“Rust is an aesthetic wild card. It can make a building look artfully decomposed, outright trashy or hauntingly derelict.” -Old Sean
Entering Czech
After a week in Poland, my travel-company has directed me towards Prague in the Czech Republic. However, instead of making a direct trip, I took a bit of time to stop in Ostrava, a famous coal mining and industrial town located in the Northeast of the Czech Republic.
Ostrava is a fairly compact city with a nice central plaza. The unusual structure of the landscape is caused by a history of coal mines, steel works, industrial centers and blast furnaces. Throughout the city and surrounding countryside, Ostrava pays homage to it’s industrial roots. The city is situated at a vital series of four intersecting rivers: Oder, Opava, Ostravice and Lučina.
Since Ostrava was my own exploration and not company-sanctioned, I didn’t have a hotel or hostel while I visited. I essentially just hopped off a bus, booked a ticket for later in the day to Prague, and then started walking.
Tier Travels
When planning my route for work, my company sent me to cities specifically to review tourist attractions that would appeal broadly to Chinese tourists. Chinese tourists tend to value safety, class, the ability to travel in groups, designer good purchases and photo oppertunities. As such, my company designed a Tier system based on priority visits.
Tier 3 is an convenient area of minor interest on route to another location.
Tier 2 involves strong locations that may require a visit, but are already well-covered by existing Chinese tourism resources.
And Tier 1 refers to famous places which are very attractive to Chinese tourists that remains competitive to promote within China.
Ostrava was considered a soft Tier 3 by my company. The area isn’t terribly well-known and Chinese tourists don’t have a strong interest in post-industrial mining cultures. As a result, Ostrava was eventually stricken from the work-travel itinerary.
However, I’m fond of mining towns, unique European architecture and river-influx cities. I quietly put Ostrava back on the list, though it counted as my “weekend off” day, instead of a work day. I’m glad I did.
A Morning in Ostrava
I ended up walking around Ostrava with my full backpack, calmly toddling from place to place within the city. Ostrava is a nice Eastern European city. It has a generously pretty Old Town area, concrete fountains, the usual spread of monuments and excellent views of nearby rivers. Masaryk Park is the city’s primary plaza area, with ironically narrow and refined buildings surrounding a concrete square with low fountains where children kick up water.
I spent the earliest hours of my morning using a closed KFC for free WIFI to better lock onto initial directions. Once my navigation was sorted, I continued to hang around Masaryk Park until a few cafés opened, granting me my first meal of the day. I enjoyed watching the fountain in the town square. After eating, I wandered over to see a miniature model of Europe with all the major tourist attractions laid out upon it.
The Ironworks
My favorite part, however, was the preserved factory structures. Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and much of that growth comes from it’s industrial history.
A lot of the infrastructure reflects this, including Dolni Vitkovice, a national monument of art, iron scaffolding and murals dedicated to the city’s ironwork heritage. I was able to walk past just as it was opening and wander around inside for a short time. I tried to rush things a bit, since my time in town was so limited.
In retrospect, I should have lingered here for the majority of my time. It’s a very cool place.
In the same ironworks theme, a person can also descend into the old lattice of mining shafts and tunnels from the Landek Park Mining Museum. I tried to head this direction, but discovered that I didn’t have enough time to head back north, cross the river, enjoy the mining shafts and still make it back to the bus station.
Around Town
Instead of trying to reach Landek, I chose to stick closer to town. I was still walking everywhere in the Old Town area, so my options were limited.
I did manage to reach the strange Silesian Ostrava Castle, an eggshell-colored fortress with iconic, barn-like red roofs. A tour guide I managed to briefly hijack told me that this is a temporary display that won’t survive the next couple of centuries without restoration work. Apparently, the entire complex has sunk sixteen meters over the centuries due to the gradual collapse of underground mining tunnels.
My favorite feature in the city was actually a bit tiny and an accidental find. There was a roundish building near the central plaza with the artful sculpture of a wood-and-iron king standing out front, like a gigantic chess piece. It wasn’t a major stop or anything, just some artwork I appreciated greatly.
With that, my time in Ostrava was done. I scurried back to the bus, ready to launch off to Prague. Ostrava is a lovely city, which I’d like to return to someday. I didn’t spend nearly enough time here and there were plenty of features I missed.
But for now, Prague.
So until then.
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written May 27th, 2018
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Ten years ago, I abandoned my military surplus store backpack for a Farpoint 40 Osprey Travel Pack. I’ve never replaced my bag since. Two years ago, I bought two more Osprey Backpacks for my younger siblings on their first tour outside the country. I have nothing but praise for Osprey Products.
