Christmas Displays in Brno

While I can't say that I actually went hunting for intimations of Christmas during recent visits to Brno, I did come up with a few photos of seasonal (or not so seasonal) displays. Behold, for example, the Brno Tesco in its glory! (The Prague Tesco has a similar decoration.)


I have no recollection what this window was for, but I like the combination of the red ornaments and the lion. Incongruity has its appeal...

There were not all that many snowmen about (perhaps because the temperatures have been remarkably warm in both Prague and Brno) but I found these.

There is probably nothing at all Christmas-like about this guy, but he does seem very Czech in his slippers. I don't think you will find a Czech household without its slipper and house-shoe collection. Mine has been found lacking since I only have one pair of slippers.

I'm curious whether anyone will buy these for Christmas, but I don't suppose I will find out.
In the meantime, Hubert had his going-away party in the midst of remarkable chaos (the entire flat has been repainted and his roommates are moving things around), and has reached the US safely but somewhat the worse for wear from what he told me this afternoon.
I too have been worse for wear since the going-away party (a cold and sore throat), but recovered sufficiently to venture to the library today, where I photographed two volumes of Reflektor. This periodical does not relate all that closely to my dissertation (although vol. 4 featured advice for some readers with VD and for one person who was told to sleep on a cold, hard bed and avoid stimulants of all kinds), but it has an interesting layout, with numerous photos of Communist demonstrations and "primitive" people doing their hair or hanging out in front of their huts. There was also a photo of Lenin on his deathbed, six years after the event. (Well, as a commemoration of the anniversary. I believe Lenin's body had been moved to the mausoleum in the meantime.)
In addition to the library venture, I managed to buy paper and printer ink despite the holiday crowds, so as to print out a copy of the dissertation just in case anything dreadful happens to the hard drive. Remind me never again to buy inkjet ink in the Czech Republic; its exorbitant cost in the US must be about doubled here.