My Rant

Alright, brace yourself, I'm warning you now...this whole post is gonna be one big rant. But trust me when I say that I've got good reason to bitch about something. Now those of you who know me, know that generally I'm a very positive, happy-go-lucky guy who doesn't normally let shitty stuff get to him, but here's an exception.

It's called Czech Bureaucracy, and it's me hard, like a bullet to the brain.

It's all cause of my attempt to become legal here in the Czech, as technically I've been working illegally since I arrived. The Czech visa process is long and arduous, involving a million steps and even more paperwork, with more bureaucratic government hoops to jump through than you can imagine. Let my try and give you a brief summary (if that's even possible) of how one becomes legal here in the Czech.

Firstly, the government expects you to already have a work visa before you arrive as they cannot be done within the country. Now in order to begin The Process you need to have an employer to vouch for you and provide them with your employment stats, but of course, obviously, it's pretty darn hard to get a job without actually being here for interviews and such. It also takes (on average) three months to get a visa, so what employer is gonna hire you from across the ocean and then be willing to wait through three months of paperwork before you start is beyond me.

Anyway, after shuffling documents and paperwork back and forth between my school and Baker Tilly (the agency responsible for acting as visa middlemen), getting photos done, going for a Czech physical to 'prove that I'm healthy enough to work here', signing documents so that Baker Tilly can do a criminal check on me, getting lease papers from my landlord to prove that I do live where I say I do...blah blah blah...after getting all of this crap done, I then have to actually leave the country to begin the formal application.

Yes, you read right. I have to leave the Czech Republic in order to continue the process. WTF? Actually it's not too much of a shock to me, as I had to fly to Japan for the day to get my Korean work visa back in the day...but still...surely there must be an easier way?

So one day back in January my school drove me and a couple other teachers (along with our Baker Tilly agent) to the nearest Czech Embassy, which is located in Dresden, Germany. I had to take a day off of work - unpaid - and it was about two and a half hours each way to Dresden and back. I think we spent a total of about one hour in the Embassy, of which the only thing that I had to actually do was be there just so that they could see that my real life appearance matches the photo in my passport. Wow. A whole unpaid day off of work for something that took me ten seconds. Not exactly efficient, is it?

What happens after this is that the Embassy decides to accept or reject your application, and if it's accepted (it always is at this stage) they mail it back to Prague, to the Foreign Police office, as they are the ones who actually process your visa. Ummm...why couldn't we have just taken the application papers directly to the Foreign Police ourselves?

So a month goes by, the FP approve our visas, and what's the next step after this you ask? They then mail all the documents back to the Embassy in Dresden and then...yes, you guessed it...we have to drive back to pick them up! So yes that means another day off of work, and another journey to Germany and back. This time we spent even less time in the Embassy - I think we spent a grand total of maybe 60 minutes in Germany altogether?

At this point in the story you may think that this couldn't get any more bureaucratic, with all this hopskotching back and forth between Ceska Republika and Deutschland. Oh no. There's more! Ooooh the fun!

Now I've been quite easy-going up until this point, and have to even confess that I rather enjoyed the little free road trips to Germany (hello extra stamps in my passport!) but the next step is the one that pissed me off...

So now that we have our passports with our lovely pretty full-page work visas inside, we have to take our passports back to the Foreign Police office to register them. Ummm...HELLO? You guys *just* gave me the visa, and now you want me to bring the very same visa back to you to show you what you just printed off a few days before? HONESTLY!!!???

Now this is the last and final step in the whole process (finally!) but....

BUT

....this is by far the worst step in the whole process. Welcome to the Foreign Police Office, Welcome To Hell. The FPO is the ultimate in bureaucratic nightmares. Picture absolute government chaos, multiple this image by a thousand, and you might just begin to start describing the scene that can be found there.

After returning from Dresden in the early afternoon, a few of us decided that it would be most convenient to go straight to the FPO to get this over and done with. Oh what naive young little foreigners we were! Mwahahahaha! (insert evil laugh here.)

We were greeted with what has to be the Ninth Level of Hell. A million people all over the place, all angry and frustrated and as confused as you are. Dozens of lines, with no indication which one you're supposed to be in. A swarm of people circling the ticket box. And an info desk, which at first seemed like a ray of hope in a sea of darkness and despair.

