Frustration!

By definition, a travel photographer is going to do quite a bit of travelling. In an ideal world, all our flights would be on time, and our connections would connect - and our luggage would travel on the same plane as we do.

But we don’t live in an ideal world and sadly, post 9/11 security checks have made travelling even more complicated. Anyone travelling regularly with cameras, lenses and computers has developed all sorts of strategies to deal with the new regulations.

The advent of the budget airlines has revolutionised travel for most of us, but the downside of the cheaper fares has always been that the service is more susceptible to delay and cancellation than that offered by the mainstream carriers. This was brought home to me forcibly last week when, out of the blue I received an email from Sterling to tell me that my flight from East Midlands to Stockholm (booked last October) is not flying on the day that I want to travel. Usually my travel plans are pretty flexible, but there are two assignments this year that have been fixed for over twelve months. The trip to Stockholm is one of them.

I wasted a whole day trying to re-book my flight. Ryanair had a flight, but to an airport a long way out of the city, and their weight restriction on carry-on bags make life almost impossible for the professional photographer. Some budget airlines also have a sneaky way of adding extras to the cost, and those ‘cheap’ tickets are then sometimes quite expensive. Eventually I found a flight with British Airways for only a few pounds extra than the cheap flight. It goes into Arlanda, the main Stockholm airport, and there are even free refreshments on the flight!

So that is now all settled, and I can look forward to several days in Sweden where I will be covering the World Dog Show.

Oldřich Dufek

 

To visit the beautiful garden of Czech artist Oldřich Dufek is a surreal experience. Set out like an English country garden, shrubs and perennials burst into colour at every twist and turn. But then there is something different. Maybe it’s the fish-shaped balloon floating gently in the breeze, or the blue-painted bicycle leaning against a Virginia creeper covered fence. Suddenly you catch sight of the artist’s table, covered in books, sketches and paintings, many of them of his beloved Czech Terriers.

The garden is a reflection of the man himself, a juxtaposition of serenity and energy that somehow manage to live in harmony, and enlivened by a quirky side that ensures that when spending time in the garden, or with the man himself, a smile is never far away.

 © Stockczech/Sheila Atter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Lipno

© Stockczech/Sheila Atter

Right down near the Austrian border, Lake Lipno provides a ’seaside’ that the people of a land-locked country such as the Czech Republic can enjoy. Around the small town of Frymburk the shores of the lake are crowded with holidaymakers from Germany and Austria as well Czechs, all enjoying the small beaches and filling the hotels and campsites that have sprung up all around.

But just a few kilometres away, in the tiny village of Hrdonov, the sole tourist attraction is the Hotel Fontana, discreetly set above the lake. A path leads down to a jetty that is home to sailing boats, their rigging tinkling in the wind, whilst just a few yards away a couple of rowing boats lie abandoned on the shore.

Čarodějnice

© Stockczech/Sheila Atter

In the Czech Republic April 30th marks the end of Winter. Since tradition has it that it was the witches that kept the cold weather lingering around for so long, bonfires are built in every village, and on top of the fire is placed an effigy of a witch. The theory is that as the witch is burned, so the last of the bad weather disappears. Naturally it is an excuse to have a convivial evening and drink lots of beer, then as the flames die down there is often a contest to see who can jump barefoot over the embers of the fire and prove their bravery. Not surprisingly, quite a few people end up with nasty burns, but that doesn’t stop the enthusiasm for the celebrations.

Thief Found!

The Prague Daily Monitor reports today that the thief who stole bronze plaques from gravestones at Terezín has been apprehended.

Terezín

© Stockczech/Sheila Atter
Terezín is not the sort of place that you can honestly say you enjoy visiting – but everyone who travels to Central Europe should make the effort to go there, or maybe to Auschwitz, across the border in Poland.
A sobering reminder of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man, Terezín exudes an atmosphere of desolation and menace. It’s hard to imagine anyone laughing or joking there. It’s equally hard to understand how anyone could actually desecrate the graves in the National Cemetery outside the gate of the Little Fortress, but the Prague Monitor reports that is just what someone has done, taking 327 bronze plaques from the graves.

Spring

With Spring in the air, what better idea than to vist the Bohemian countryside? The little village of  Přerov nad Labem would be unremarkable were it not for the open-air museum that is at its heart. This skansen was the first of its kind in central Europe when it was founded in 1895. There are many half-timbered buildings, some of which were brought here plank by plank from neighbouring villages.
© Stockczech/Sheila Atter

It’s possible to go inside the farmhouses and small cottages and see how people lived. In the village school, the schoolmaster teaches the children under a portrait of the Austrian Emperor, whilst outside a dovecote and a selection of traditional beehives remind the visitor of a gentler age.
© Stockczech/Sheila Atter

Easter

 © Stockczech/Sheila Atter

Easter brings its own traditions in many countries and the Czech republic is no different. On Easter Monday first the children then the boys and men go from house to house carrying whips made of birch. The small children recite a poem or sing a song, then whip the legs of the girls in the house and are rewarded with gifts of decorated eggs. The boys and men just whip any girls they meet, but are always rewarded with eggs, or for the older men a shot of Becherovka or vodka.

 

© Stockczech/Sheila Atter

Much effort is put into decorating the eggs which are often miniature works of art.

 © Stockczech/Sheila Atter

For more information about Easter customs http://www.pragueexperience.com/events/easter.asp

Gates

If Czech doors are wonderfully ornate, their gates are equally decorative.

© Stockczech/Sheila Atter

In both villages and suburbs, each family home is traditionally surrounded by a strong fence and a good, solid gate. No matter how welcoming, and the Czechs are certainly one of the most hospitable of nations, there are times when every family wants its own space.

 Inevitably modern living puts pressure on the old ways, but even new apartment blocks, like this one at Průhonice, embrace the symbolism of the gate.

© Stockczech/Sheila Atter

Spas In Trouble

© Stockczech/Sheila Atter

Czech spas are on alert as the number of ill children arriving for spa treatment has fallen dramatically since the introduction of the fee of 60-crown per day of stay in a medical facility as of January this year, according to the daily Hospodářské Noviny (HN).The number of children with respiratory and other problems treated in spas has dropped by one half this year compared to the first months of the previous year, the paper writes. Child patients usually have to stay in spas for up to seven weeks for their health to improve, usually accompanied by their parents. The 60-crown fee per day raises the price of the spa treatment by more than 4000 crowns. Many families cannot afford this according to HN. “If there are no children, we can close the children’s ward,” one Spa director is quoted as saying. “I am against the fees. However, according to our survey, the current bad state has not been caused only by the fees, but also by the fact that doctors do not prescribe spas to children as often as they should,” says another. Spa facilities are united in their opinion that fees for children should be abolished. They also want to hold talks with doctors, putting emphasis on the effectiveness of spa treatment.

“We have to explain to paediatricians that prevention is more important than drug treatment,” Kalfus says.

Under the public finance reform that took effect on January 1, Czechs pay 30 crowns per visit to a doctor, 30 crowns per item on a prescription, 60 crowns per day in hospital and 90 crowns per visit to the emergency service.