Let's take a look to the colder face of Brno
I have been regularly visiting Brno for over 40 years. As a musician, I was a student at JAMU in 1969-71 and more recently have been doing some teaching there. I love the warmth of the climate, the people, the music, the culture, the architecture and the food and wine. I always advise my friends to make sure that they include Brno in their plans when visiting the Czech Republic.
On Sunday August 16th after a long journey from my home in England, I finally arrived in Brno by train from Vienna and was very happy when the city came into view. I even remarked to my partner…”uz jsme tady…me milovane Brno!”
So I was completely dismayed that not one of the four or five taxis waiting outside the hlavni nadrazi was willing to take us, together with our heavy luggage, into the city centre. To make matters worse, the taxi drivers were very unpleasant, unfriendly and clearly only interested in making as much money as possible rather than making people feel welcome after their journey. In England, a taxi driver who refuses to take a passenger for such a reason would immediately lose his licence to operate. The London “cabbie” is world famous for his friendly assistance to foreign visitors as well as his knowledge of the streets and attractions.
A taxi is very often the first impression that a visitor gets of a new destination so it is such a pity that a fine city like Brno cannot welcome visitors with the taxi service it deserves.
Dr. Rod Paton
Senior Lecturer in Music
University of Chichester
On the day I received this e-mail, I went to a beautiful town of Znojmo with my friend. I had a dry, probably de-frozen piece of chicken for lunch for €5 and then we “enjoyed” warm (!) instant (!) frappé for €2 there.
The quality of services in the Czech republic is a huge pain in the a*s, as it has been degrading probably since our declaration of independence from Austria.
It’s sad that Czech businessmen and owners of restaurants don’t understand that making big money in this way (refusing short taxi rides, serving drinks worth CZK 5 for CZK 50) will be a big disadvantage in the future, when there’ll be no people willing to take a taxi or drink a frappé.
I think that South Moravia could be more popular destination than Tuscany, if only we were able to improve the price/quality ratio of our services (on the quality side).
If you have any bad (or good) experiences to share, feel free to comment.
Michal Kašpárek, editor-in-chief
