vickygoestravelling

my journey to health and well being via exotic destinations


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In search of our ancestors: Fogels in Boskovice and Brno

[continued…] The next morning David and Jess leave early. By 8.45 we’ve heard nothing and anxiety returns. It’s a good three hours drive to Boskovice and I need to be there by 2pm…Finally we hear the news and its not what we are expecting! Not having a licence is the least of our problems – we have no vehicle! The rental place is closed down! So they have been trying valiantly to secure another transport but it’s Easter and nothing is available. 

Eventually they manage to track one down which appears to be bona fide (car hire in Prague is renowned for being a scam we discover) and it will be  delivered within the hour…we wait and wait but they can’t deliver it to us (heart sinks), we will have to walk with all our luggage to the other side of the Old Town square. I am feeling distinctly nervous now as it 10 am, but lo and behold there is a van! And a good one!

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In search of our ancestors: Fogels in Prague

On the bridge over the Vltava outside the National Theatre near the family home

My half-sister Bonnie messages me to say she and her son David, his wife Jessica and their two boys, Aden and Leon, are coming to discover their Czech roots for Spring Break. ‘And we can’t do it without you!’ Spring Break? That’s impossible I say – three stops in five days with jet lag! Plus it’s Easter week so it will be crowded!

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VIP visit to Boskovice!

IMG_1226The day after the colloquium, the organiser Mojmír Jeřábek and Táňa Klementová have organised a trip to Boskovice to visit Hermann Ungar’s birthplace and tour the old Jewish ghetto. We are accompanied by a group of elderly members of the German Club from Brno.  A number of the older generation still have German as a first language (as did  my family and most assimilated Jews) – a legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Continue reading


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The Ungar/Kafka Colloquium in Brno, Czech Republic

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Sunrise over Brno

I have been invited to give the keynote speech at a symposium in Brno on Hermann Ungar and Frantz Kafka, where leading experts will gather to discuss their lives and work. It’s pretty daunting, 80 people, and will involve simultaneous Czech translation. In addition there will be an interview in the Malý Mehrin, a small Jewish cultural centre which is planning to build a museum near the station,  chaired by Táňa Klementová, a local historian. Then there will be a VIP visit to Boskovice where we will be hosted by the mayor. Wow! And all because I’m Herman Ungar’s granddaughter! Continue reading