Pendolino Train to Ostrava

We are headed on the fast train to Ostrava. A blue collar mining town in the eastern Czech Republic. I am starting to feel a sense of excitement as we near one of the highlights of our trip. Tomorrow night we will start the journey to eastern Slovakia and the towns of Michalovce (michalodtsa) and Cecehov (chechahov). This is the area of the world and the towns where my family is from. I am going back to a place I have never been to. To a town where my parents have never visited and where my grandfather was but a small boy. I can only imagine the lives that my ancestors lived before the war, revolution, and communism. As I look out across the fields and farms of the Czech Republic as the Pendelino train passes by I can imagine my family as it existed many many years ago as I am also transported back to my own youth. The rolling hills fields steams and trees are those of the rural Midwest before the crowded highways and the more uniform large scale farms.

It is an interesting feeling to go in search of ones roots. I am quite curious as to what I will find, if anything at all. My children are interested to see the town where their Pops is from as well. I think that they inherently understand that it is important to know where you came from. It is one of the many many pieces that they will have to put in place growing up in order to figure out who they are as people.

Today we are meeting some friends from the hospitality club whom we have been corresponding with on the Internet. They have a home in Bohumin in Eastern Czech republic. The area is much different than Prague. It will be nice to talk to people who know of the area and can help give us some insight into the Eastern Czech republic. Our friends from Prague are slightly worried about us on the sleeper train. There have been some problems with people being robbed at night on the trains. The Pendelino train we are on now is very nice and we have the entire car to ourselves. The ride from Prague to Ostrava is around 3.5 hours in length. On the sleeper train will be traveling a shorter distance yet will take around 8 hours to complete. I don't know if this is mostly due to the tracks, train switching, or it the Tatras mountains and other physical obstacles.


The Pendolino train was very nice, very clean, reasonably priced and we had the whole car all to ourselves!
We passed much of rural Czech republic in the daylight. The train ride was only 3 ½ hours in length.
Our friend Pavel from the hospitality club picked us up from the airport and took us to his lovely home in Bohumin CZ
Bohumin reminded both Laurel and I of rural Pennsylvania 30 years ago before there was quite so much traffic.