Český Těšín and Cieszyn Silesia are twin cities, divided by a river and country line, one in the Czech Republic, one in Poland. And as some tell me, the country border has moved over the years/centuries so that sometimes they were both in the same country. As far as I can tell, Těšín and Cieszyn are pronounced the same way. It is about a 35 minute train ride from Ostrava, so my sister, who had never been to Poland, suggested we go there today, her first full day here.
Today it was cloudy, cold and rainy – as it has been for the past 4 months. I’ve just learned to go out anyway.
When we got to Těšín, I’ll be honest, I thought it was pretty nondescript and it would be a short trip, but who cared? It was only a half hour anyway.
But then we walked across the bridge to Cieszyn and it was a whole different ballgame. Yes! Castle ruins! This one had a big gate/tower and beautiful grounds to walk around in.
There were random pieces of art like rock sheep and a giant bike made of wicker, and ice cubes labeled with names of Polish women who did important things.
And then we found the castle brewery in an old brick underground space meant for a crowd, but with only a handful of people.I had a really dark beer that I thought would be on the sweet/caramely side like Guiness. But it was so bitter it made me cringe and I couldn’t finish it.
We ended with food and I had forgotten that Poland is the home of pierogies! Oh, beloved pierogies with dill!
I vowed to come back on a warmer, sunnier day, as it is so easy to get to and so much we haven’t seen. And bonus, there is a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, Andrew, who lives there and loves it.
Adventures in the Czech Republic 
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