Magazine
A provincial Czech town boasts its own model of the Eiffel tower. Geocaching, a high-tech game of treasure hunting, is gaining increasing popularity in the Czech Republic. And, the wedding at which only the bride and groom were sober. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.
The town of Trebic has its own little Eiffel Tower. It is seven metres tall and made entirely out of plastic water bottles - green, white and blue - seven hundred of them altogether. A group of youngsters - led by a student of architecture - took 5 days to complete it and there's hardly anyone in town who has not come to admire it.
It may be hard to believe but a guy named Winnetou actually lives here in the Czech Republic. Mr. Winnetou Milenko lives in Syrovice, but originally his family came from Slovakia and he boasts ten brothers and sisters. Vinnetou -who calls himself Vincek, a common Czech name in order to avoid all the jokes and explanations - says that Vinnetou and Old Shatterhand were extremely popular at the time of his birth. He was the tenth child in the family and by that time many of his siblings were really into Vinnetou and persuaded their parents to name the new baby after their hero. The authorities held out for a long time and for a few months poor Mr. Milenko was nameless. But his parents insisted on the name Vinnetou and in the end - the name was officially entered into his birth certificate. When the last baby - the eleventh child and a boy - came along his parents allegedly tried to name him Old Shatterhand but that was too much for the registry office and he ended up being plain old Robert, Winnetou says.
The weather is still far to cold for people's liking but Czechs are not letting it spoil their summer. Since the Czech Republic is landlocked people make the best of the country's many lakes and rivers and in the summer months villagers organize barbecues and competitions by the water side. Some of the most popular are sailing down a stretch of the river in a self-made "boat" out of anything that will float - and a contest which involves crossing the river by bike or with a wheelbarrow on a narrow wooden plank. Despite the fact that many people end up in the cold water -there is never any lack of contestants and some of them face the challenge wearing costumes or evening dress. The patron of these events is always the local water goblin, mystical creatures which are a must in every Czech lake. Basically a vodnik - or water goblin - governs his realm, looking after the lake and its inhabitants and collecting the souls of drowned people in little jugs underwater. Some goblins do a lot of drowning themselves but others are helpful to the human race and over the centuries have developed a relationship of sorts with the locals on dry land. Vodniks, by the way, have become a very popular fairy-tale character in this country.
Geo-cashing a widely popular, high tech game of treasure hunting around the world is gaining increasing popularity here in the Czech Republic. The first caches were "planted" on Czech territory in 2001 by visitors from other countries. Since then hundreds of Czechs have joined in, expanding the number of caches to well over 800, scattered in different parts of the country. The youngest Czech participant is said to be 16, the oldest 60. According to Michal Simko, who has been actively involved since the year 2001 and says he has eight travelbugs somewhere out in the world, many caches in the Czech Republic are hidden in attractive historic locations which makes tourism all the more entertaining.
