Ostrava in a weekend
Další ze zážitků našeho EVS dobrovolníka Ricarda. Tentokrát o výletu do Ostravy.
Yes, using again other volunteers living in the Czech Republic, I visited Ostrava. I was hosted by my French and Italian friends. I also met a German, a Bulgarian and other Spanish. All of them made for the amazing stay in Ostrava.
Arriving
On Friday, Whatsapp craziness started. Smartphones didn’t stop ringing. Either to say when we were arriving, or just thousands of silly texts. Finally, in the evening one by one, we arrived. I was the last one. Then we were ready for the non stop weekend experience. It was too late do any sightseeing, so the only choice was to party. Which can be the best way to catch up after a long time without seeing each other.
The party wasn’t bad at all but I will keep the details private. What I didn’t expect of Ostrava is that it has one of the best party streets I have seen in the whole Czech Republic, with a lot of different pubs in one place. Awesome. The important fact is that the next day we were really ready (aka barely alive) to see the city.
We went to the New City Hall viewing tower and decided to go up. It cost 40 CZK which was the discount price for students. We could see whole city from there. The football stadium was really close, the main churches, the whole center and further the notable industrial skyline. Ostrava is the third biggest city of the Czech Republic but from the tower, it seems really small yet beautiful.
Český Těšín
After taking a look at Ostrava, we suddenly decided to go to Český Těšín. This place is one hour from Ostrava, a town on the border with Poland. We went just to take a selfie there. Yeah we are that stupid…But actually, it was cool because we met an old man who was telling us how the life was back then when the European borders weren’t like nowadays. He showed us a picture of the same bridge we were on, with a cue of one hundred people waiting to cross the border in both directions.
Ostrava and the old mines
The last day came. We had a wonderful night at home playing cards. We are getting old. But I was totally pleased to rest that night. One more tour around Ostrava awaited us. We walked the main streets of the old town. One beautiful thing I’ve discovered about Czechs is the they take advantage of the nice weather. The city was full of events. Then we went to take a look at the Silesian castle which is good but nothing compare to the the old mines.
Ostrava has one of most impressive things I have never seen. The old mines, belonging to the coal industry, as huge as I everything I have ever seen. The rustiness of absolutely everything made it even more beautiful. You can also see the building completely in ruins. It’s a strange and awesome feeling, being among all those monsters of steel with their huge pipelines.
And then, as everything in this life, the trip came to an end and our international crew had to say goodbye. Everybody took the trains back home. But this time Whatsapp was silent. We talked instead, being full of emotions and experiences at least for that weekend.