We thought that the Info Desk would be a good place to get information on where to go and what to do. Oh how very, very wrong we were. There's yet another swarm of pissed off foreigners buzzing around this desk, and when you finally fight your way to the front of the line (actually here there is no line, it's just whoever can push to the front the hardest that gets served) you discover that the only language they speak at the Info Desk is Czech. Now remember, this is the Foreign Police, ie: no Czech speakers ever have to come here. It's only for foreigners. Foreigners who are new to the country. Foreigners who don't fucking speak Czech. The languages you hear in this hellhole of a waiting room echo like the United Nations - English, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish, French, German, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, various African languages...but none of us speak Czech. SO WOULDN'T IT MAKE SENSE TO HAVE SOMEONE AT THE INFO DESK WHO SPEAKS A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN CZECH!!??? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????/

*breath in Scotty, breath out...*

We attempted to ask the lady for help in both English and Russian, but all we got was an angry "NO ENGLISH!" and a wave in our face to shoo us away. Wow, great service here. We then, after wandering lost in the main waiting room for half an hour, figured out that the swarm around the ticket box is because only so many tickets are printed per day, and most of them go in the morning, so until the box prints out more tickets, you can't ever expect to get served. We met two guys from Botswana who had been waiting three hours already for a ticket, and still no luck. Holy fuck this place blows! It was then time to the "Abort!" button and give up for this day.

We heard through the grapevine that if you actually want to have a hope in hell of getting served, you have to visit the office early to get a ticket. And not just early, but Really Fucking Early. Like before the offices even open at 7:30am!. So that you can line-up and hope and pray that you will get a ticket. Oh boy this is gonna be fun...

I had early classes for the next few days so it wasn't until the following Tuesday that I was able to make it down to the offices in the early hours. I woke up at 6am and trudged on down to FPO, arriving about 40 minutes before the office was to open. I was greeted with a queue of what must've been at least 200 hundred people! Apparently some of them had been there since 5am, just to get a spot in line!! Once again, let me throw out a "WTF"!!!???

Trying to remain positive that I wasn't too late, I waited patiently until the doors opened at 7:30. At this point the entire line disintegrated into a angry, selfish, shoving, pushing mob of people trying to squeeze through the narrow doors. It was a 'Dog Eat Dog' moment, and was truly chaotic. After shoving your way through the doors you then have to funnel up the narrow stairwell to the second floor, where you're pretty much moving at a snail's pace and people keep budding around and over you, desperate to get ahead. It was disgusting and made me hate all of humanity for about 20 minutes.

When I finally got into the waiting room, and got to the front of the line at The Ticket Box, I was greeted by a surly round farmhouse woman, and a tall handsome police office (why was he there? to maintain order? well you're not so successful at this, are you buddy?) I showed her a piece of paper where, written in Czech, was the reason why I was there (so she'd know what kind of ticket to give me.) She looked at the paper and then responded with "Tomorrow."

And that was it.

Actually it was the word 'tomorrow' in about four or five languages. And then I was pushed out of line. Spat out like yesterday's trash, left standing in a state of rage and shock and pure disbelief. I had woken up at the crack of dawn on my morning off, ventured all the way down here, stood in line in the cold, fought tooth and nail (actually I was pretty passive while in line, maybe therein lies my fault...) and finally got to the front, only to get cast off and told to come back tomorrow. And I couldn't even ask her why as "tomorrow" is the only word she knows in English.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At this point, for a brief moment, I just about went postal and wanted to kill everyone in the room. But, it was so frustrating and aggravating it was almost hilarious. Kafka couldn't have even dreamed up such a modern day bureaucratic nightmare in his dark and depressing novels as this.

I stood there, looking around at the chaos surrounding me, watching the hundreds of other foreigners drowning in the deafenings sounds of despair and confusion (I wasn't the only one who was so brutally rejected), and decided that I really did have just about enough of this bullshit. And so I left.

That was a week and a half ago, and I haven't been back since. The silent rage boiled inside of me for quite a while, but the real reason I haven't gone back yet, besides the fact that I'm actually not a sado-masochist, is that I've been working early morning classes every single day. And I'm sorry, but at this point I'm just not willing to take another unpaid morning off of work to go stand in a line that may or may not result in my visa getting registered. No sirree.

