My Village

This morning I wandered around Nove Straseci, my village.  It is rather small and quiet, though at noon it was bustling with people on their lunch breaks and mothers picking their kids up from preschool.  The image above is the main square.  It is about the size of a college soccer field.  Two roads line the square on the long sides and buildings, the city hall and the high school, stand at the short ends.  There are several teeny tiny grocery stores, a few cafes and restaurants, a shoe store, an outdoor store, an electronics store, a few clothing stores, and some other miscellaneous shops.  But--and I almost squealed when I saw it--there is a knitting and needlepoint store!  Hurray!  And the yarn on display in the window was "Carmen" brand.  It is a sign!  I will visit soon.  

Today I just strolled.  I found the post office and the church (yellow), and a cute little sweets shop that my Czech mom recommended I try.  

 

This lovely decrepit but blooming corner was right across from the church. The town is a funny mix of beautiful, charming old buildings and run-down Communist era (or so I assume) featureless monstrosities.  I liked the contrast in this view by the bus stop.  

The green and beige apartment building looms over the ancient looking barn.  I recognize my own bias towards "charming," "picturesque," views...perhaps the green block thing is very comfortable to live in.  I have talked with my Czech parents a lot about the shift from Communism and the Velvet Revolution in 1989 (Jan was in college at the time and went on a sort of lecture tour to high schools to inform students about what was happening since news was being censored.)   They point to advantages and disadvantages (mainly advantages.) For instance, bus and train service is not nearly as extensive now as it was under Communist rule.   Transportation companies don't make enough money going to small villages so they have cut down their routes.  The Communist government wasn't running the services for profit, so they were able to have buses and trains running through the small villages frequently.  So grocery stores and other businesses were supplied more often, and the villages could more easily sustain themselves.  Now some of these towns are losing residents.  And there ends that tangent.  

I didn't take many pictures because it felt very intrusive, like I was a spy or a hard-nosed reporter a la Hildy Johnson.  This is not a tourist town.  I was the only one walking around with a camera.  I am sure I didn't stick out as much as I felt I did; regardless of that reality I tried to be very sneaky with my camera.  It felt rude to be taking pictures of the village.   I will sneak around another time, perhaps early in the morning or in the evening when there aren't so many residents milling about.  The "main drag," if one may call it that, is about a six minute walk from my house.  I love being able to walk everywhere!