Travels

February 4 2024

Prague

There are places I remember and one of them is Taiwan. The other one is Prague. Sadly, despite being born in Czechia, I had never had any opportunity to travel around my home country. That has changed recently.

My good friend from England came to the Czech Republic with his Taiwanese girlfriend and I offered to give them a guided tour around the town.

As their plane landed in the evening, we went to the pub U Zlatého tygra (The Golden Tiger), one of the few places in the town centre that haven't been "spoiled" by foreigners yet. It is also the pub where famous Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal spent most of his time drinking beer and searching for inspiration for his novels. The place is usually packed with locals all the time, so we were lucky enough to find three vacant seats. The place is an authentic Czech Pub and I highly recommending visiting the place at least once while in Prague. While I believe Prague is its own isolated place and does not represent proper Czech spirit, it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful European cities.

The funny thing is that even Czechs considered me a foreigner and spoke in English.While spending two days is more than enough to visit the most famous attractions, I would recommend at least 3-4 days to really absorb the atmosphere of the place. Some honourable mentions include the Charles Bridge, The Old Town Square and its Astronomical Clock, Petřín Tower, Prague Castle and the Dancing House to name a few.

One thing I am not very fond of in Prague are the beggars, "Czech" smoked ham and the Chimney Cake. The last one especially makes my blood boil as it is not only not authentic Czech food, it is also incredibly expensive. With that in mind, however, you should still try it out.

While we were sightseeing around the town, I realised how lonely my life was for the past few years. I will definitely travel more around Czechia and post my observations.

January 22 2024

Taipei

Due to the recent Taiwanese elections I think it is about time I mentioned the magical capitol of Taiwan.

Taipei lies on the north of the island and is infamous for its all year long rainfall. I cannot confirm nor deny these allegations as I have spent most of my time in all-year-sunny Taichung. Overall, I must have visited Taipei at least five times: Firstly, I got myself to Taipei on behalf of the Czech Economic and Cultural Office Ambassador's invitation with a bunch of students for a Czech gathering. I suppose Taipei could be described with three words: Chiang Kai-shek, Sunjatsen and metro. That's because two of the most monumental sightseeing spots are part of the metro line.

However, today I would like to recall my last visit at the end of July before leaving Taiwan for good. That time I conveniently got myself to Taipei during monsoon season. And as all of the hotels in Taipei were sold out, I booked a place in New Taipei, a neighbouring county and somewhat of an expanstion to Taipei itself with cheaper cost of living. Still it was a great deal, as the closest metro was about 100m from the accomodation. My final destinations: Taipei Zoo, Tamsui and Taipei 101 all got their metro stations.

One can notice that Taiwanese zoos generally contain a Taiwanese expo, i.e. fauna and flora exclusive to Taiwan. These include Taiwanese deer, monkeys, snakes, spiders and Formosan Black Bear, Taiwan's national symbol. In order to get to the zoo, one can hop on the brown line. Fun fact: the brown line was the first line of Taipei Metro System built in 1996 and was built solely to make travels to the zoo more convenient.

Number one priority was definitely Taipei 101. Twenty years ago the largest building in the world, Taipei 101 is the embodiment of Chinese culture: the entire building adheres to the principles of Feng Shui, with each top corner containing an ornament called Ruyi 如意, whose purpose is to bring good luck. To get the best experience out of 101, one has to take the lift to the highest floor. The lift rides at around 1000m/min! As I got to the top, I have visited the core of Taipei 101. Inside is a humongous pendulum built by Czech engineers and therefore the skyscraper is almost immune towards frequent earthquakes. Top of 101 is frequented by various tourists, mostly from the USA or asian countries. So I bought a few postcards and got down.

Taipei is also the place I met Chiyen and her friend Bro. I took them for a drink and they took me on a hike to the Elephant mountain (象山) as well as the sulphurous Yang-ming-shan 陽明山. Sending best regards to both of them.

Yet, Taipei has its downsides, too. Besides the aforementioned heavy showers and summer typhoons, the capitol is also a target to earthquakes (though not as potent as in Taitung). Taipei, as well as other Taiwan cities, is a haven to cockroaches, and my room also had one or two small ones despite me taking out the trash everyday.

Despite the negatives, one of the greatest things has to be the nature, which harmoniously complements the concrete jungle of Taipei. An example above all could be the Beitou Hot Springs Park, where even Sunjatsen himself relaxed after a long day's work. If you ever visit Taipei, make sure to visit Tamsui as well, brimming with historical herritage of the Portuguese, Dutch, the British and the Japanese. Speaking of the Japanese, make sure to try A-gei as well, it's like a massive dumpling full of glass noodles, all topped with a spicy sauce :)

6. ledna 2024

Zelený ostrov

Při představě, že bych v 70 letech zapomněl na moje zážitky z Taiwanu jsem se rozhodl věnovat zápisu mých příhod z tohoto nádherného ostrova. V Česku se toho stejně moc neděje, takže nemám co ztratit. První, o čem bych rád poreferoval, je příhoda ze zeleného ostrova.

Zelený ostrov (čínsky Lü-tao 綠島), se nachází na jihovýchodě Taiwanu a spadá pod okres Taitung. Vyznačuje se deštivým klimatem, přičemž nejinak tomu bylo i při mé návštěvě ostrova. Dá se objet kolem zhruba hodinky. Takže co jsem neudělal? Pronajal si elektroskútr, protože nemám mezinárodní řidičák, projel jsem velkou část ostrova a na křižovatce se srazil s jiným skútrem. Neváhal jsem a jakožto správný gentleman jsem okamžitě přispěchal na pomoc dvěma slečnám, které jsem srazil. Přivolali policii (ťing-pao 警報), protože se to tak na Taiwanu ze zákona dělá, ne protože bych byl výtržník. Musel jsem zaplatit škodu na skútru a vše bylo v pořádku. Proč o tom všem ale píšu?

Zaprvé, ty dvě slečny cestovaly s jejich tetičkou a bratránkem. Nejenže mě pozvali na večeři, ale považovali mě za člena jejich rodiny, protože jsem neváhal a okamžitě jim pomohl. Šéf, který mi pronajal skútr, nás všechny zase pozval do své dílny na kaoliang, taiwanskou pálenku z prosa. Možná bych se měl zmínit, že neumím vůbec pít a té noci jsem se ztřískal tak, že mě museli odvézt do BnB. Nebylo by to poprvé, co jsem se sektal s taiwanskou pohostinností. Jediné, co mohu s jistotou říct je, že se by se tohle v Česku nestalo. Tak, přesto že jsem se původně vydal na Zelený ostrov za mou taiwanskou kamarádkou, která si tam otevřela restauraci, zažil jsem nezapomenutelný zážitek.