Oh I'll get back down there eventually, likely next week actually, but I certainly can't say I'm looking forward to it. Frankly an afternoon of root canals would be more pleasant than having having to go back there again, but I guess I don't have a choice.

Stay tuned for an update after I venture back down there... I'm sure I'll have a whole new bag of horror stories to share with you after this!

Da Boyz

I've been hanging out a lot lately with my new best buds Petr, Oscar, and Patrik, and the four of us always have a blast wherever we go, whatever we do. Silliness always ensues, as does usually enjoying a bottle (or two or four) of wine! The four of us have become pretty tight, and I'm really liking my new gang of boys. Perhaps it's time to start a new band, called POPS? (the first letter of each of our names.) NOT that I would ever, like in a hundred billion years, abandon my SLEDD roots, but since I'm all European these days maybe I also need a representative band, for my current new continental home? It fits, as we would clearly rock out the hot Brit music show, 'Top Of The POPS! ;-)

So here's two sets of pictures. The first is a few weekends ago when POPS went out for dinner and then came back to mine to enjoy some wine and *SHAZAM!* a random dance party! (See, I can still honour some SLEDD traditions by importing them to The Czech!) The pics are pretty funny, and hey, you can never have enough Drunk Scotty pics, now can you?

Set #2 is a dinner party we had, where Petr and Oscar came over to take over my kitchen and show off their culinary skills. (Since I have absolutely none.) Petr cooked up a delicious vegetarian chili, while Oscarito dazzled us with a delicious chocolate cake - made from scratch! Yum yum yum! :-)




Patrik, Oscar, and Petr on the couch in my bedroom.

Scottito, Oscarito, and Pedrito (our respective Spanish names, courtesy of Oscar who hails from Espana.)

Petr and Patrik - the happy couple! :-)

Petr gets cozy with Mona. (She's huge, came with my flat, and seems to have theoe eyes that follow you wherever you go in my room...it's a bit creepy.)

Oscar and Petr show off their "American smiles." ;-)

Two sexy studs!

Scotty attempts to look suave in his new specs, but instead just comes off looking drunk. As usual. ;-)

Dance mi chico latino, dance!

Petr and Oscar get their groove on while cooking dinner in my kitchen.

Oscar with "The Cake: Before"

Petr hard at work with the chili.

Mmmm...tasty chocolate icing!




Two boys enjoying the chocolate sauce just a little too much...

Oscar with "The Cake: After" (yes we pretty much ate the whole thing!)

Scotty gets caught with a mouthful of cake.

The obligatory "American smile" pose with my cake.

Escalator Etiquette 101

The Prague Metro is a beautiful thing. It's fast, efficient (well, mostly), and has some pretty funky-looking stations. The Commies may have fucked up a lot of other things in the Czech Republic, but one positive legacy they left behind for the capital is a fantastic mass transit system.

However, the beauty of the Metro's workings are hindered by the lovely local inhabitants. The Czechs are great, I love 'em all to pieces, but dear lord they need a lot of help when it comes to how to behave on an escalator. I know that those four-odd decades behind the Iron Curtain was a bit like being cryogenically frozen and then reawakened again in fast modern times, not unlike Brendan Fraser in 1999's cinematic gem "Blast From The Past". But, eighteen-plus years have gone by already, and if there's one aspect that Czech culture needs to catch up on, to join the rest of this crazy modern world, is what to do, and more importantly what not do, when riding the escalators of the subway.

But, have no fear Prague! Scotty is here to educate, enlighten, and entertain. I've developed five fun and fresh handy hints that will help all of us, Czech and foreigner alike, to have a more pleasant trip on the Metro. Follow these five simple rules, and soon enough we'll all be singing - even louder! - the praises of Prague's metro. Enjoy! :-)


1) Firstly, let me introduce you to The International Escalator Rule. It's quite complicated, so brace yourself. It's called "Stand On The Right, Walk On The Left". Wow, that was a lot to take in, wasn't it? It's a simple yet brilliant concept, and ensures maximum efficiency for all those arriving or departing the trains. Those who want to stand and relax can stay on the right out of the way, and those who are in a hurry can speed on by without having to get stuck behind someone half way up who's completely clueless that they're holding up two dozen rushing people behind them. This rule is observed in subways and metros all around the world, from London to Montreal to Hong Kong to Berlin. Apparently it has yet to be introduced to the Czechs.

