Entries about prague

This morning included a sleep in for all of us, a welcome change to the routine after several busy days. As Ben was needing a rest and Hannah elected to stay home and draw, it was Abby and I who ventured into the city this time. We elected to stay outside Prague for two reasons: we felt we would appreciate the country’s change of pace and it was a lot cheaper to stay a bit outside of Prague. We drove into the city in the afternoon, found our favourite ‘park and ride’ lot and headed for the metro. It’s a snap to get into the heart of the historical district and we can make it there from our home in 40 minutes. Prague has a nice metro option that lets you ride anywhere for 30 minutes for only a dollar (fifty cents for Abby) so it’s hard not to go that route. Today’s visit to the city included meandering around the streets, visiting shops when they called loudly enough to us. When I said I wanted to poke my head into the Church of Our Lady before Týn, Abby rolled her eyes and said ‘Another church?’ I told her I would be quick, and I was, just staying long enough to take in the many beautiful gilt baroque altars and Tycho Brahe’s grave. I, too, am becoming satiated with baroque and just on the eve of going to Vienna, which is poor timing! Maybe I have a few more baroque buildings in me yet.

The first stop (real stop, in Abby’s mind) was the Gastronomy Museum, an eclectic collection of write ups, still life kitchen models, pictures and culinary equipment traversing the history of eating and cooking from our first ancestors up to the present day. There were big gaps in the spectrum but one could still glean interesting tidbits here and there. Abby particularly liked all the information on the prehistoric world (even though she’s considering relinquishing her carnivore heritage once we get back to Victoria). I enjoyed seeing some of the interesting utensils and reading the intriguing quotes about gastronomy: “The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity than the discovery of a new star.” “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.” “A host who cannot carve is equally shameful as an owner of a library who cannot read.” And one just for Ben: The characteristics of good beer, according to Czech brewer František Ondřej Poupě are as follows: “It must quench the thirst and replace the missing moisture in the body as well as be filling, but it must not cause wind or constipation. It must strengthen even the fatigued body, excrete urine in ratio to the delight, also with semolina to prevent stone formations, encourage bowel movements and a warm stomach and not chill as many beers do.” I’d say that’s a tall order! Ben would say let’s have another one to assess it again. At the end of the tour, we’re able to taste a tiny meringue and have a very tiny glass of mead. I didn’t care for either while Abby took a strong liking to both. It just shows the effect a father’s drinking genes can have on a child.

Since we still had some kronos in our pockets, we chose to extend our culinary experiences by having a real sit-down dinner. Going on the recommendation of someone on the internet, we stepped into a smoky Czech restaurant. Abby selected the goat cheese gnocchi while I went for a more traditional Czech dish, slices of beef covered in gravy and topped with cranberry jam and cream. It was served with sliced bread dumplings. Both dishes were delicious and we were quite satisfied with them and a salad. It’s very fun trying the dishes of various countries as they combine foods and flavours in ways you wouldn’t necessarily consider yourself. Abby and I enjoyed our ‘mom and daughter time,’ I very aware that this was something to be cherished and hopefully still scheduled once we get back home. With that, we concluded the evening, reversing our route to get back to our homebodies.

This morning as we emerged from the Prague subway Muriel asked me for the camera so she could photograph an optical illusion that occurs on the subway escalator. Everyone appears to be leaning backwards at such a preposterous angle that they are in danger of falling over backwards. As soon as Muriel said, “camera,” I realized I had forgotten it at home. After a daily ritual of over 250 days, I had put our family camera in an unfamiliar location and charged our camera in obscure outlet in our dining area. With no visual cues, I completely forgot to pack it along for our outing.

At first it felt like the day would be akin to travelling without a memory. Without photographs how was I going to document our day, how was I going to remember? In some ways it felt like an extension of my body had been removed. I also felt partly blind. In reality, I had been given an opportunity, albeit very late in our trip, to view or surroundings very differently. Looking around me I saw everyone else observing their surroundings completely through their camera lens. Even before they understood what they were looking at, they had photographed it. On some days that was me. I would be so preoccupied with documenting the moment for posterity’s sake that I didn’t really comprehend. It left me wondering how my photography would change if I spend more time initially observing with my naked eye?

