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A abych poslednim dnum a tydnum ucinil zadost, napisu dneska jeste jeden prispevek. Programem minuleho vikendu byla navsteva Narodniho divadla, zabavniho parku a oslava narozenin. Ale poporade.

V sobotu jsme vyrazili do mesta prohlidnout si nejake pamatky. Vzhledem k tomu, ze jich tady je jeste mene nez v Ostrave (ktera je znama spise pro cenne statky pod zemi), nebylo tak slozite se rozhodnout. Narodni divadlo bylo postaveno podle francouzskych vzoru a otevreno v roce 1897. Je vzacne tim, ze nema orchestriste, ale zvuk je reprodukovan slozitym mechanismem pod podiem a casti hlediste. Nevim, jaka je toho vyhoda, ale kazdopadne je to vzacnost – podobne je na tom pry asi jen 5 divadel na svete. Pripadalo mi velmi male, ale mistni obyvatele (vcetne nadsene pruvodkyne, ktera prednasela skupince americanu) jsou na nej velmi hrdi. Taky rikaji, ze je to jedina hezka budova ve meste – ale nemaji pravdu. Videl jsem dva, mozna tri dalsi pekne domy..

Vecer jsme stravili v San Pedro na Calle de la Amargura (“Ulice horkosti”), ktera temer primo navazuje na kampus Universidad de Costa Rica a kam studenti chodi zapijet sve uspechy a neuspechy (proto ta horkost).

V nedeli jsme se vypravili do zabavniho parku. Me uz nejmene dva dny predtim suzovaly pomerne neprijemne bolesti zaludku a strev, takze jsem uvital, ze kdo nechce na atrakce, nemusi platit. I kdybych byl zdravy, tak bych na ne asi nesel 🙂 Dobre, maximalne na tu vodni skluzavku. A auticka 🙂 Kazdopadne vsichni se vyblbli jak male deti, ja udelal nekolik fotek a opetovne se na polednim slunicku pekne opalil.

No a odpoledne jsme na Martina prichystali darek k narozeninam, dort a krabici plnou sladkosti s logem jeho oblibeneho mistniho fotbaloveho klubu. Vypadal docela prekvapene a na druhy den prisel dekovny e-mail. Neni zac, rado se stalo. A vsechno nejlepsi 🙂

Tento vikend nejspise nikam nejedu, jinak bych asi nepsal tri prispevky behem sobotniho vecera..

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And for having the last days and weeks complete, I’m writing one more post. Last weekend saw us visiting National Theatre, diversion park and birthday celebration. Here it is..

On Saturday we decided to see some sights in the city. While there is even less number of preserved buildings than in Ostrava (that is know more for its beauty under the surface), it wasn’t so hard to decide. The National Theatre was built according to the French originals and opened in 1897. Its value is also in absence of orchestra pit that is replaced by a complicated sound system under actors’ and also viewers’ part of the theatre. I couldn’t see any advantage in it but anyway – it’s a rarity, there are only about 5 other theatres in the world similar to this one. It seemed really small to me, but the locals (including enthusiastic guide who was having a lecture to some Americans) are very proud of it. They also say it’s the only nice building in the city – but they’re wrong. I’ve already seen two, maybe three more nice houses..

We spent the evening in San Pedro in Calle de la Amargura (“Street of bitterness”) which is just outside the Universidad de Costa Rica campus and where all students go drinking to their successes and failures (that’s the reason of the bitterness).

On Sunday we went to a theme park. I was having stomach and guts problems several days already which meant I was quite surprised (positively) that I didn’t have to pay entrance fee since I didn’t want to go to any of those crazy places for having fun. I wouldn’t go there probably even if I were healthy 🙂 Well, maybe the water coaster. And tiny go-karts 🙂 Anyway – everyone was having fun, enjoying their time as little kids, I did several photos and got suntanned again.

And in the afternoon we prepared a little birthday gift for Martin, a cake and a box with his favorite local football team badge, full of candies and cookies. He looked quite surprised and the next day he sent us a very nice e-mail where he thanked us. You’re welcome. And happy birthday 🙂

I’m probably not going anywhere this weekend, otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here and writing three blogposts during Saturday evening..

