Prague and Salzburg

Prague ~

First of all, please note the link to my pictures on the sidebar to the right. You’ll need to sign up with Snapfish to view but it’s free and easy to do. I’ve captioned all the pictures and you can see them as a slide show.

The camera program was simple to get. I slid Mom’s camera card into the slot and Windows grabbed what it needed from the internet. How easy was that?

Friday was a long day of somewhat frustrating travel after a short night. We were met at the Prague train station by Jeff, the man of the home where we stayed the weekend. Bless his kind heart, he came all the way to the station to escort us to his home. It involved a seven-minute walk from his house to the bus stop, a fifteen-minute ride on a bus, and a fifteen- to twenty-minute ride on the metro to get to us. Then we rode the metro back to the bus, the bus back to his stop and then the seven-minute walk up to his house. Whew! I think it was about 11pm when we hit the beds.

Next morning, I woke up to hear Mom talking with Debi, the woman of the house, and thought, “Mom’s always first one up early,” and checked my watch. 10:30am. What?!

We had a bite to eat and did computer stuff; blog, train schedules, hostels, email, etc. At a late lunch, Debi asked if we wanted to tour Prague and offered to guide us. Rhonda and I jumped at the chance. Mom’s been here before and wasn’t interested in sore feet and aching legs. It was a beautiful afternoon and a beautiful city.

We rode the bus and metro to the National Theater (I called it the National Museum in the pictures and will change that) where you see the big horse statue. The long avenue down from there is Wenceslaus Square which you see in pictures of Soviet parades and student demonstrations in Prague.

From there, we went to another square that I don’t remember the name of but that’s where the Apostle Clock is. You ought to look that up, too. Interesting clock and interesting story about the man who designed it.

I can’t do the buildings justice. They were very old. Centuries old. Under Communism, they weren’t kept up very well and they were painted dull grey. Prague is now in a constant state of restoration. One of the pictures I posted has a huge advertisement across the front of a building. Debi told us that they figure if the building is going to have a great cloth covering it during restoration, they may as well put an advertisement on it.

Most of the buildings now are quite colorful and look in great repair. Rhonda and I gawked like the tourists we are.

We didn’t get to the castle because time was running out but what we saw made us want to return some day. I’m awed by the sheer passage of history that I saw before my eyes. I tried to grasp that where I stood, kings, nobles, and peasants had also stood in centuries gone by. The cobblestones on several streets were polished by a thousand years’ worth of horse hooves, nobles’ boots, peasants’ shoes, and wagon wheels. My footwear has very thin soles and I delighted to feel the smoothness beneath my feet. I would sort of twist or slide a little whenever we stopped just to feel it again.

Czech history is as varied and bloody as any European country. Their King Charles IV was the first Czech ruler to be made King of the Holy Roman Empire (which was neither Holy nor Roman, by the way). He was good for the country and made it prosper.

He rebuilt the Judith Bridge spanning the Vltava River and it’s now called the Charles Bridge. We crossed it - foot traffic only - and there were people performing with a box in front of each one for donations. One singer had a vibrato that I didn’t particularly enjoy but another young girl sang a stunning rendition of Ave Maria. Her pianist is blind and they sometimes sing in duet while the older one plays.

Also on the bridge is a sort of good-luck piece where legend says if you touch it, you’ll return to Prague. I don’t think my future depends on what I touch, so I passed by.

We wanted a flavor of Prague, so went into a little bakery sort of place and had an ice cream. Debi wasn’t too keen; she said the Czech version of ice cream is pretty much milk whipped as it was frozen and didn’t taste all that great. But she was pleasantly surprised by this one. Said it was much better than what she’d had before.

We had a very special Sunday worship meeting with Jeff and Debi. Dan, a Business English teacher from Nova Scotia, was also there for a total of six. Dan stayed for lunch afterwards and kept us entertained with his stories and provocative political questions. He told us of how he was escorted out of Germany last July by two policeman because his new driver’s license had no picture. He had his old, expired one with a picture but the two together weren’t enough. When Jeff asked how they could do that, Dan explained that they had the guns and he didn’t. He had quite a few stories to tell and we enjoyed hearing them.