If a picture is worth a thousand words and we take anywhere between 50 and 150 photographs on a sightseeing day, I should conservatively be writing a 50,000 word blog post today in order to make up for the lost visuals. Hannah and Abby note that my blog posts are long-winded so don’t despair dear readers, I won’t be permitted to make up the pictorial deficit with words.

Our first destination of the day was Prague Castle. We entered a gate which had a ceremonial guard posted on either side. As we lingered there a group of ten teenage girls started posing around one of the soldiers. They edged closer and closer to the young officer trying to top each other in their silly poses and conduct. As their antics and incomprehensible comments began to take on the appearance of outright mocking of the guard, Muriel stepped in. Despite the language gap Muriel gave them a stern tongue lashing and a lesson on respect. She didn’t stick around to see if lecture prompted a change in their behaviour but by tone alone the girls were quite clear on what they had just been told. I certainly am proud to married to this plucky Canadian girl who just can’t stand by and do nothing at the sight of injustice.

After Muriel’s defence of the castle troops we passed through the north gate and took in Saint Vitus Cathedral which stands in its midst of the castle complex. We found that several hundred tourists had the same idea. The cathedral is in a neogothic style and of gargantuan dimensions. Since it took so long to construct (nearly 600 years), the stained glass windows are quite modern with the last of them being completed in the 1930s. Saint Vitus is considered the most important church in the Czech Republic not only because it is the burial place of its kings but because it visually depicts the entire religious history of the Czechs starting with the story of Christ. One could stare at the interior and exterior of this edifice for days and not take in all the stories it conveys.

The neighbourhood around the main Palace is an amazing collection of houses built by the nobility and high ranking clerics who wanted to have direct access to the monarchy. Think of it as the Czech Beverly Hills of the 1600s. At the outer edge of this neighbourhood we had a light lunch in a simple cafe. It was interesting to watch how a couple of labourers spent their lunch break. They ordered no food but each had a two ounce shot of hard liquor followed by a large bottle of beer. Halfway through their beer they both had another two ounce shot. I am not sure how productive they were going to be that afternoon but by the look of their ruddy complexions I think they were just wetting their whistles for serious drinking after work.

In the afternoon we took in our second mini museum of our trip. We visited one in Hungary and Hannah had put this one on her wish list for Prague as a result. As with the previous museum, the set up was a bit quirky and the admission price at odds with diminutive theme. Despite this, Muriel expressed a grudging respect for the Siberian artist who created all these works, a sentiment which I have to echo. Among the odd items on display were a metal replica of the Eiffel Tower placed inside a cherry stone, the Lord’s Prayer printed on a strand of hair, a flea shod with metal horseshoes and holding a lock and key, two metal ships floating on a mosquito’s wing and several metal swans mounted on a poppy seed.

After our considering all things small we looked for a contrasting experience. We walked through the hillside Petrin park overlooking Prague and climbed the tower of the same name to take in some magnificent views of the city. The resemblance between Prague and Budapest is uncanny. Prague is merely a more compact version of Budapest with much narrower streets and a smaller river flowing through it. The tower itself, which was built in 1891, is like a mini version of the Effiel Tower without an elevator. The 299 steps to the top led to a fairly crowded and stuffy observation area at the top. Muriel chose not to linger lest she be tempted to toss a few of the more exhausted looking climbers out the window to reduce the temperature and humidity on the deck.

Upon our descent from the tower, we enjoyed the cool shade of the park below and stopped for some refreshments. It was there that we saw street entertainment that I believe parents of young children would all be willing to generously support. A man with a number of buckets of soap solution was creating huge bubbles non-stop. He was surrounded by kids chasing and popping the bubbles. He never let up the whole time we were there. Parents just relaxed on nearby benches and chatted with their spouses as if for the first time in years and a few wandered over to the nearby canteen to buy a cold beer. It would seem that these parents, let alone the kids, would remember this interlude as their most enjoyable time of their entire vacation in Prague.

