Bars in Ruins My family and I visited Budapest this summer. When we were planning that trip, my daugher wanted primarily to see two places, the Hungarian Parliament and the Szimpla. She was just eager to spend an evening in the Szimpla. I had never heard about it before. „You will be suprised„, she promised. Yes, I was suprised. I was even overwhelmed! The Szimpla is a complex of very exciting bars in large ruins. It has been built in the old Jewish town. The bars were the most crazy ones I’ve ever seen. There were all the most weird things of the Earth in one place! Walls, floors and tables were covered with multicolored inscriptions. Mirrors were broken. An ugly doll hung from the ceiling and everywhere were crazy, scared or hilarious things. Plastic toys, vinyl LPs, red plastic body, traffic signs, Budha, artificial flowers, old dishes and tools, beakers and test tubes. A great marriage of punk with hippie style. I didn’t know where should I look first. We could choose if we wanted to sit on a seat, on a chair, on a toilet seat, in an old car, on an old TV apparatus or in a bath. The food was tasty, the coffee was strong, the beer was cold. Good job! I understood my daughter’s wish. It was an amazing evening!

Is the question "How old are you?" normal in your country?

Hello guys,

I'm surprised, how often I get the question "How old are you?" here on Italki. This question is regarded quite impolite in my country, mainly when I meet someone for the first time. I would like to know, if it is really impoliteness or a cultural difference only. Thank you for your answers!

The Children From Lidice I would like to tell you a story about a Czech sculptor Marie Uchytilova. She spent 20 years to make a sculptural group of 88 childern from Lidice. Lidice was a village, that was burn down during the Second World War. Men were shoot dead, women and children were transported to concentration camps. 88 children were killed. Marie Uchytilova decided to make a sculptural group for the memory of them. She began in 1969. She had no support of the Czech goverment. She got no money for her work. She procured photos of the children and she formed every sculptur by real child. Every one has its own face. There are babies, little boys and girls, teenageres. It is very impressive and sad. Marie made 88 forms of gypsum but she had no money to make sculpturs by bronze. So she used her life savings and made first 4 sculpturs. Unfortunately, she died on the 16th of November 1989 – one day before the Velvet Revolution. She couldn‘t finish her work. She never saw the result of her twenty-years hard work. But the story has a happy end. Marie’s husband was continuing in her work and the sculpur group was done. In 2000 were all 88 bronze children placed to Lidice.That story impresses me very much.

At a ConferencePříjemný apartmán s krásným výhledem I was at a conference on last Monday. The conference took two days. The head topic was information technologies using in a state and public administration. A lot of lectures were very interesting. Many of them focused on a saving of personal data according to the GDPR. I liked them. I would be like, if the lectures were longer and more detailed. I heart a very usefull entry about file services. It was very beneficial for me. I was interested in this topic at last weeks. I took much important informations there. What about disadvantages? I had to wake up very early. I woke up at 3 o clock a. m. The journey by a train was tiring. I was unhappy about a lot of plastic waste, that arose at the place. I saw hundreds of plastic cups and hundreds of napkins there. I don’t like the unusefull waste. Clever heads should invent a more eco-friendly way to serve refreshments. What do you mean about throwaway plastic cups?

My Favourite Book I can not say, which book is my most favourite. I like a lot of books. I love a few of them. It’s difficult to compare some different types of literary genres. But I can say, which book I was reading most times. It was Trycy’s Tiger by W. Saroyan. I read it for the first time, when I was fifteen. My literature teacher led us to prepare short entries about read books for our schoolmates. Monika, an eccentric and interesting girl, spoke about Tracy’s Tiger. She got me interested in this book. I asked her to lend me the book. She was agreed, but she wanted to return it in the next morning. I started to read in the evening. I was exciting. I finished to read it at the midnight. The book was so great! I began to read again from the first page. I was reading during the whole night this day. I managed it twice! I read the book many times later. I bought a biligual book, too. I read it in English, but only once. Why was I so fascinated about it? Hard to say… It was a little crazy and a lot wise. It was about a courage. Maybe I desired to have my own tiger, too. I believed, that all people would like to have their own tiger. The life with a tiger would be easy and bright!