Tema, ktere musi na predchozi prispevek logicky navazovat, je nadmiru jasne. Jakozto vyhlaseny gurman (nezalezi, co je dole, hlavne kdyz na tom bude kecup a chili) se nemohu nepodelit o zazitky s mistni kuchyni 🙂

Fazole everywhere – i tak by se dal parafrazovat znamy reklamni slogan. Ryzi, maso a lusteniny (souhrnne nazyvano “gallo pinto” nebo, pokud chcete porci i s oblohou, “casado”) totiz najdete i v te nejzapadlejsi visce na okraji pralesa (a beztak i v nem). Co ale cloveka zarazi je moznost dat si tohle jidlo v kteroukoli denni dobu, dokonce i na snidani. Neni to tak spatny napad. Obvykle k tomu dostanete tortilu nebo kousek osmazeneho ovoce podobneho bananu (“platano”), neosmazene platano je pry nejedle, takze pri nakupovani nezapomente, ze ten zeleny banan proste nezezloutne 🙂
Jinou moznosti jak zacit den, pokud nahodou vstanete az nekdy pred polednem, je “pollo frito” – smazene kure. V ulici bezne najdete nekolik obchudku (v Santa Ana jsou 3 na nejakych triceti metrech), kde vam kus osmazeneho kurete ukazou ve vitrince, vy si vyberete, ktere nejstavnatejsi kousky se stanou vasim obedem, a pak jenom nejakou dobu cekate, az prodavacka obslouzi mistni 🙂
“Chicharrones” jsou osmazene kousky veproveho, v podstate velmi podobna uprava jidla jako v predchozim odstavci. S jedinym rozdilem – ze jsem je jeste nevyzkousel..

Zato jsem mel tu cest navstivit nekolik obrovskych nakupnich center a jejich Food Courts. Ja neuveritelne, kolik fastfoodu dokazou nacpat na pomerne malou plochu tak, aby se jejich zakaznici dokazali namackat do pripravenych zidlicek pomerne rovnomerne, nevytvareli dopravni zacpy u nejznamejsich znacek a zaroven mohli pohodlne sledovat televizi.

Taky vam pripada, ze smazenych a tucnych jidel bylo dost? I pro vas existuje reseni v podobe ne zcela typickych restauraci, od pizzerii pres argentinske steaky az po japonske pochoutky – sushi apod.

Na zapiti je vyber vetsinou stejny – voda, “refrescos” (dzusy), cola, jine ochucene bublinkove napoje. Pivo najdete jenom v supermarketech a hospodach. A kdyz si v jednu hodinu odpoledne zajdete z plaze do nejblizsi hospy na jedno, budete mezi kamarady za alkoholika 🙂

Zaverem nekolik perlicek – 1) i kdyz mistni jedi ryzi trikrat denne, nepestuje se tady, ale je kompletne z importu. Z USA. 2) kdo ceka palive jidla, je na spatne adrese. Na stole najdete jenom solnicku, pepr (a nedejboze chili) je pouze na pozadani. Hlaska na mou osobu “Je z Evropy, ale nekdy je jak Mexican” budiz toho dukazem. 3) kdyz uz si chili vyzadate, dostanete je ve forme malilinkych listecku rostliny. Zadna omacka, zadne mlete koreni. 4) nazev “kecup” puvodne pochazi z cinstiny, presneji z kantonestiny. 5) jednotka palivosti je SHU (Scoville Heat Unit) a meri se mnozstvim kapsaicinu ve sloucenine. Tabasco z Habanero papricek ma asi 8000 SHU, nejpalivejsi vyslechtena odruda kolem 900 tisic SHU, peprove spreje okolo 3 milionu..

Taky premyslite, proc se cely posledni odstavec tyka ryze, kecupu a chili? 🙂

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The topic which has to follow immediately after the previous one, is quite obvious. As well-known cook (it doesn’t matter what is down there as long as there is ketchup and chili above) I have to do a little sharing about my experience with local cuisine 🙂

Beans everywhere – this could be an option for adjusting the famous advertisement. You can find rice, meat and lentils (also known as “gallo pinto” or if you want some extra vegetables, “casado”) even in the smallest village at the edge of a rain forest (and I bet even inside). A little strange fact is that you can order this any time of the day, even for breakfast. It’s not that bad idea. You usually get tortilla or a little piece of fried fruit similar to banana (“platano”), if you don’t fry it, you will feel no taste, so don’t forget that this green banana never gets yellow 🙂

Other possibility is to start a day, if you by accident get up soon before noon, is “pollo frito” – fried chicken. Usually you can find several small shops (there are 3 in some 30 meters in Santa Ana), where you can see a piece of chicken in a small shop window, you choose which of them are soon to become your lunch and then you wait for a while till the shop assistant deals with the locals first 🙂

“Chicharrones” are fried pieces of pork, actually quite similar preparation of food as the chicken. With only one difference – I haven’t tried it yet..

