Prague

As my last post was getting pretty long, I thought maybe I should dedicate a special post to a very spectacular special place. We spent the last two days of our week in Czech in Prague. Here's a few pics.

The Jewish Quarter. This clock is above a synagogue. This small area was where Jews in WW2 were confined before being deported to concentration camps.

A huge church. Even though communism was strong here, there is a very strong presence of religion, in the churches and also a lot of statues dedicated to Roman Catholic saints.

This is the building where Einstein was professor!

Typical Czech food. Dough balls that are deep fried, and then covered in caramel sauce on the left. The rigiht shows dough that is wrapped around a metal turning stick above a fire and slowly roated. Delish!

Prague from above the city

The King's castle overlooking the town.

Val-pal :)

We had a boat tour which was nice, as it was in English! Woohoo!

Crosses on a bridge

An photo from 50 years ago. This massive statue overlooked the city. The statue was torn down, and replaced by a metronome, symbolizing the passing and change of time.

Typical houses in the richer area of town.

Front seat in the bus, right beside the driver! Woop woop!

Heading home after walking around the city for about 8 hours

Modern glass building beside the old square concrete structures of communism.

Huge cathedral.

Changing of the guard. Even today there is a very strong presence of the military in this area. Army trucks go along the street regularly, and Police also are everywhere. They are known to be corrupt, often accepting bribes.

I think a shot fit for a travel magazine!

Isn't he so handsome? He wouldn't come back with me unfortunately. (This is me trying to kiss him, in case you can't tell. It's hard to keep from smiling when kissing this handsome man!)

Beautiful beautiful buildings. The center of Prague is very touristy. One can get a sense of the tourist culture there, as almost every shop is named 'Souvenir shop'. Here again we got a bit lost, but got a much better sense of the city.

Handmade goods, sold for very cheap.

We found an opening in a wall, and it lead to a tower overlooking the river!

Aging walls. I overheard someone explain that the darker area was the more Greek style (I think?). Afterwards a more medieval style was plastered over top.

"The memorial to the victims of communism is dedicated to all victims, not only those who were jailed or executed but also those whose lives wereruined by totalitarian despotism."

This was the memorial.

The Prague Éiffel Tower'

American Embassy in Prague

Hot dog vendor. These small tourist stalls lined the streets of the new city. It was so much geared towards tourists, that I could not get a sense of what Prague was like walking through this area.

Live music on the bridge

Here is the view from the tower, mentioned above.

Just before this we were sitting and resting in a park when two people came and practised their slack-lining (tight rope walking). One of them was amazing, doing flips and belly flops on the rope. We also gave it a try. It brought back high-school memories, as we also had a slack line at school. Pretty fun! I really enjoy meeting locals as this is how one can get a better sense of the culture. Most of the people we met on official tours with the bus people were very posh and cultured, many even from America. However, when we wandered out of the main tourist district we saw so many hippies walking around. The Bohemian style of dress also originates from this area (quite hippie looking as well.) It was pretty neat!

On the way back we had to wait for the rest of our group to finish thier dinner. We waited in the children's play area :) The only down side: The balls were not very deep. Thus I have a very swollen elbow from diving in.

We spent the weekend at a camp with about 25 young people from church. I don't have pictures, but it was a pretty great weekend as well. It's a bit awkward for me not knowing Dutch very well, but everyone is so kind and they speak English pretty well also. All in all a great week!

All the best,

Kim

First impressions of Czech Republic

 

Recently Val and I found a good deal on a trip to Prague, Czech Republic. On first thought it may seem like an odd tourist destination. However, I have always wanted to see the Bohemian area, especially for its nature. The city of Prague also comes up time and again in my history textbooks, going through centuries of violence, then communism and WW2. It is a city weathered by the winds of time, grey and drab to the outward appearance but inside there lives a people that have learned to survive despite all this.

 

We arrived at our hotel (an old school for the children of the head officials in the communism system) after a 10 hour drive through Germany and the Netherlands. Val and I couldn't wait to explore, so we couldn't help going out and walking down a nature trail to the lake at night, especially after seeing the beauty of this land through the bus windows. We were not disappointed!

On the tourism website this trip was advertised as 'Stedent trip'. I assumed this meant there would be a lot of students and young people. I was in for a bit of a suprise when our bus tour contained 122 pairs of eyes, all of whom were over 50 and retired. As we walked down the bus aisle to the back we kept hearing the words 'twee meisches!' We were quite popular, in any case!

Early the next morning we took a bus trip to a small town nearby. This fortress was along our way. Notice that the only way up to this fortress is in between the two rocks, but the middle area is also blockaded by a barrier making the fortress pretty much impenetrable.

