Too Square to be Hip
A narcissist's guide to travel and culture
This first episode of the Too Square to be Hip podcast explores one of the darkest chapters in Czech history, the occupation of their country by Nazi Germany and an assassination that shook the country. This historical podcast / walking tour / travel guide seeks to trace the steps of the famed Czech Paratroopers as …
The second city of the Czech Republic (after Prague) and the chief city in the province of Moravia, Brno has a big city feel in a tiny footprint. This busy university town was once known for being at the center of the munitions industry and was home to Československá zbrojovka, an arms factory and the Zweigwerk aircraft …
At the center of the Southern Bohemia, with its quaint rolling hills, stands a town both fair and lively. Its name is Tábor, named after the biblical Mount Tabor located in Israel, but also the literal translation of the world “camp” in Czech, a testament to its humble origins. For those not aware, this was …
Ok, I’ll admit it this one is a little out of left field. I was on my way to Brno from Vienna and I had a transfer here, which I exchanged for a later train. I had seen a picture of the ruined town castle and figured a walk wouldn’t hurt. It was pretty cool …
Europe is filled with old resort towns, venerable and opulent but none equal the raw charm of Karlovy Vary. Built around famed mineral hot springs, whose gazified waters rises up like a thick steam in the winter months, this Czech town is surely one of the Great Spa Towns of Europe. Not only is the …
A moody metropolis, Prague looks its best on a glum evening where its majestic gothic architecture looms oppressively over its citizen. Its lugubrious character has been immortalized by its most bohemian citizens namely the late writer Franz Kafka who had a complex relationship with his hometown. As he would once express “Prague won’t let you …
This article is a stub of my Prague post, for more information please refer to that post. What is Hloubětín Castle? This Neo Gothic castle lies in a far flung suburb of Prague, in what was one a little hamlet. How to Get to Hloubětín Castle From Prague (Metro) ? From Prague 1, you can …
Arbeit macht frei (Work will set you free) German concentration camp phrase Some things ought to be confined to the dark twisted tales of fantasy or the horror of nightmare… and most of it is. Yet there is one place in the world that makes me shudder, you know, in that primal way, where your …
One of the pretties town in Europe, Český Krumlov is notoriously full of tourists during the summer months and almost empty in the spring and winter. I visited the city on an empty spring day and although I brought material study on the train I only studies ever so marginally. I was with my good …
Ninety Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall Traditional North American Counting Song The Holy grail of beer destinations, Pilsen (Plzeň) is a town like no other! It is said that had pattons men not stopped here to drink, they would have liberated the city of Prague before the Red Army. Yet the legendary beer …