But I had the opportunity to visit several shopping malls and their Food Courts. It’s almost unbelievable, how many fastfoods can be squeezed into a quite small place so that their customers can still be able to find a table and a chair, not creating traffic jams at the most known brands and still being able to watch TV.

Do you also feel it was a lot about fried and greasy meals? We have a solution for you as well – with not very typical restaurants, starting with pizzerias, continuing with argentinian steakhouses and with sushi as the end..

As a drink you usually have the same possibility – water, “refrescos” (juices), coke, other bubbled drinks. Beer can be found only in supermarkets and pubs. And if you are at a beach and leave at 1pm to have a beer, you will be considered among your friends as alcoholic 🙂

Some interesting facts at the end – 1) although the locals eat rice three times a day, it’s not grown here, it comes only from import. From USA. 2) expecting hot and spicy meals, you’re at the wrong place. You can only find salt on the table, pepper (not even chili) is only at request. The quotation “He is from Europe, but sometimes he behaves as a Mexican” be the proof. 3) if you request chili, you get it as a small pieces of plant leaves. No sauce, no grilled spice. 4) the name “ketchup” comes from Chinese, to be exact from Cantonese. 5) the unit of “spiceness” is SHU (Scoville Heat Unit) and is measured as amount of kapsaicin in the solution. Tabasco from Habanero paprika has about 8000 SHU, the hottest paprika ever is about 900 thousand SHU, pepper sprays around 3 milion..

Are you also wondering, why is the last article completely about rice, ketchup and chili? 🙂

Pokud bych mel vyjadrit pocity z posledniho vikendu jednim slovem, nejspise bych neodpovedel. Pobrezi Ticheho oceanu a narodni park Manuel Antonio totiz proste jednim slovem popsat nelze.

Vstavat o pul pate uz mi necini takove potize (jo, ja vim, porad mi neverite..) a vidina par hodin v autobuse me uklidnovala, ze prece ten spanek dozenu. V sest deset uz jsem sedel na svem sedadle v pomerne pohodlnem buse smer zapadni pobrezi. Tedy pohodlnem do doby nez jsem zjistil, ze si nohy nenatahnu, protoze jednoduse neni kam. Nepripadam si prilis vysoky a stejne mam s mistnimi dopravnimi prostredky problemy. Takze ze spani nic nebylo.

Po necelych 4 hodinach jsme se ubytovali a vyrazili rovnou na plaz. Prvni velmi svetly moment vyletu. Docela hezke vlny (ne jako ten Karibsky rybnik), slunce prijemne hralo, sumeni palem na pobrezi a vsudypritomne musle a koraly. A dokonce i vychlazene pivo 🙂 Na tvari se mi objevil blazeny usmev cislo 1 🙂 Pres poledne jsem se natahl na slunicko, ale ze spanku zase nebylo nic. Kdybych usnul, tak se tam asi roztecu..

Vecer jsme snedli / vypili meloun s vodkou, stravili prijemny vecer a sli vyhlizet Yvonne, ktera prijela autobusem asi v pul jedenacte. Na nejake tancovani v mistnich (nebo neprilis vzdalenych) klubech uz ale krome ni a Chihiro nemel nikdo energii..

Druhy den jsme po snidani (takze kolem 11 🙂 vyrazili do narodniho parku, ktery zacinal hned za mesteckem a ktery mohl za muj blazeny usmev cislo 2. Za tri hodiny chozeni v lese plnem palem, lian a kdovijakych vsech stromu jsem stihnul potkat lenochoda, houf opicek, myvala, nekolik flegmatickych leguanu a hromady jesterek a pak jeste jednou skocit do oceanu se osvezit.. Dokonce i casove se nam podarilo stihnout vse nez zacalo prset z hrozive vypadajicich mraku a pak uz jenom vyzvednout veci a nastoupit do autobusu..

Mozna mi budete to horko zavidet, ale ja jsem byl docela rad, kdyz jsem se objevil v suchem a pomerne chladnem (okolo 24C) San Jose.. Teplo je fajn, ale ja radsi vetrny podzim a chladnou zimu. Priste asi pojedu nekam k polarnimu kruhu..