A typical Czech breakfast (plus American granola and yogurt!)

We saw so many statues everywhere. Quite typical of communism I think. As it has only been a short time since the communism system has been abolished in this area, many of the old statues still remain, giving voice to the people at that time. Most of the statues include symbols of violence, and many show people/animals being stabbed.

A typical town in this area. Many colorful homes line the streets. The average wage in Czech Republic is 250 euros per month (about 325 dollars or so). It is an area that is segregated in striking colors between rich and poor. One thing that really amazed me is that there was almost nobody outside. We could drive for 15 minutes through these towns without seeing a single person (it was 9:00 am).

They use brick, covered in a type of plaster, in order to make their homes. This building together with many others, burned down perhaps even several years ago. They still sit like this in the middle of the town.

 

I tried to get a picture of a certain man who was very striking in appearance. I didn't want to be rude, and the picture I did get was quite blurry, so I will have to describe him to you instead. He was slighty stooped as he leaned against the crumbling brick wall, smoking his cigar. His thick brown hair draped down the sides of his face, mingling with his beard which reached his waist. He was not old in years, although he seemed so by how slowly he walked. He was wearing camo pants and shirt, and stood in front of an faded sign marked 'Museum'. I think this is such a perfect picture of the place. Tired and weary of struggle, they have learned to simply exist to survive. But at the same time they love their nature, and small trails can be seen absolutely everywhere along the roadside. They are a quiet and withdrawn people, liking tourists for the money they bring into the country but not smiling or talking to tourists unless they must. The lawns are untendended, the window shutters moan downwardes over grey tiles, tiles which are engraved in elaborate rich designs, now barely discernible beneath the moss.

And they make the most beautiful things. We went to a glass factory, where glass is hand-blown. This old wheelbarrow carries a wealth of beauty in the factory's wasted glass.

First a small drop of glass is put on the end of a hollow stick. The ball is heated to a bright orange, then blown a little to expand. It is turned into this mould to give a circular shape.

Then it is blown some more until it is the desired size. It is once again put into the mould, then it is is finished. The two young girls in the old people tour group were pretty popular also with the men at the  factory, so we kept getting asked to blow the glass!

It is put in this area to cool off and harden. The entire process takes about 2 minutes.

Here are some examples of glass jugs.

 

It was so warm in there! The guys working would go through huge amounts of beer. The average person in Czech Republic drinks 6 glasses a day (this is also taking into account small children and old people!) But how many work places do you come across where you can drink beer (and smoke) while you work?! I don't know why this isn't a cross-cultural thing...

For Easter, we saw these sponge cakes in the shape of sheep everywhere! This poor guy became a hungry student's dinner. Yep, back to typical student dinners!

For the afternoon we went to the Bohemian paradise. Huge chunks of granite rose sharply out of the ground. A trial led to and through them, sometimes through very narrow channels in the wall.

We were supposed to take the ýellow trail' but these two girls were a little more adventurous and agile than the old people. This is the highest point of the area, ahem on the 'red trail' I must say, but with incredible views! The only view from up here on my camera is of my face for some reason. But its pretty much the only view that matters right...? ;)

Striking natural beauty everywhere

On the bus, writing about the day.

Our bus drivers were a  few years older than us, and a ton of fun. We spent a lot of time with them. This night there was a dance with live Dutch music. We drank 65% alcohol (kind of rummish tasting), and watched the old people. I think this picture was taken by one of them at some point... at least I definitley did not take it! These two were pretty popular as well with the old folks, so at some point they were hauled off thier chairs to join the dance. We also joined in this crazy dance. Basically the Dutch way of dancing is to put your hands on the person's shoulders who is in front of you, and walk around the room a few times singing loudly along with the music. We joined the old people who sang in Dutch, laughing pretty hard at the whole experience!

On our last night we decided to light a fire on the beach and roast some hot dogs. However, just before we were going to head off some of the old people were complaining that they didn't get desert. They were a few minutes late for their desert, and the Czech way is to simply toss the desert in the garbage promptly at 8:00 if there is no one around. The people who arrived two minutes late were simply out of luck. Very interesting culture. So of course everyone had to call the bus drivers who tried to appease everyone. It wasn't working, so they decided it was time to 'fix the bus'. Aka run to the bus, grab some gasoline, beer and chips and escape behind the bus to the beach :) I do hope none of the old folks read this... Anyway, it was a really fun night. I saw the Milky way for the first time since leaving Canada, and a campfire on the sandy beach with good company was pretty much the perfect evening.

 

Stay tuned for part 2!