At a Conference I was at a conference on last Monday. The conference took two days. The head topic was information technologies using in a state and public administration. A lot of lectures were very interesting. Many of them focused on a saving of personal data according to the GDPR. I liked them. I would be like, if the lectures were longer and more detailed. I heart a very usefull entry about file services. It was very beneficial for me. I was interested in this topic at last weeks. I took much important informations there. What about disadvantages? I had to wake up very early. I woke up at 3 o clock a. m. The journey by a train was tiring. I was unhappy about a lot of plastic waste, that arose at the place. I saw hundreds of plastic cups and hundreds of napkins there. I don’t like the unusefull waste. Clever heads should invent a more eco-friendly way to serve refreshments. What do you mean about throwaway plastic cups?

Our visit of a sandstone rock area We were on a very nice trip yesterday. We visited the Saxon Switzerland, a national park on the German - Czech border. The Saxon Switzerland (as the neighboring Czech Switzerland) is a large area of sandstone rock formations. It is a very romantic and exciting landscape. We went to Schmilka village and we parked our car there. We started to rise up. The way led uphill sharply. We reached the rock city in the middle of forest in a short time. We have prepared a plan of the journey. We wanted to go along the paths for climbers. Be honest, we strayed more times despite our prepared plan. It didn’t matter. We had a lot of time, the weather was nice and the surroundings was amazing. We found out a few uninspected beautiful places. We saw a lot of climbers on the rock walls. I admired their skilfulness, their force and their courage. I was pleased of a lot of great views. The rocks dominated the landscape and the sun drew on them pictures using shadows. It was magic. We had an exciting experience, too. The way led throw a rock chimney in one place. We had to climb up using rock protrusions or hook nails. It was grueling and a little dangerously. I liked it very much. It was like a via ferrata, only without protection. My daughter was enthusiastic so much! We were happy to spend so very beautiful day together. I can recommend to visit this area to everybody who likes rocks and walking.

A dragon's observation tower We went on a wonderful trip at the last weekend. We wanted to reach the top of the Smrk mountain. It is the highest mountain in the Jizerske mountains on the Czech – Polisch border. It means „the spruce tree“. It was cold but sunny. We went up by a cable car. We don’t usually use the cable car. We like to achieve the top on foot. But we had lack of time. When we were going up, we were watching surroundings. We saw a little spa town, hills and forest from above. There was snow up. We had to be walking two or three kilometres until we reached the exact top of the Smrk mountain. My daughter had unsuitable shoos. She was frozen but brave. She likes long treks and she can resist a small discomfort. She is a scout. There stood an observation tower on the top of the mountain. It was built in 2003. The weather was foggy. The sky seemed like milk. The tower was beautiful. It was covered with ice scales. The surface of the tower was like a dragon’s skin. I never have seen this natural phenomenon. We were ricing upstairs. There were very big ice scales on the top of the tower. They seemed like bird’s wings. I will never forget that scene. I was amazed.

The traditional Czech Easter – Part 6 A little gender incorrect, but loved We have prepared all necessary things for tomorrow: a catering (cakes, the Easter stuffing, sandwiches, cheese, sausages, filling eggs), two bottles of alcohol drinks, ribbons, sweets, dyed eggs, chocolate eggs etc. Boys and men have done or bought their Easter sticks. The Easter sticks are made from 8 (or more) willow twigs. The twigs have to be very elastic. It is necessary to dunk them in water for a night. The stick is twisted as a very complicated plait. The best sticks can be two meters long. There are color ribbons on the top of the Easter sticks. I have to wake up very early on Monday. The boys and men from our neighbourhood are going to arrive as soon as possible. I and my daughters are going to wait for them. They will be saying an Easter carol and they will be flicking our legs and bottoms with the Easter stick.The adult men in a symbolic way, the small boys in a shy way, only the teenagers painfully. Why? A superstition says that it ensures health, freshness and beauty for the whole next year. I don’t believe it, but…! We are going to reward they for it with ribbons on the top of stick, with eggs and with sweets. We are going to drink a small glass of alcohol drink. We are going to wish each other: Cheers! A lot of foreingers are surpriced and disguested by this custom. They can’t to understand it. It seems gender incorrect to them. Maybe. But we like it. It is a great opportunity to invite neighbours to our home and to talk with them a lot. I’m disappointed if some neighbour doesn’t come. My husband is going to visit women in surrounding and then he going to visit my mother. My father is going to visit me and his grand-daughters. Attention! The Easter visits are allowed to 12 o‘ clock only. If a man arrives later, he gets nothing. He is spilt by water.