admits that it was her first time selling the ticket on the bus. Yeah, there always comes the first time for something.

On the way to Cieszyn...

The bus to Cieszyn leaves in 20 minutes, so we still have time for hugs, good-byes and promises to meet again, maybe this year, maybe next... maybe in Belgrade, maybe in Zagreb, maybe in Poland... or elsewhere... After the bus leaves Krakow in the rush hour full of traffic jams, it appears to me that actually hitch-hiking would go smoothly anyways, as the road seems pretty busy and it’s a nice day outside. So I feel like I’m breaking the hitch-hiker’s code of ethics by taking this bus to the border city of Poland and Czech Republic. But there’s nothing to be changed about it - I enjoy the ride with pretty countryside views located in valleys and more mountainous areas (which makes this illusion that the space is more filled than it would be when passing a flat area) and have some periodical naps - oh, yeah, buses with or without air-conditioning have this side effect of lack of air, or maybe it’s just working on me that way.

Two countries within one city and never ending walk through Czech countryside

I arrive in Cieszyn in 2 hours. I have no clue where to go, so I search for any road signs stating directions to the Czech part of this city. As I still have Polish money left, I stop by in a shop at the station to spend it on a pack of cigarettes and I continue my way in circles, half-circles and rounds by just following the road signs, getting to the other side of the river. I’ve been walking almost an hour or a bit less and I start to worry if I’m going in the right direction as it takes so long. I ask a lady sitting on the bench next to a little bridge the way to Czech Republic and she points that I should cross the little bridge. I start to wonder if I had to walk those rounds, if I’m crossing the river again - just a few kilometers farther than I did before on my way here to this point with a lady sitting on the bench. But it’s alright. I enter a lively part of the city, houses are colorful and implemented in the pre-historically determined manner, so it makes an impression I’m in the Old town. I continue the way, though I’m not so confident anymore, if it’s the right one. But here it is - I go down the hill with pavement under my feet, and there’s a bridge again - it’s probably 30-50 meters long. At the beginning of it, where I stand, it states Poland and on the other side of the bridge I already see Czech flag, the blue road sign of European Union with Czech Republic inside the yellow-star circle and the road sign with Czech name of the city - Český Těšín. As Wikipedia tells me the city or actually the region Cieszyn Silesia was divided in two parts after World War I, when two new states of Poland and Czechoslovakia were created. So the largest part with city Cieszyn belongs to Poland and a much smaller western part with Český Těšín along with suburbs belongs to Czech Republic.

Czech countryside with a road sign

I cross the bridge and keep my amazement of one city being divided between two countries. I see a guy in his 40-ties standing in the middle of the bridge, enjoying the view of a floating river and eating ice-cream. I wonder in which part of the city he bought it? Other people are carelessly crossing the bridge to one or the other side by all means of transportation - cars, bicycles or on foot. I go further into the Czech part of the city, looking for some road signs, which could lead me to the right road going to Ostrava. To be honest, I don’t have a map of Czech Republic, and at this point it’s actually not so necessary to have it. Somehow I walk out of the Old town of Český Těšín and I’m already heading to the lonely road showing me direction 'Ostrava'. There are a few bus stops on the outskirts of the city, I try to hitch-hike there. So far no success. I continue walking, since I hate being stuck in one place for too long, especially if my goal is to catch a ride, and get out of there as soon as possible. I walk and I walk, and I walk. I reach another bus stop. Surroundings of this spot are already more 'wild' - less houses and more nature. I see a petrol station, but it's on the other side and could be useful for me if I would go in the opposite direction. No luck in this bus stop either. I continue walking and eventually I enter true example of Czech countryside. Everything seems very peaceful around, I see some tractors working on the field. Cars are passing with the same low intensity. I've been walking for more than an hour and I haven't missed any chance to raise my thumb and show a card with my destination to every passing car, but no luck. I start to wonder if there's something wrong with me? I don't look like a thief or a prostitute, so something is definitely wrong here, I just don't know what. I keep on walking, even if that would mean that I'll come to Ostrava on foot. 45 km is doable, right? In a few days maybe.

Ostrava finally!

Views from the never ending Czech countryside ;)

Two hours already have passed and I start to lose my enthusiasm, I stop raising my thumb at every passing car I hear or see coming from behind. I already start accepting the idea of me walking to Ostrava, but then suddenly one car passes me and stops in front of me. I don't exactly run to it, as I'm in a lively area of some village I just entered and anyways it seems to me a bit weird that somebody stopped, when I actually didn't show any sign that I want a lift. But the first impression quite often is wrong, right? I walk to the car as it's still there. A guy opens a window and asks me something Czech, I reply in English. Then he asks me in English where am I going and I tell my destination. Our destinations don't match, since he's going in direction to Karvina or Orlova, but the good thing is that if he dropped me on the highway in Karvina I would still be be able to catch a ride to Ostrava as there's a direct road. I ask if he could drive me for a little while until he needs to switch the road to the city he's going, so I at least would move away from this dead point.

