Today was a great day!
I started early by going back to the cathedral one block over and they were having mass and all doors open. It is very pretty inside but again a poured concrete structure that lacks charisma but the history is what is key. They had many panels inside on the history of church and diocese and was my grandpa 's diocese. They had pics if original cathedral from 1860s and was beautiful but heavily damaged in war and the Soviets and communist regime would not ket rebuild just boarded and bricked over doors and windows! Not until 1989 could they practice freely and so worked to raise $ money and build new one. They are very proud of new cathedral. They also had stories on priests and nuns who fought for faith by resisting oppression including priest sent to concentration camp in war and nuns who continued help parishioners without a church.
I also stopped by the local city museum . They were kind but did not know about areas outside of city. They did say this,area was traditionally very diverse with many Germans who often affluent, Poles and Russians. Did also say much destruction during the war and heavy fighting in area.
Next I went to the small town/village of Ostravice south of Ostrava this is very close to where my paternal grandfather grew up before he came to the states as a young man. There is an even smaller little village farther into mountains called Bila but I couldnt get there. Ostravice is the nearest real town and where there is a train station.
The area is now home to golf courses and ski resorts so I had decided to play some golf in this beautiful area. I thought I could take the train tho I would have change trains in Frydek- Mistek. However there is no transportation between station/town center and golf course. The hotel had made my tee time and they suggested taking a taxi. The hotel has a taxi company they wirk with and csn charge it to room (which is good as taxis in CZ can be unreliable and often corrupt). They clarified that the train takes 1 1/2 hours sometimes 2 each way , no a/c but taxi only 35 minutes with a/c. And with prices cheap it was well worth cab ride..AND...I had my cab driver take me to center of town for pics and stopped at town church! Oh my the church is right next to the road and was built in mid-1700s! It has simple exterior but oh my the alter area is magnificent (and locked behind gate)...it was a dramatic surprise but apparently well known in area. I like to think my grandpa might have gone to this church sometime. And right out ftont is,a monument to those who were killed/tortured during WWII so perfect for me.
Then we headed to golf course which is gorgeous. It starts at foot of mountains and goes up part of one! There is s small hotel and chalets that can be rented as also ski resort. Since i was a little early I sat on porch and had a homemade lemonade which was yummy. There is a heat wave here right now and was above 90 degrees with lots humidity. Now they couldnt find their ladies rental clubs so i had to play with all mens,clubs and took a little bit of work for me but I managed lol. Course and whole area is so beautiful! I wondered what might grandfather would think and I thought about him living there in such beauty but choosing to leave. He left as industry was really developing in Ostrava. He csme to US to own his own land and farm but I must say I cant imagine why chose flat arid area west of Vernon!! It just doesn't compare lol! So I played with a smile and good thoughts in my heart and took lots of pics. It is a very hard course with high ratings but lots of fun. I zoomed around...a group of Asian businessmen even allowed me to play thru. I managed an 83 which I was happy with since didnt know course, had strange clubs and was guessi g many distances. Lol I did have download a length converter app so i could convert meters to yards as listed on scorecard. It was a fun adventure and people at club were very nice and helpful. One young lady told me Bila is pretty but very small. No one had heard of any "Matysek"s lol. (And there are no phonebooks)
I really enjoyed my day of exploration and so fun to see area I had heard about all my life!
Tmr morning I catch the train to Warsaw to begin my seminar.
