Did you know that the first european theatre lighten up by electrict light bulbs was located in Brno? And that the famous inventor Thomas Alva Edison visited the town in 1882?

Most people don’t, so now there is a monument to remind that:

Three giant light bulbs commemorating Thomas Alva Edison

The first electically lit theatre in Europe behind the monument

The sculpture was made by Tomáš Medek

I like this monument – people passing by were stopping to explore it, touch it, and to read the small banner. I’ve never experienced such a reception of a new sculpture on a street.

Map

Zvětšit mapu

London: sunset panorama (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Hungarian airline Wizz Air will launch new line between Brno-Tuřany and London-Luton in December. There will be three flights a week – on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Price of tickets will start from CZK 337 (€13.60).

Brno is already connected with London-Stansted by Irish low-cost airline Ryanair.

Source: iDnes.cz

One of the proposed looks of the new main station.

The plan of building a new main station in the “south centre” (next to Zvonařka bus station) got a blow that may be fatal – nobody knows if the project would have political support in 2014 and if EU is going to fund it anyway.

Most universities will open in the next two weeks after the summer vacation. This always brings life back to the streets and clubs of Brno, as roughly one in six inhabitants of the town is a college student.

Many faculties launch with “orientation weeks”, three or four casual days that help new students (both freshmen and ERASMUS folks) to find out everything they need to know about the buildings, computer systems etc.

Dale Kalina has send me a schedule of MIMSA Orientation Week 2010, organised by foreign students of medicine for foreign students of medicine. Inspirational, isn’t it?

MIMSA Orientation Week 2010

Official poster of MIMSA orientation week

The Masaryk International Medical Students’ Association (MIMSA) is a student-run, non-profit organization that both represents the students of the international parallel program at the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University and provides the same students with educational and social programmes to continually improve student life in Brno.

For the first time since its inception in 2003, MIMSA will be running a full orientation program for incoming first-year students that will include tours of the recently-expanded Bohunice Campus at MU and other academic facilities, tours and a scavenger hunt around Brno, and several events to introduce the new students to Czech culture.

Following is our schedule for the program:

September the 12th

• Welcome BBQ at Biochemistry Courtyard at Bohunice Campus- starting at 13:00

September the 13th

• Tour/Scavenger hunt of Brno and of Faculty of Medicine at Bohunice

September the 14th

• Registration Day #1 in Bohunice 9am
• Lunch with MIMSA Board/1st years & parents
• Casual evening #1 (Pool)

September the 15th

• Registration Day #2 in Bohunice 9am
• Lunch with MIMSA Board/1st years & parents
• International Student Club MU party at Mandarin Club

September the 16th

• Registration Day #3 in Bohunice 9am
• Lunch (Campus Sq or in Centre?) with MIMSA Board/1st years & parents
• Casual evening #2 (Bowling at Olympia shopping center)

September the 17th

• Dean’s Welcome to MU in Bohunice 10:00am
• Pub Crawl

September the 18th

• Casual Sports Day

September the 19th

• Cocktail party at Hansen Restaurant (in Brno Philharmonic Building on Husova)- 17:00-22:00.

First week of school:

September the 24th

• Fresher’s “Graffiti” Party at Abajo Club on Nam. Svobody

September the 26th

• Day in the Park – Team competition day with MIMSA, ISC, IFMSA Groups

Dale Kalina
President
MIMSA
president@mimsa.cz

Although air polution is not generally considered a big issue in Brno, local bureau of hygiene measured above-regulation levels of nitrogen dioxide and dust in these places:

• Úvoz st., near Mendel sq. and Starobrno brewery.
• Svatoplukova st., a four-lane highway going through the former village of Židenice.
• Streets around main bus station, esp. Zvonařka st. and Masná st.

The main source of the pollution is automobile traffic – Brno is (and for the next twenty years will be) lacking a south-north by-pass road. The town council is trying to improve the situation by establishing “public transport and bikes only” lanes, but this is obviously not enough.

The Gallery Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan (source: Wikimedia Commons)

One way ticket costs CZK 849 (€34, incl. fees) – so this is a great opportunity to spend a weekend in Milan, buy some clothes and see some good soccer there – or to use the airport as a transition point for flights to some more distant parts of Europe and world.