Daniel :)

The driver’s name is Daniel. Despite of my first impression, he seems like a nice guy. He’s in his 30-ties, traveling home from a family trip in the mountains. There’s also his black and hairy friend sitting at the back of the car - a dog named Forest named after movie character Forest Gump. I thank Daniel for taking me on the road and tell about my two hour walk while fully enjoying Czech countryside with no results of getting a ride. Daniel tells me that usually Czech people don’t take strangers on the road. I feel lucky that he took me despite of this common sense, and obviously a logical question 'why?' arises. So I ask him why did he stop. He tells me that I seemed like a lonely traveler and anyway he felt like needing a company on his way home. I ask him about his family  and Czech language, further we come to a conclusion that Czech is a pretty difficult language for a foreigner to learn, especially the unique letter 'ř'. He tries to teach me to pronounce word 'řeřicha' (which means 'watercress', a plant used in salads and soups in some cultures) and 'žížala' (which means 'earthworm', not used as a food ingredient in European cuisines). The latter one is much easier for me to pronounce, since Latvian language has some similarly sounding letters. I also mention that during the National awakening in Latvia in 19th century, Latvian language was transformed by completely giving up German-style writing, and there is a rumor that the man that invented the new writing has been good friends with some Czech linguist. As a result of this friendship the man that invented the new writing of Latvian language that is also used today has borrowed some linguistic principles from Czech language - placing hooks (meaning 'cedilla') above or beneath the consonants to soften the sounding and dashes above vowels to provide the necessary lengthening of the sounding. Therefore Latvian written language can be considered somewhat similar to Czech, not content-wise though.

Further we discuss the amazing features of Czech cuisine, that mostly means me being excited about fried cheese locally named as 'Smažák' which is served like the main dish and probably the best beer in the world 'Kozel' tmavy (dark). Further, after discussing the amusing things of Czech and Latvian cultures, our discussion evolves around traveling. Daniel tells me that he has recently visited India for two weeks and he is still amazed of this place. The shocking thing for him was to see the contrasting lives of the people there as you could see the rich and the poor at the same place. 

Then Daniel tells me that he’ll take me to Ostrava, as it will be probably again very hard for me to catch a ride in the middle of nowhere. Besides it’s not allowed to hitch-hike on the highway in Czech Republic (I assume it’s forbidden everywhere, it just depends on how seriously the Police or the actors of the road taking this statement). I’m kind of amazed about this turn of events today. Daniel also asks me for the address of Adam. To my regret I don’t have Adam’s address, just the phone number. As soon as we enter Ostrava, Daniel calls Adam from his phone and tells him, where we are and where is possibly the best place he can drop me off. Luckily or coincidentally, we are in Adam’s neighborhood as it appears. Daniel leaves me near the building of a bank where Adam is supposed to pick me up. I thank Daniel for the amazing ride to Ostrava and the deep conversations we had. I wish him good luck in everything and a pleasant ride home.

City Hall!!!, Czech drinking culture and Pan Draaaaabek

That famous attribute for making Balkan coffee

So I am in Ostrava finally surrounded by various industrial buildings and a never ending blockhouse paradise that I see from here. Feels a bit unbelievable to be here, if I consider the fact that an hour ago I was about to come here on foot. It’s a bit rainy outside. I light a cigarette and I wait. I wonder if I will recognize Adam, as I haven't seen him since a youth exchange we both attended in Macedonia a year ago, and that's where we both are heading to in the next few days. So here he comes with an umbrella and he has long hair now - that is probably one thing that changed in his appearance during this year. The sky appears to be cloudy, and some rain drops actually fall on the ground, but I still refuse using an umbrella. Never liked them. We come to Adam’s apartment and the first thing I ask is coffee, as it seems he’ll make it the Balkan way, as he has all the attributes for that. And I already like it.


I enjoy the view from Adam's balcony that gives a great view on other surrounding new-build blockhouses. It seems to be a peaceful, even a bit sleepy Saturday. I do not see a lot of action in the windows of the blockhouse across. Seems like everyone is either hiding, sleeping or out of the house at this time of the day. I tell Adam my road stories of today and we decide to move to the city soon, since Adam agreed to make a small tour in the city, and later on meet up with his friend Petr.

