Silvester 2011
The year 2011 was coming to an end and the best opportunity to finish it
properly was to celebrate a lot 
. Me and my friends met in the cottage in the village
of Bartultovice.
It is a quiet place in the middle of nowhere, very suitable for the
loud feast.
Cottage crew
I think we all had a good time and entered the year 2012 in a good mood. Happy new year!
Kopřivnice, Štramberk, Pustevny
Last weekend my friend and colleague Martin offered me, whether I would like to participate on a trip. His friend Han was exploring Europe and stopped also in Ostrava for several days. They planned a short trip and had one place free in the car. Since I liked the idea of getting out to the fresh air, I agreed.
Sunday morning they picked me up at my place and we went to our first stop: the Technical Museum Tatra in Kopřivnice. I had visited it before, but since it had been a long time ago, I was very delighted to see it again. The museum has got a large exposition of cars, trucks, airplanes and some special vehicles, all produced by the Tatra factory.
When we had enough of cars, we headed to the town of Štramberk, where we climbed up to the castle and then to the top of the castle tower. Although the weather was not so good, the view was quite spectacular (see the pictures). From the castle we hiked to the opposite hill to see the cave „Šipka“. The cave was a place, where Neanderthal had lived many thousands of years ago. It is a place of many archaeological discoveries.
We all with the statue of Radegast
Next stop was the open-air museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. Unfortunately,
we discovered it had been closed for the whole month, so we headed to Pustevny,
the most famous and visited resort in Beskydy mountains, instead. The
temperature was below zero with bad visibility, but we had to visit the statue
of pagan god Radegast anyway. One and half kilometre there and one and half
back, it was not so bad, even in that kind of weather (because it is a stand
with hot beverages right next to it 
).
The resort of Pustevny was the last stop, after that we went back home. I enjoyed the trip very much, saw many places I have not seen for some time and generally had a good time.
Running my first race
It was no more than two months ago I started with running. The beginnings were hard, I felt winded after several hundred metres, but with time I got more used to it and could cope with longer distances. My colleague from work, Vojta, talked me into signing up for a quarter marathon in Ostrava. The distance 10 548 metres was a big challenge for me, mostly because I had never run so long track before.
On the race day (last Friday) I felt ready. My target was simply to finish it, I did not care about time, just about beating the distance. The track was set up on the main street in Poruba, which was closed to traffic due to this event. Almost six and half laps on the almost flat tarmac seemed scary from the starting line, but I was in a good mood.
First two laps were hard. At first I had trouble maintaining my pace, it is
quite easy to chase someone faster, but to endure and not burn out while doing
that, that is another chapter :). From the third lap I found my comfortable
pace (although the meaning of „comfort“ was very shifted here). In my last
lap I was almost alone on the track, but I felt some surplus of strength and
ran faster a little, ending with exhausting finish with heart-rate near 190
(word comfort did not apply any more ). I finished with time 1:02:40, which was far
beyond my expectations. I was very happy about that, because my guess was about
1:20:00. I got a diploma and a participant's medal and went home.
The race was really a unique experience for me, the atmosphere was just great. For sure it was not my last one.
Hike to the Lysá mountain
Saturday was a very nice and Sunny day. I did not have any plans for the weekend, so I decided to go to the Lysá mountain, where I have not been for some time.
The journey to Ostravice, where the path starts, was quite ok, but I had to
change bus and trains three times. From Ostravice to the top I felt more like
in procession, not hiking. So many people decided the same program for
Saturday .
„I've made it!“
When I reached the top, I wanted to take lunch or something to drink. Queue of fifty people discouraged me to do so and old crackers and hot water had to do the job. I took some pictures and headed back down.
It was a very nice trip, the weather was good also, maybe too much sunny.
Generally, I was satisfied with the achievement of reaching the top. However,
next time I will choose a less crowded mountain .
Go karting with RAYNET people
My friend and co-worker Aleš is getting married very soon, so this Monday he
organised a small party. Food and drinks were present in a great quantity, but
the main attraction were certainly the go karts .
I was a racer, at least for a while
We all raced a lot: from the careful beginnings to the aggressive collisions in the end, when drivers were fuelled with beer and home-mode Slivovice. The party was awesome, definitely a success. Thanks again, Aleš.
Graduation ceremony
As I wrote before, I had finished my thesis and passed the state exam. Today it was the graduation ceremony, the final moment of my studies.
Before it began we went through a quick training session, in which they taught us, where to walk, what to do and all the stuff needed for the ceremony. Then they put caps and robes on us and the „real thing“ started.
Me and my classmates
The ceremony certainly had its pomp and was a decent way, how to say goodbye to the students that spent many years and went through all fun, hard work and trouble connected with the studies. I think we all enjoyed it and felt relieved we had made it that far.
My school days are over
After 19 years of school attendance it is finally over. Yesterday I have
defended my thesis, passed the state exam and thus have become an engineer of
information systems. The last weeks, when I was studying and stuffing all kinds
of information to my head, were tough, but paid off. Thanks and best regards to
all the people that had to survive the time with me 
.
I still have not fully realized what I have done and accomplished, but it
will probably come to my mind when I catch up on the sleep deficiency I have
got now .
Sunset in Olbramice
Less than two months ago, my parents moved to the village of Olbramice, 20km of Ostrava. Since I have not god my own apartment yet, I moved too. And yesterday, I had a great opportunity to take pictures of a beautiful sunset and a rainbow at the same time there. Enjoy the pictures.
Photos on Flickr
Recently I was looking through my photos and decided to assemble a collection of the best ones and put it to Flickr. The photos date back to 2003, when I got my first digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 2000).
Weekend at the Cottage
Last weekend me and my friends stayed in our cottage in the nearby village of
Vrchy. The goal was simply to grill, drink beer and relax. Just an usual weekend
and the cottage with the head switched off .
Me and my friends at the cottage.
I think we have fulfilled the goal completely: we consumed all 160 beers, ate almost everything we brought and definitely had fun. See for yourself in the gallery.