2) The Prague Metro has fabulously brisk escalators. They transport you from the subterranean depths up to the surface in mere seconds. Honestly, they're the speediest subway escalators I've come across yet. Hooray! HOWEVER, this fact makes the next rule that much more important. When you reach the top (or bottom) of the escalator, walk quickly forward or away to the side. Don't be afraid. I know that sometimes it feels like you're an airplane coming in for a landing, but don't let that deter you. Just step off and embrace the forward motion like an old friend. You'll be fine, trust me. You're not going to die, honestly. Stopping suddenly at the very top, whether it's cause you're afraid, or think you see a 1 crown coin on the ground in front of you, or because you feel the sudden urge to contemplate the meaning of life or ponder whether or not you really did turn off the oven, is NOT a good idea. Just step off the escalator and move.

3) This one goes out to all the couples out there in love - especially the teenagers. While I really do like the fact that the Czechs openly embrace public displays of affection, and how free that makes all of us feel (let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya now), sometimes these bloody happy couples take things a bit too far. Holding hands, sure. Long hugs, sounds great. A kiss here and there, go for it! Trying to see if you can make it to third base with your girlfriend on the escalator when you're wedged between Grandma Jana and the whole Svoboda Family is not cool. It's called 'Get A Room!,' people. I'm all for romance, but when it gets to the point where I feel like I should be handing out cigars - or tissues? - while on the metro, well that's where the line has definitely been crossed.

4) And for all you who have pets, while it's great that you can take your dog absolutely anywhere in the Czech Republic, if nature calls for ol' Rover, clean it up. Please. While this is true for both the trains and the platform, this is especially true on the escalators. If I had 100 crowns for everytime I've seen a piece of dog shit bobbing and rolling around, stuck at the bottom of the escalator, I'd never have to pay rent again. Remember, this spot is where people are so afraid of their impending landing that they're not looking out for bouncing dog shit, so it's an especially hazardous place for one's shoes, or god help you if you're wearing sandals that day... Pretending that your dog didn't take a big juicy crap on the escalator is not going to make it go away. And while the escalators are indeed super speedy, they're not nearly fast enough to suck the shit down under the the floor. I'm sorry, but that's just the physics of it.

And while this shitty hazard is rather frightening when one is about to reach the bottom, and it's so crowded that you can't see if there's shit there til the last second and by then it's almost always too late to divert your foot, this does present potential for a very fun game when the roles are reversed. Once one has cleared the bottom of the escalator, managing to stealthily avoid the gyrating feces, and has survived the whole drama shit-free, it's great fun for the whole family to stand back on the platform and play the whole "Who's Gonna Step In The Shit?" Game. This game is especially entertaining if you happen to be drunk, as my CELTA comrades and I observed, much to our delight, last September. Just like many things in life, stepping in shit sucks, but watching someone else step in shit can be downright hilarious. But, keeping with my high morals, I shouldn't encourage this game, and therefore emplore you all to please clean up off after your dog.

5) This question goes out to the maintenance staff who take care of the escalators in the Prague Metro. Why the fuck is it that on any given day, at least one of the escalators in each and every single station seems to be broken, or closed for repair?? This wouldn't matter so much if you had more escalators to choose from, but in several of the stations there's only one exit out, and only three or four escalators to choose from. During morning and evening peak hours, trust me when I say that every operable escalator counts. When two trains roll into a station, and hundreds of hurried commuters are pouring out like a bursting dam, well, we sure as hell need that extra escalator. Have you seen the morning queues to get onto an escalator? Yeah, it ain't pretty is it?

Want to increase efficiency in your mass transit system? Here's a handy hint - fix the damn escalators, and fix 'em right! I don't want to see one escalator closed for repair for a few days, only to see it closed yet again a week later ever again. I mean, WTF? Do you actually know how to fix an escalator? Or is that your way of a make-work project, to ensure that you keep your job, by having to perpetually repair the damn escalators by not really repairing them at all? Well us commuters have had enough of your band-aid solutions. Either fix 'em right, or buy new fucking escalators! Honestly, it's enough to make one go mad some days!


