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August 15, 2005
Being a tourist in Ostrava
Ostrava skyline (Photo: RV)One of the virtues of Ostrava is that there are hardly any tourists. One of the resulting charms is that the locals hardly speak any language but Czech. This is bound to get you in all kinds of funny misunderstandings, but the local population on average is very willing to help you out.
Before traveling to Ostrava I bought a Czech-Dutch dictionary, but the words simply didn't sink in. It took the man behind the hotel reception-desk 3 full days to learn me my room number in Czech.
Wandering around the city center this week I couldn't agree less with the travel-guides who barely mention this city, because the town center is very nice and a lot of buildings are being reconstructed. But today I discovered the other side (the fume and smoke side, so to speak) of this city.
We went with a group of people to the Coal mining Museum, that is absolutely worth a visit. Someone tipped us off to also climb the hills near the museum for a view of the town. What you see is actually rather shocking; chimneys galore, and they are fuming all of them. It is all heavy industry and it is so much, that in a way it is becoming charming again.
If you are ever in the proximity of this town, just know, it is worth a visit.
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Posted by Renske at 13:14 UTC | permanent link