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Another cool and sunny morning for our 9 AM departure for Prague. There was a huge amount of truck traffic on the highways and we learned that is because trucks are not allowed to travel on the weekends. 

Around 11 AM we arrived at the city of Brno ( city of about 400,000, # 2 in Czechia) for our “Shakespeare Stop” and lunch. We walked around a bit looking at the sights and for a cafe, but no good options appeared and we finally decided to simply go to the local Starbucks on the main town square for a snack as none of us were really hungry yet.

I had my first ever pumpkin spice latte (at a cost of almost $6); a piece of pumpkin pie would have been better!  I had to laugh as the coffee of the day was Pike Place Market and here I am In Brno, Czechia. Did you catch my use of “Czechia”?  Since 2016 that has become the formal new name for the Czech Republic. Most people, however, still refer to it as the Czech Republic.

While on the road, Csaba gave us more information about life in this part of Eastern Europe. Hungary and Czechia are not using the euro yet although it is widely accepted there. It turns out that the European Union (EU) can keep you from using it as your currency if your economy is not healthy. The EU does not want another problem like Greece to deal with. Slovakia is on the Euro.

University studies are free if your grades are good enough. You earn points for grades while in high school and that determines what schools you can attend. If you do not have the necessary points you can still attend the school but you have to pay. After each semester it is re-evaluated and you can have situations where, depending on your grades compared to others, if you were attending free you might now have to pay and vice versa.

Healthcare is an issue here, as it seems to be everywhere in the world. As a doctor in Hungary you might make $1,000/month. In Austria you would earn $5-7,000/month, so everyone is interested in leaving. They have now instituted rules that If you leave you must pay back the tuition, plus a big fine. But rich countries are willing to pay the fines so it is a continuing problem for Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia.

Healthcare is free but in return you pay 38-50% of your salary in taxes. They attempted to implement a one euro/visit so the hospitals would have more money for equipment. People rebelled so it was retracted.

Amateur American rule football leagues are starting to crop up in Europe. Logos on jerseys do the advertising, rather than commercials on TV. Games attract 6,000-7,000 fans per game. Austria and Germany are the biggest leagues. Our tour director sometime plays defensive tackle for the Budapest Wolves; they use the UW Badgers “W” as their helmet logo. Wisconsin threatened to sue but learned their trademark was only good in the US. 

McDonald’s was the first franchise in Hungary after the communists left so it was really a big deal. Hungarians called McDonalds the “US Embassy” or the “Embassy of Freedom” after the fall of communism.  Fun fact:  In Austria, McDonalds is now an official extension of the US Embassy and you can contact it through them. And speaking of McDonalds at our Shakespeare stop I bought the new Snickers McFlurry as a snack and it was way better than I expected.

Gun laws are very strict.  It is hard to get a license to own a gun, only if you join a gun club, and even then there are tough restrictions. Guns must be broken down and locked in a safe if stored in the home. No automatic weapons are allowed and random house safety checks by police are common.

Fun Fact:  contrary to common belief, Budweiser beer is not an US invention. Budweiser beer is originally from a small town in Czechia and tastes totally different than what is sold in the U.S.  (Anheuser-Busch licensed the name and recipe from them).

As expected we arrived in “Praha” the Czech name for Prague around 4 PM. Our hotel is a Radisson Blu hotel across from the old town. Unfortunately it is a disappointment compared to the Kempinski and Hilton we used in Vienna and Budapest. It is hard to lower ones expectations! This is our home for the last three nights of our trip.

It had been a long travel day and we were not eager to wander around the city for dinner. I found a small Czech cafe across the street via TripAdvisor that got good reviews and we went there for a meal. It was traditional family style Czech cooking and everyone had a good meal, finishing with an apparently popular Czech dessert-cherries jubilee.