Tracy A. Burns has lived in the Czech lands for almost 30 years and has spent a lot of time traveling throughout the country and beyond, especially to Italy. She has published articles, essays, stories and reviews in English, Czech and Slovak. Her writings in English have appeared in Mainly Museums, The Washington Post, The Prague Post, Czech Business Weekly, Kosmas and others. She has many travel articles on the Prague blog of Private Prague Guide and has also contributed to Suitcase Stories, Offbeat Travel and other online publications. Her work in Czech has been printed in Reflex, Listy, Literární noviny, Lidové noviny and numerous other publications. Her articles in Slovak have been published in the daily SME, the former bi-weekly Mosty and the weekly Literární noviny. She is also a proofreader who has tackled topics such as criminology, sociology, theatre, self-help, German literature in English and sports. She is a contributing author to the book The Arena Adventure (Arena Stage Press, 1990). She has also edited an art catalogue for Prague’s National Gallery. Her black cat is named after the first First Lady of the Czech Republic, Olga Havlová, called Olinka. Her late black cats were named after first First Lady of Czechoslovakia, Charlotte (called Šarlota) Garrigue Masaryková and the legendary Czech author Bohumil Hrabal.
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Tracy's Travels 
Great Blog!!!
Lovely blog, Tracy! Thanks for connecting with us on Twitter! Keep up the great work and travel safe!
Thank you for your kind words. I enjoy reading your posts on Twitter.
Sadly haven’t made it to Czech yet but that’s to your blog I can start exploring it!
Thank you for your kind words. I hope you will have the chance to visit the Czech Republic soon.
I am spending a couple weeks in Central Bohemia (Votice) this summer so I appreciate finding your blog … hope to find a bunch of interesting ideas here. My interests are hiking, history, cultural traditions, food, and drink.
I hope you saw some intriguing and magical places during your stay in Central Bohemia. Thanks for your comment.
Pretty cool website, lots of great stories
Thank you for your kind comment.
I liked your blogs on Slatinany and Zleby very much.
Just one small correction to the family history of the Auersperg owners: the family did not die out with Ferdinand, last surviving son of Franz Josef; Franz Josef Auersperg had two brothers, one of them my grandfather Eduard.
After the Anschluss [1938] Austrian-owned estates could not be entailed [handed over tax free to the eldest living member of the family], and Karl Trauttmansdorff, married to the sister of the unmarried heir Ferdinand Auersperg, claimed – and won – the Czech estates Zleby, Slatinany, Tupadly and Nassaberg in the name of his wife Marie after the unexpectedly early death of Ferdinand in 1942.
However, as my grandfather and his numerous descendants were also Austrian at the end of the war, the estates would have been confiscated by the state in any case.
The Czech state has been a superior custodian of the castles [except for Tupadly, which is in a sorry state] and has looked after them better than the family would have been able to considering their reduced circumstances after the war.
January 2015
J. Auersperg
Dear Mr. Auersperg, I am very pleased that you liked my articles. I am fascinated by both Zleby and Slatinany. Thank you very much for the correction, and thank you again for your kind words.
A very interesting & informative blog. Thanks for connecting with me on Twitter.
Hi there!
Hi there!
My name is Jess and I’m a travel podcast producer and host based out of NYC with a company called BreakThruRadio. I’d love to have you on my show as a guest speaker to chat about your Czech adventures!
If you’d be interested in speaking with me please send me a reply back along with some idea of availability over the next couple weeks.
Thanks so much for your time and consideration!
Jess Goulart
Hi Tracy, Lena Knilli (my wife since 1999 and mother of my 2 daughters) and I are sitting in a cafe in Montpellier and just thinking of the rather remarkable people that we learned Czech with from pani Blahova way back
when, including you. Great to see you are still connected with Praha. We have been living in Wien since 2001 (moved there from Prague), but remain in touch with friends in Prague and elsewhere. Best regards
Hi Andreas, I wrote to you on your office email address. It is great to hear from you and Lena. I just wrote to pani Blahova that you had contacted me, and she said to say hi. I keep in touch with her often. I will send you some of my feuilletons in Czech to your work email. I used to write in Czech for some magazines before I started focusing on travel writing in English.
Hello Tracy!
I am a big fan of your blog. I am a leaving certificate history student in Ireland, and am doing a project on the self-immolation of Jan Palach, the Prague reforms, and the Warsaw Pact. I would be very interested in hearing any information or insight you might have to share regarding these topics.
Many Thanks!
I don’t think I have any excellent insights, but I can tell you that, when I lived in Zizkov, I walked once a week to Olsany Cemetery, where I placed a flower on Jan Palach’s grave for his brave sacrifice. If you give me your email address, I can write you more at the end of next week. I will be away for a few days. My email is taburns25@gmail.com. I would be glad to hear from you. Thank you for liking the blog. I will be posting more content soon and more often. Thanks again. Feel free to contact me.
Hi Emma, I just wrote to you, but the comment got erased. I don’t think I have any excellent insights, but, when I lived in Zizkov, I visited Jan Palach’s grave once a week to place a flower on it as I recognized his great sacrifice for the nation. I will have more time to write to you at the end of next week. Thanks for liking the blog. I will be publishing more content more often soon. Feel free to contact me at taburns25@gmail.com.