As promised, here is the story of my trip to Ostrava.
I learned a lot about the city that day. It is the third largest in the country; Prague and Brno being the first two. It is a city of industry. All day long, people kept apologizing for the bad air quality. I reassured them that being from LA had given my lungs plenty of experience with bad air quality.
The day started out early. Our train left the station at 8:45 AM which meant I had to catch a tram at 8:25 AM. Since I am a new user of public transportation I assumed that if the tram schedule said it would be at the station at 8:25 AM I could get there at 8:25 AM. WRONG! At 8:24 AM I watched my tram disappear down the street as I ran down the hill. This was a good preview for what the rest of the day would hold. So we were already running ten minutes late, but thankfully tram drivers tend to drive a little faster on Saturdays so we made good time getting to the train station.
We got on the train and found our seats with no problems. I travelled with 8 other people that day and I enjoyed getting to know them better on our 2 1/2 hour train ride. We had a great time talking and laughing about English words and idioms. I taught them three new English words: dachshund, badger and dentures. About an hour into the trip our train made an extra-long stop at a station. It wasn't until after we had been stopped for a half hour that a lady came to tell us the train had broken down and we would be taking buses to the next train station. She told us she would return to get us when the buses had arrived. Twenty minutes later we watched everyone get off the train and realized the lady had forgotten about us.
So we joined the mass of people headed to the buses. Unfortunately, two buses was not enough to take everyone to the next station so our group had to wait for a third bus to come. Our bus finally arrived and we all piled on. Packed like sardines, we sat there waiting for the bus to move. I guess it was a good thing it didn't leave right away because a mother from one of the back rows started asking everyone to get off the bus so her 4-year-old daughter could go to the bathroom. So, back off we went and then right back on. It was somehow harder to fit everyone in the second time, but we managed it.
Finally, our bus left and headed to the next station. We arrived and noticed the train to Ostrava was not on the departures list. People flooded the information window to find out what had happened. Even though I couldn't understand what was being said, I could tell that people weren't happy. I found out soon enough that the train to Ostrava had left without us. The next train was scheduled to arrive in 45 minutes.
That's how life goes sometimes! So our 2 1/2 hour trip turned into 5, but when you're with friends, it makes things more fun! We finally arrived in Ostrava around 1 PM and headed to a friends house where lunch was waiting. That's where I met Litga. She is an In-Life Staff member working in Ostrava. She doesn't speak much English, but she has a warm smile and a bubbly personality. Litga took us to a small historical museum where we learned about the city's coal mining days. The museum was actually two rooms in a man's house that he had converted into a museum to display his collection of historical items. It was very interesting to look at pictures of when the city was still under communism. Things were much different.
After the museum, Litga took us to a French Cafe for dinner. I laughed to myself that we were the only people brave enough to venture outside on that freezing, Saturday afternoon. I got to see a lot of the city, but not many of it's people. The city was beautiful with it's cobblestone streets and old fashioned lamp stands. The buildings hold historical character through it's magnificent architecture. I would have taken pictures, but my hands had to stay safely in my pockets where it was warm.
This concludes my adventure to Ostrava. I hope you enjoyed reading about it!
I learned a lot about the city that day. It is the third largest in the country; Prague and Brno being the first two. It is a city of industry. All day long, people kept apologizing for the bad air quality. I reassured them that being from LA had given my lungs plenty of experience with bad air quality.
The day started out early. Our train left the station at 8:45 AM which meant I had to catch a tram at 8:25 AM. Since I am a new user of public transportation I assumed that if the tram schedule said it would be at the station at 8:25 AM I could get there at 8:25 AM. WRONG! At 8:24 AM I watched my tram disappear down the street as I ran down the hill. This was a good preview for what the rest of the day would hold. So we were already running ten minutes late, but thankfully tram drivers tend to drive a little faster on Saturdays so we made good time getting to the train station.
We got on the train and found our seats with no problems. I travelled with 8 other people that day and I enjoyed getting to know them better on our 2 1/2 hour train ride. We had a great time talking and laughing about English words and idioms. I taught them three new English words: dachshund, badger and dentures. About an hour into the trip our train made an extra-long stop at a station. It wasn't until after we had been stopped for a half hour that a lady came to tell us the train had broken down and we would be taking buses to the next train station. She told us she would return to get us when the buses had arrived. Twenty minutes later we watched everyone get off the train and realized the lady had forgotten about us.
So we joined the mass of people headed to the buses. Unfortunately, two buses was not enough to take everyone to the next station so our group had to wait for a third bus to come. Our bus finally arrived and we all piled on. Packed like sardines, we sat there waiting for the bus to move. I guess it was a good thing it didn't leave right away because a mother from one of the back rows started asking everyone to get off the bus so her 4-year-old daughter could go to the bathroom. So, back off we went and then right back on. It was somehow harder to fit everyone in the second time, but we managed it.
Finally, our bus left and headed to the next station. We arrived and noticed the train to Ostrava was not on the departures list. People flooded the information window to find out what had happened. Even though I couldn't understand what was being said, I could tell that people weren't happy. I found out soon enough that the train to Ostrava had left without us. The next train was scheduled to arrive in 45 minutes.
That's how life goes sometimes! So our 2 1/2 hour trip turned into 5, but when you're with friends, it makes things more fun! We finally arrived in Ostrava around 1 PM and headed to a friends house where lunch was waiting. That's where I met Litga. She is an In-Life Staff member working in Ostrava. She doesn't speak much English, but she has a warm smile and a bubbly personality. Litga took us to a small historical museum where we learned about the city's coal mining days. The museum was actually two rooms in a man's house that he had converted into a museum to display his collection of historical items. It was very interesting to look at pictures of when the city was still under communism. Things were much different.
After the museum, Litga took us to a French Cafe for dinner. I laughed to myself that we were the only people brave enough to venture outside on that freezing, Saturday afternoon. I got to see a lot of the city, but not many of it's people. The city was beautiful with it's cobblestone streets and old fashioned lamp stands. The buildings hold historical character through it's magnificent architecture. I would have taken pictures, but my hands had to stay safely in my pockets where it was warm.
This concludes my adventure to Ostrava. I hope you enjoyed reading about it!
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