(trochu jsem zmenil fotogalerii, tak se neleknete.. je tam i moznost vyjadrit se ke kazde fotce..)

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If I had to express my feelings from the last weekend with only one word, I wouldn’t probably be able to answer. Pacific ocean coast and national park Manuel Antonio just can not be described by a single word.

I don’t feel that big difficulties to get up at 4.30 (I know, you still don’t believe me..) and the idea of having some more sleep on the bus was calming me down. At 6.10 I was already sitting on my seat in quite comfortable bus in direction west coast. Well, comfortable only until I found out I couldn’t stretch my legs because there just was no space. I don’t feel like being tall and I have problems with local means of transport anyway. So the sleep had to wait..

After almost 4 hours we got accomodated and set out to the beach. The first bright moment of the trip. Quite nice waves (not as the Carribean lake), the sun was giving pleasant warmth, palms whispering on the coast and shells and corals everywhere. And even a cold beer 🙂 My face created a cheerful smile number 1 🙂 Shortly after noon I lay on the sand but again, no sleep. If I fell asleep there, I would probably melt..

Later we ate / drank a watermelon with vodka, spent a pleasant evening and went to meet Yvonne, that arrived at half past ten. But nobody except her and Chihiro had enough energy to dance in local (and not so far) clubs..

The second day after breakfast (that means around 11am 🙂 we visited a national park that was created just behing the small town and that was a reason for my cheerful face number 2. During three hours of walks in the forest full of palmtrees, lianas and who knows what other trees I managed to see a sloth, a bunch of monkeys, a racoon, several flegmatic iguanas and lots of lizards and also jump in the ocean once again.. We were even able to return back before the rain started to fall from the scary looking clouds and then just to pick up our things and get on the bus..

Maybe you will be a little envious about the warmth here, but I was quite happy to appear again in dry and quite cold (around 24C) San Jose.. Hot weather is fine but I prefer windy autumn and really cold winter. Next time I’ll probably go to the polar circle..

(I changed the photogallery a little, don’t be scared.. you can also add comments to the photos separately..)

V sobotu byl statni svatek vzniku Ceskoslovenske republiky, ceska ambasada pri te prilezitosti poradala v patek malou recepci pro Cechy zijici v Kostarice a i ke mne se dostala pozvanka (byla pro dve osoby, tak jsme sli s Veronikou, ktera tady na “moji” skole studuje).
Byl to pro me velmi zajimavy zazitek, ktery ve mne asi na dlouhou dobu zanecha prijemny pocit z lidi, kterym nevadi, ze na sobe nemate oblek (nebo to aspon nedavali najevo :), kteri si radi popovidali o tom, co obnasi prace na velvyslanectvi, anebo proste jenom o tipech na vylet, abychom dobu v teto daleke zemi vyuzili k jejimu dokonalemu poznani.

A hlavne jsem zase slysel cestinu – a nedam na ni dopustit..

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On Saturday we had a national holiday, a day of Czechoslovak Republic establishment, Czech embassy organized a small reception and I also received one invitation (it was for 2 people so I took also Veronika, a Czech student at “my” school).

It was a very interesting experience and I will remember a very good feeling of people that don’t mind you not having a suit (or at least nobody noted :), that liked to talk about what an employment at an embassy looks like and demands, or just about some trip advices so that we can fully enjoy our stay in this far and beautiful country.

And I also heard Czech language – and I know I will never want to lose it..

Pocasi: tak mi to s tim pranim nevyslo, skoro cely tyden mi proprsel, jesteze jsem se nemusel nikam moc dopravovat pesky, ale vzdycky me nekdo svezl.. Ale za tyden obdobi destu konci 🙂

Lide a zeme: privetivi, bez nejakych konfliktu, na cizince jsou asi zvykli. Hlavni pesi zona je znama kapsarstvim, ale to je asi vsude na svete. Tuto nedeli Panamu ceka velke referendum, zda maji investovat asi 30% sveho HDP (kolem 5 miliard dolaru) do obrovske prestavby kanalu, ktera by umoznila projizdeni i vetsich lodi nez v soucasnosti. Zatim jsou pry preference asi 65-35 pro “ano”. Vzhledem k tomu, ze Panama na kanalu pomerne slusne vydelava, da se to chapat, i kdyz na vselijakych budovach najdete nasprejovane napisy “No” a spoustu billboardu proti, zejmena na univerzitach. Potkal jsem se taky s demostraci, ale ta se tykala socialniho (penzijniho) systemu a stavkovali duchodci 🙂 Normalne zablokovali jednu z ulic pred parlamentem a smula.. Vekovy prumer stavkujicich tak kolem 65 🙂

