How did Alena Schulz discover Mayres ?

By Anastazie Harris

(First visit to Mayres in November 1994)

“How did you discover Mayres?”

In Prague I met a student from the Vienna Film Academy and it was love at first sight. He told me he was going to “Shlavonitsch” to work as an assistant director on a film. He went there at the end of October and I visited him two weeks later. I arrived in Zlabings at eight o'clock in the evening when it was already dark. The next morning, I left the hotel and felt as if I had been transported five hundred years into the past; the town had captivated me. During filming, I was sitting in the "Besídka" restaurant and getting a bit bored when I read that one could spend the afternoon painting mugs in Mayres, a nearby village. After the first bend in the road - I was treated to a view of the entire village: fog, drizzle, swirling, rotting leaves, and Mayres looked as if it had been bombed. Tears welled up in my eyes and an inner voice said: "You're home!"

And I thought, "What home??? I'll never truly feel at home here! It's awful - it looks as if the war has just ended. But every time I travelled from Vienna to Prague, I passed through Mayres and Zlabings and met interesting people. I realized that my life could continue here. My inner voice was right.

"Why do you like Mayres?"

I’m used to it - I’ve lived here for almost thirty years. I bought a dilapidated farmhouse, renovated it and feel right at home. When I first came here, it was paradise on earth, practically deserted. My dog ​​ran along the road and I thought: pure nature, peace and quiet, and nice people working on their projects. I felt comfortable here. Now in the summer it’s a bit hectic and there are lots of tourists. But “I’m staying here - there’s no place more beautiful. I can’t go to the city. It’s too crowded for me.”