Although the tone of these rules may be a tad...firm...consider it tough love. The Metro is great, the Czechs are fab, but let's all work just a bit harder and make it that much better. I know you can do it. I have faith. I've seen proof. If each of you are somehow miraculously able to master The Czech Language from birth, (a feat of unequalled measure,) then improving your Escalator Behaviour shouldn't come across as rocket science. I may be a patient man, but we've all got limits, and it's time to set things straight. Let's begin tomorrow. I'm even willing to help provide directions and guidance, like an over-eager-beaver flight attendant, should you need that extra boost.

Now then, will that be coffee, tea, or me? ;-)

Scotty's Photography Project

I've recently started a photography project that I wanted to share with you. As one of my New Year's Resolutions I've decided to take a photograph for every single day that I live here in Prague, and publish it to a website. Yes, apparently having only one website to maintain is no longer enough, so I've decided to add a second photo-oriented one!

This website is more of a personal project for myself, but I thought that perhaps you'd enjoy the results as well. My goal is to take pictures not so much of the big and famous landmarks in the city, but rather of 'everyday life' here in Prague. Things I see on my way to work, or when out and about town, or something new when I venture down a path I've never been. There's so much to see in this beautiful city, and I think that the little details of daily life can be just as interesting and pretty.

I've been taking pictures for almost a month now, and I think my pictures are simple and varied. I'm by no means a great photographer, but this is good practice for me, and I hope to improve my skills as the months pass on. More importantly, this project has really opened my eyes even more to the beauty that surrounds me. Prague is an achingly gorgeous city, and by constantly carrying my camera, and having to look for my day's "photo assignment", I'm noticing so many more things. I feel that I'm appreciating the beauty that is Prague on a whole new level, and I'm having fun with it! By capturing these 'ordinary details' of my daily routine I feel that in time I'll be able to look back and remember all the little things that added up to what was my life here in the Czech Republic. And for all you guys who've never been here, it's a chance to see more than just the regular tourist track. (But don't worry, you'll still see photos of The Big & Famous here on my regular blog!)

I'd like to give a special shout-out to my good pals Ryan and Christine living down in Buenos Aires. It was Christine's idea to do a daily photoblog, and it was Ryan that introduced me to this great website. They're two of the coolest people on the planet, and they leave me feeling inspired and humbled. Their photography skills far surpass mine!

So here it is. Check it out, and remember to check often as I'll be updating it every week with new daily photos. And please feel free to leave comments if you see anything in particular you like!

http://s2hworldtour.aminus3.com

Winter's Antics

It certainly has been a strange winter, weather-wise, here in Prague.
It's been one of the mildest winters on record, here in the Czech Republic. The first few months, in fact, turned out to be the warmest winter in over 40 years. There just wasn't any snow to be found. Ski hills sat empty, the city's hills lay brown and barren, and a day out on the town only required a light jacket and a scarf (for the wind.) No need to get all bundled up here! It was even worse in the Alps, where they were experiencing their warmest winter in 1400 years! Whoa, hello global warming!

And then came the windstorm, when much of Europe was nearly swept off the map due to hurricane-force winds. Actually named Windstorm Kyrill, (who knew they named windstorms like they do hurricanes?) the storm caused over 3.5 billion euros in damage across Britain, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Czech Republic. Over 40 deaths were related to the storm that also caused major power outages across the continent, delayed hundreds of flights, and disrupted rail service in over half a dozen nations.

The Czech Republic was spared from major damage, but apparently the winds were strong enough that city residents were advised to stay indoors. Unbeknownst to me, I actually went for a walk through Old Town that night, just to check things out. Oh Scotty... It was actually quite difficult to walk but I didn't realize at the time just how strong the winds were. Yes, sometimes I'm not the brightest crayon in the box ("Oooh a windstorm! I'm gonna go for a walk!") but hey I survived it just fine.

And then less than a week after the windstorm, the Czech Republic finally got it's first real dumping of snow of the season. And what a load it was! More than 30 cm. fell in a few days, and it kept on falling even as the weekend approached. Prague was transformed into a beautiful white cityscape, until the salt and sand attacks turned most of ito slush on the city streets. For the first time it actually felt like real winter, and it was pretty fun (read: messy) to be out and about.