Lode: jsou vazne obrovske a vejde se na ne neuveritelne mnozstvi kontejneru s roztodivnymi nazvy a napisy na bocich, nejcasteji Maersk a cinske klikyhaky. Perlickou je, ze asi 70% vsech lodi ma panamskou vlajku (taky maji druhou nejvetsi flotilu, po Egyptu, hadejte proc 🙂 Trochu zavidim Ondrovi a Jardovi v Rotterdamu, nejak si ten pristav nedokazu predstavit, ale musi to byt supr..

Konference: samotna konference byla trochu zvlastni, takova nejaka jina. Delegatu bylo asi 25 a na to skutecne nejsem z CZ zvykly. Ale nakonec to bylo fajn, zejmena proto, ze v arealu se nachazel bazen, takze kazdy vecer se vsichni presunuli tam a jali se konzumovat napoje. Libilo se mi 🙂

Cesta: to jedine me nebavilo, Panama City je odsud vzdalena 800 kilometru, ale jedna cesta trva okolo 17 hodin, autobusem.. Plus pasova kontrola a prohlidka batohu na hranicich.. I kdyz – tohle byla jedina vtipna cast cesty, jako nejnebezpecnejsi zbrane byly vyhodnoceny nase jmenovky se zaviracimi spendliky, jinak by se asi panamsky celnik kazdeho neptal, co a k cemu to je. Na kostaricke strane pri kontrole jenom mavli rukou nad mym pasem a nevyslovitelnym jmenem a bylo. Akorat sem si na to musel 45 minut pockat..

Fotky samozrejme najdete nahore, cekam taky vase podnety k prvni a posledni fotce v komentarich 🙂

A kdo by nahodou litoval, ze jeste nevidel video pisne “Vamos a la playa”, tak tady je odkaz: http://youtube.com/watch?v=V6XeSRwREf8

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Weather: well, I wasn’t lucky enough, it was raining almost the whole week, only good fact was that I didn’t have to move anywhere by walking, but there was always someone giving me a ride.. But I was told that the rainy season ends within a week 🙂

People and country: kind, not looking for conflicts, probably used to foreigners. The main pedestrian zone is known for a lot of pickpockets, but this is probably the same as anywhere else. This Sunday the citizens of Panama will decide (in a referendum) if they want to invest about 30% of their gross domestic product (GDP) – around 5000 millions USD – into a giant canal reconstruction, which would allow even the biggest ships flow through. So far the predictions say 65 vs 35 for a reconstruction. Panama is earning a lot by having the canal, so this decision is quite expected, even though you can see a lot of graffitti saying just “No.” and a lot of billboards against the investment, mostly at the universities. I also met a demonstration, but this one was not connected with the referendum, but the social security and pension system and the demonstrants were the retired people 🙂 They just blocked one of the streets in front of the parliament and that’s it.. Average age around 65 🙂

Ships: they are really huge and are able to transport incredible amount of cargo containers with various names and writing ont he sides, most often Maersk and chinese signs. The interesting fact is that about 70% of all ships have panamanian flag (they have the second largest flotile of the world, the first one is Egypt, guess why 🙂 I’m little envying Jarda and Ondro being in Rotterdam, I just can’t imagine the port, but it must be fabulous..

Conference: the conference itself was a little bit different, somehow. I’m really not used to having 25 delegates, being from CZ. But in the end it was very nice, especially because of the bathing pool – which meant everyone moving for the night and having drinks there. I liked it 🙂

Travel: the only part I didn’t like that much, Panama City is 800 kilometers from here, but the journey takes 17 hours, by bus. Plus the passport and baggage control on the border.. Although this was the only funny part of the ride, as the most violent weapons were considered our name badges with pins, because otherwise the panamanian customs officer wouldn’t ask everyone what it is and why we carry it. On the costarican side they just waved above my passport and unpronounceable (what a word!) name and that was it. I only had to wait 45 minutes for that..

You can obviously see the photos under the link above, I’m awaiting your comments on the first and last photos 🙂

And if you somehow haven’t seen the “Vamos a la playa” song video, here is the link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=V6XeSRwREf8