Somewhere in Ostrava City Center 

It seems Adam lives quite on the edge of the city, so it probably won’t take us long to get out of the city without using any extra public transportation, but today we take a tram to go to the city center. It takes us around 15-20 minutes to get there. The city seems to be in a quite relaxed mood, so to say the Saturday mood, city streets are not crowded at all, I would actually say they’re almost empty. I wonder again, where are all the people hiding? I make options in my mind and the only one that could possibly survive the competition is the one that suggests that they might be hiding in the bars. I base my decision on the well-known fact of Czechs as famous beer drinkers (consumption of beer per person in a year is quite impressive. Somebody once told me it's 180 liters per person), but I haven't checked yet if my assumption is right, since we haven't hit any bar yet. We walk through the tiny little streets. I see a fountain on the main city square and I wonder whether it is a certain old tradition to have fountains on the main squares of the cities and where does it come from and how many other world cities have kept this tradition? My question stays unanswered as we move forward, pass the National Theater named after a famous Czech composer Antonín Dvořák (one of his well-known works is 'Rusalka' or mermaid story which I had the opportunity to see in Opera) and are heading to the recently renovated City Hall. 

The view on the city from the top of the City Hall!!!

The City Hall is located in a mini-version of a sky-scraper type of building. There's a possibility to on the top of the building and have a glance on the city from above. We do so. First we go inside the building and purchase student tickets. Although I am not a student anymore, Adam shows his student card and tells in Czech that I forgot to take my card with me today. The ladies at the ticket office seem so relaxed and happy that they forgive me my clumsiness. Adam is already making jokes about the new tourist brochure released by the City Hall that he finds nearby the ticket office, precisely the inconvenience of the three exclamation marks after words 'City Hall' on the brochure. We take an elevator and we're already on the top of the building in an open-air sightseeing area, which is enclosed by a high fence to prevent any unnecessary accidents. We walk a round and each sight is complemented with Adam's comments about the city - either taken from personal experience or in general terms.

After reaching and exploring the heights of the city, we go back down to the cozy streets of the city to meet Adam's friend Petr. We enter a bar which we select spontaneously and expect sooner or later to meet Petr there. The bar is not full, although my guessing was partly right - there are people enjoying beer on a lazy Saturday afternoon and watching football on the big screen. Adam says in a winter period it would ice-hockey, since it is another national sport that Czechs are proud of (and there are serious reasons to be!). We get ourselves a beer and some snack as we start to feel a bit hungry. I order the previously mentioned Czech specialty - fried cheese, which weirdly seems to be one of the most expensive things on the menu, but a promise is a promise, especially the one you made to yourself. On the contrary the beer is relatively cheap. I order the dark one, also known in the local slang as 'the ladies beer' because of its relatively sweet taste.

That famous mint liquor and Pan Draaaaabek :)

Soon Petr arrives and we continue our beer tour. Soon we relocate ourselves to another bar, which happens to be Adam's favorite - 'The Hobbit'. I try other dark beers, which are told to be the region's specialty. Some other people join us in a while, so there are more than three of us now. Actually the whole bar is filling up with people as the children's 'going to bed' time is coming closer. We play some table games with four players (reminds me Latvian 'Riču Raču', in English known as 'Flash Ludo'). Petr and Adam make fun of the way I pronounce Petr's surname and call him 'Pan Draaabek' (Mister Draaaabek). Adam brings shots of mint liquor, which is another popular specialty here. However, everyone says it is a deadly combination with a beer. I try it out anyway and it doesn't feel that bad for a start. However, the effect kicks in a bit later and I decide soon enough that I am done with alcohol consumption today. 

A shot from the street performance

We leave bar close to midnight and walk to the tram stop. In one of the passing streets we see people dressed up extraordinarily, that obviously draws our attention and we follow the little crowd that felt the same urge to see what will happen next. We are about to experience a street performance. If I knew Czech, I'd probably enjoy the performance more, since they scream out statements that seem to touch the public. Adam tells me that street performances since recent times are forbidden in Czech Republic, so it's no surprise that a lot of people stop and watch what performers have to say and perform. A 'Lady Gaga' character with artificial blue hair waves at the public from a window of a catafalque, surrounded by similarly dressed mimes running around and screaming out phrases. The show goes on. 

After a while we leave the performance and jump in the tram (this time without buying a ticket since Petr and Adam are concerned that there won't be any checks at this time and they are right). We arrive to their neighborhood and step by at Petr's house, where I meet a cute dog named Lucky, which becomes my best friend for the rest of the time we're there. Petr offers to try some hard alcohol, which is said to be typical Czech. I taste a very bit. Soon me and Adam move back to Adam's place, which is close by. I'm sleeping on the couch with all my things placed near and around me, so that I don't forget anything next morning. 'I'm filled with 3 Czech beers, each better that the other... and I'm telling you Good-night' that's what my today's last post on Twitter stated. And this exciting day in Czech Republic is over.