On Thursday I got a text from my good buddy Petr asking me if I wanted to join him, his boyfriend Patrik, and Patrik's two kids for a weekend away in the mountains. In desperate need for a city escape, and quite eager to see some snowy scenery, I was quick to reply 'yes!' So on Friday morning, after I finished my AM class, the five of us drove out to Orlicke Hory - the small mountain chain in North Bohemia on the border with Poland. I knew that we were going to be staying in a rented cottage near some ski hills, and I had pictured it being a mountain 'zoo' of sorts, with all of Prague flooding out of the city for the first white weekend of the season.
Fortunately, it turned out to be the exact opposite! It was so quiet and peaceful and serene - and there was hardly a soul around. We rented 3 bedrooms of a 5-bedroom cottage and were the only ones there. The cottage was way up in the mountains (more like big hills actually) and the ski hills weren't even open the first day we were there. Everything was a complete winter wonderland, the hills and forests nestled under a thick blanket of snow, no people, no noise, no traffic...it was magical!

The three days were spent with all of us acting like big kids in the snow - plenty of sledding, snowball fights, and snow angels. I can't even remember the last time I went tobogganing! It was so much fun! The girls went skiing, but I opted instead for sleeping in and long walks down the snowy country roads. The five of us played plenty of indoor kids games as well, including hide-and-go-seek (another game that I haven't played in ages, and still fun when you're 28!), card games, and lots of horseback/piggyback rides for the girls by yours truly. Anychka's 11 and Tereska's 7 and they both took to me instantly. I felt like a bit of a 'New English Toy' and Anychka was quite eager to practice the bits of English she had learned in school. Both girls were really sweet and I had fun with the all weekend long.

We had a particularly fun afternoon on the Saturday when the five of us went for a short drive up a mountain to have hot chocolate and coffee in this chalet. The chalet sits on the peak of one of the larger hills, and overlooks an amazing view of the countryside. What's really cool is that right behind the chalet is the border with Poland! There's actually a border crossing there (no roads though, just a hiking trail) and a concrete post marking the exact position. Naturally we had to play the whole 'Look at me jump back and forth between countries!' game, which I'm quite convinced that no human being can resist when presented with a border situation like this. And so, with a single bound, I lept into Poland, and thus added my 21st* country to my list of places travelled. No, there isn't a stamp in my passport for it, and yes I was only in Poland about three metres, but whatever those are mere technicalities. I can say I've been to Poland and I'm sticking to it! ;-)

We made the 180-km. drive back to Prague Sunday evening and I returned to the city feeling so happy and refreshed. Three days of fresh mountain air and good ol-fashioned winter fun was just what the doctor ordered. I really needed the break, and came back fully ready to return to work and city life. It's amazing what one little weekend away can do!



* Okay if I'm using these silly techicality rules, then in acutality Poland would be my 23rd country visited. In 1997 I was in Zurich Airport on the way back to Toronto from Italy and although I only had a layover there, and never left the security area (thus no stamp) I guess you could say I was only sorta in Swiss space? And in 2004 I made a trip to the DMZ border area between the two Koreas and was allowed to visit a meeting room that straddles the exact border. In this room you're actually able to walk around the meeting table and thus cross into North Korea, but you can't leave the building (cause you'd probably never be seen again!) When you think about it, it should be a simple thing to say whether or not you've been to a country. (Much like asking a woman 'Have you ever been pregnant?' I mean you can't 'just sorta' be pregnant. You either have or you haven't.) So why do we make it so complicataed to answer the question about visiting countries? I mean really, either you've been there or you haven't, and if the border marks the line where one begins and one ends, well then according to those rules I've been to 23. But, my faithful passport only says 20 (including Canada.) Man I need to get my numbers up! The way I see it, if your age is more than the number of countries you've been to, then you're not doing something right. Well, that's my personal philosophy anyways, which means that I'm currently about 8 or 5 countries short of where I should be. Time to get a move on! ;-)

Petr and I in the forest.

The view from the road that leads up to the border mountain chalet.

Looking up to the highest point of Orlicke Hory.

Hello Poland! I see you!

Scotty will straddle just about anything, including international borders.

Me with Tereska and Anychka on the Czech-Polish border.

Not much in the way of security here!

The sign welcoming you into the Czech Republic.

Awww so pretty!

The Orlicke Hory are a protected area, as the sign denotes. The chalet is in the background.

Close to where we were sledding on Sunday.