There will be three flights both ways a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

Valentino Rossi is fit again. Will he attract more than 250,000 motorbike racing fans this year?

Why is this the event of the year? What about the fireworks?

I love the firework festival! But you do not have to be a motorbike fan, yet you may easily notice something changes in the town every August. Streets are filled with people speaking foreign languages and the town literally doesn’t go to sleep for three or four nights.

Grand Prix of the Czech republics attracts more than a hundred thousands fans to Brno every year – record is 240,000 tickets sold. This is one of the few times you may see Brno on Eurosport – or, actually, on any TV station.

Hurray, I love racing. What should I do?

Visit the official webpage for the price of the tickets, detailed schedule of practices and races and advices on travelling to the venue. Also, read my older article about my favorite stand at the circuit.

I hate events like this. Will the MotoGP race affect my life?

Fear not. If you live downtown, you should prepare that Friday and Saturday night are going to be slightly wilder than usual. Also, it is better to avoid driving on D1 higway (Brno to Prague) on Saturday afternoon and evening.

Keep following our Facebook page for any actual news.

Will Valentino Rossi be OK after the hard crash several weeks ago?

Yes. Doctors allowed him to race in Brno. According to some rumors, he may even anounce leaving Yamaha for Ducati here.

Mucha is popular for his art nouveau posters and illustrations.

The Slav Epic has been displayed for several decades in the castle of Moravský Krumlov but several weeks ago, the National Gallery of Prague began preparations for transporting the large masterpiece to its building, as Alphonse Mucha personally gave the paintings to the town of Prague prior to his death.

However, Mucha wanted Prague to build a special pavilion for his work – which still has not been fulfilled by the Czech capital. For this reason, the town council of Moravský Krumlov prohibited the employees of National Gallery from moving Mucha’s paintings and asked a court to solve the problem. Before the final decision comes, The Slav Epic stays in Moravský Krumlov.

The recent development was greeted by the residents of the town (and whole region), grandson of Alphonse Mucha and, quite surprisingly, Czech president Václav Klaus.

A WTCC race (photo by rykerstribe)

Tickets cost CZK 350 (€15) or more; there is free entrance to Friday practise sessions.

The privately-owned racing venue is still facing financial problems and it is likely that there will be no WTCC race in 2011, so if you are a racing fan, don’t miss this opportunity.

A tiny beach with a bar next to the Marian column

The central square of Brno has a new attraction – a small sand beach with several sunbeds and a bar. A beach volleyball court is likely to be constructed in several days.

There is no entrance fee; the beach will be open until the end of September.

Travel industry expert Tomio Okamura told Czech television that the beach has one problem – there is no water, except for showers.

No more World touring car championship in Brno (photo by rykerstribe)

This is probably the last season you can enjoy the races of Superbike World Championship, GT1 WC, FIA Grand Tourismo WTCC and several other prestigious series at the Brno racing circuit. The only world chapionship race to stay for 2011 is the most popular one – MotoGP.

The privately-owned track does not have enough money to pay for race fees. The town is donating the circuit with CZK 10,000,000 (€400,000) every year but according to the managers of the track, this is not enough.

I am not a big fan of state donations to commercial venues – however, the tracks attracts hundreds of thousand visitors every year to Brno. Restaurants, hotels, taxi drivers and other businesses make a great profit thanks to Automotodrom Brno, but the only subject that pays (almost) all the costs is the owner of the racing track. That is quite unfair.

Not hosting the prestigious races will affect the economy of the whole region, not talking about losing probably the greatest international promotion of the town. I hope someone in the town council is going to realise this, before it’s too late.

Superbike crash (by driver1998)

A popular series of superbike races heads to Brno. Circuit located in quarter Žebětín will host the 9th race of this season on the weekend of June 9-11.

You may show your support to Max Biaggi, Carlos Checa, Noriyuki Haga or many other popular racers.

Affordable tickets for adults, free entrance for kids

Tickets for the Saturday race cost only CZK 300 – and children up to the age of 14 (140 cm) will be admitted free if they are accompanied by an adult person. People older than 63 have a free entrance to some stands, too.

World Superbike Championship is popular for the friendly atmosphere at venues – you may use your ticket for all grandstands and get really close to the motorcycles.