24. Moravia is Wonderful but Nobody Likes Us in Brno

We took a trip last weekend to Brno, which is the largest city in Moravia. I was very happy to have another chance to visit Moravia. I had been here for a wedding and found the people welcoming and the food and drink wonderful. In fact, we were visiting Emma’s cousin Hanka, the woman whose wedding we attended.

When we pulled up outside of Hanka’s house, Emma went to ring the buzzer. While I got out, a man in another car gave me an angry frown and

He raised his middle finger in a famous gesture before speeding away. I was surprised. It’s true that while Czechs are easygoing, they can be aggressive drivers. But I hadn’t done anything to earn an angry reaction from that man. We had not engaged in any kind of an accident and I wasn’t blocking his way. To act so rude was completely warranted and

While I got the kids out of the car and collected our bags, another driver honked her horn at me. It was an older woman who shook her head and then drove away. Now I was baffled! I wasn’t even in the car, how could I make her angry? I was also confused because the Moravian people I had met un- were very open and hospitable.

I told Hanka and Emma about the angry drivers, and Emma mentioned that another man had frowned at her on the sidewalk. Hanka scanned the bumper of our car and told us not to worry about it. Hanka poured some wine, but before I drank any, I downed a couple of glasses of water from the to rehydrate.

Later, Hanka clarified that our license plate shows that we are from Prague. She went on to explain that Moravians make hasty stereotypes about Praguers. Brno in particular has a big rivalry with Prague. I found that a bit sad, but I was relieved that we were walking and not driving around Brno over the weekend. Fortunately with no Prague license plate we were welcomed with the warm Moravian hospitality that we encountered before.

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