Today was our first day in Prague, so we decided not to make a plan of things to see, but rather just take in more of the town. We started off quite early, and after one metro trip we were already in the city. We walked towards the river at first, looking at the shops as well as the buskers. Along the streets and bridges there were people selling art, as well as a variety of different music being played. One group consisted of three men in overalls playing the washboard, a guitar, a horn, the cymbals, and a few other instruments. Lots of the singers that we heard were singing English songs, such as Hound Dog and Folsom Prison Blues. Another man was playing various songs on a group of crystal glasses with different amounts of water in them. He was selling some of his CD's nearby as well, but they weren't selling too fast.

After we finished walking to the bridge with went to a nearby square to look for something to eat. It took us a while, but 45 minutes later we had located the local snack we were looking for. Smažený sýr, which literally translates into "fried cheese", is a Czech version of our grilled cheese sandwich. It is cheese that is breaded and fried, and then put in a bun with mayo. I added ketchup as well, to make it a little more like the version I was used to, but we all enjoyed them despite the differences.

After lunch we wandered over to the gardens of Prague Senate for a little rest. While we were there we were visited by a peahen (female peacock) which gave off a little bit of a show in the middle of the shrubbery. Right beside the garden is a famous wall called The Grotto/Dripstone Wall. It is a wall of odd looking rocks, which have animals and faces carved in between them. It was a very odd but interesting thing to look at. Back in the gardens we were able to have a look at the paintings on the Czech Senate building, which were scenes depicting the Trojan War, painted by an unknown artist. We wandered around the maze of hedged for a little while, stopping at a fountain will a statue of Hercules slaying a dragon in the middle. The little pond was crowded with giant fish, and we were able to see a large amount of them come up to the surface when a young boy started throwing bits of his bread of the edge of the pool.

This was our last stop though, and we walked back the metro station and then back to our car. We had a picnic dinner of sandwiches and soup on our front lawn, and had a little chat with the husband of our host. We finished the evening off with an emotional West Wing before bed, to rest up for our next day in Prague.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sma%C5%BEen%C3%BD_s%C3%BDr

We left the very pleasant city of Olomouc after having a final mid-morning stroll through its cobble-stoned streets. In terms of mainstream tourism this former royal capital and ecclesiastical metropolis appears to be somewhat off the beaten track. Throughout our time here the streets have been sleepy and the shops selling bric-a-brac, few. At its height this city was as great as any of the capitals of Europe. At a different time in our travels we would have been much more willing and enthusiastic about plunging into its history. However, over the past few weeks we are avoiding history burnout and have kept museum visits to a minimum and have been content just letting the architecture and streetscapes speak for themselves. Olomouc had a lot to say whenever we were ready to listen. As you have gathered from our last two blog posts we have chosen to listen less to the past and have foregone haute-culture in favour of taking in more light-hearted present day fare. This too has been great fun. Our trip has been like having 30 different vacations back-to-back.

We drove west for a little over three hours today. We are still in the Czech Republic and staying just about 15 minutes from the outer limits of Prague. We are in Tursko, a sleepy village of 700 people. It boasts one restaurant and one grocery store. It is a village without any intuitive layout. That the restaurant and grocery store in such a tiny place are hard to find is testament to this fact.

Our accommodation is the bottom floor of a house. The owners built a new upper storey and have rented out the downstairs for the past few years. We have three bedrooms which is a treat for the girls. The quirky tiling and woodwork defy description and I am not sure photographs really do the combined effect justice. Let’s just say this place is a one-of-a-kind creation. I just hope that whoever chose the finishing materials was just being frugal rather than trying to fulfil a dream of being an interior decorator. All that said, this place is close to perfection where it counts. It has wireless Internet, secured parking, the much coveted appliance trifecta of dishwasher, washing machine, and microwave and a stocked fridge (contents included four half litre bottles of Czech Beer and a bottle of Russian Vodka) all for $81 Canadian a night. Only Abby feels short-changed because our home lacks a toaster. I guess she will just have to drink up.