Sunday afternoon was quiet and slow. Some napped, some took a walk, some worked online, some did all of the above. We had a good time getting to know Jeff and Debi who left their families and homeland (Washington State) to come to Czech Republic so the ministers here could have a home base instead of a dinky apartment. Just like what Don and Dudu are doing in Hungary.

Rhonda and I stayed up almost long enough to meet Peter, one of the ministers here in Czech Republic. He was an hour late getting in because the train before him had hit a person. I don’t know any more of the particulars than just that. He was coming from Vienna and walked in the door around 10:30pm. But not to worry. He got up at 5am when we did, walked us down to the bus stop, and saw us off. So we got to know him just a little.

I’m getting pretty good hopping on and off public transport and reading train/tram/bus schedules. My balance is better on the busses where the driver…well…..drives…..and the passengers stagger around.

Quick note before I move on: We’re on the train to Salzburg, stopped in a town called České Budéjovice. There’s a man on the platform sweeping it clean….but sweeping toward the wall of the building. One wonders why he doesn’t sweep it all off the edge of the platform onto the rails…

České Budéjovice, by the way, is where Budweiser Beer originally originated….or so I’m told by a reputable source. I guess the water is special there and makes for a good beer. I wouldn’t know. I don’t like beer.

Another first:
Purchased something in a language I cannot speak. Never mind that the lady was used to tourists, I purchased two postcards for 16 koruny - about one dollar. The exchange right now is $1 USD = 18 Koruny. They call them crowns in English. So each rather nice postcard was about 50 cents.



Now for the language lesson:
I figured the marks above the letters meant a different sound than without the marks. I was right. A line (or accent mark although it doesn’t mean to accent the syllable) means to draw out the sound a little longer. A mark like a carot pointed down over a “c” (č) makes it say “ch”. Over a “t” makes it say “tyuh”, over an “s” makes it say “sh”, over a “j” makes it say “yoi”, over a “z” makes it say “zh” (like a soft “j”), and over the “r“ makes a “zh“ sound together with a rolled “rr“ as in Spanish. There’s one over an “e” but I didn’t ask what it did. A “c” alone makes a “ts” sound like the German “z”; a “ch” makes a “hyuh” like the German “ch”.

Once you figure out what each letter makes, it’s easy enough to pronounce the words. Knowing what they mean is a whole kettle of fish of another color.

Also, Prague is only pronounced that way by foreigners. They and the surrounding countries pronounce and spell it “Praha”. They also pronounce and call their country Česka Republika.

“Yes” is “ano” and “No” is “ne”. I didn’t ask for any other words although I should have.

We rode the metro long enough that I’ve memorized the words that sound like Peet-soo Anat-soo. It means “get on” and get off”. They say the phrase “The train is leaving, so get on or get off.” When I asked Debi what they were saying, she told me, “Get in or out, Stupid!” Which, I guess, is what really is being said when you strip off the politeness…..

Jeff and Debi live in a suburb north of Prague called Prúhonice (I’m pretty sure that’s how you spell it) and pronounced “Pro-hoo-neet-say.

We rose at 4:45am to make the 5:30 bus and rode it back to the metro station. We caught the metro in good time and rode to the train station where we had to wait for about half an hour before our train information came up on the reader board. That gave me plenty of time to people-watch - my second-favorite pastime (reading being my first).

When we were on the metro, Rhonda unobtrusively pointed to a lady’s shoulder bag by my feet. I looked down and saw a small dog’s head through the zipped mesh closing the bag. A small dog was inside the equivalent of a canvas shopping bag!

There were a couple of drunks asleep on a bench in the train station a short distance away from us. Sound asleep, leaning forward, arms on thighs, and I wondered why they didn’t topple head-first onto the concrete floor. Why do drunks have better balance than the average sober person? Any sober person would have long fallen off it they tried to perch like those guys did. Along came a couple of young police and stopped in front of the one closest to us. They addressed him and got no answer. They spoke a little louder. No response. One of the policemen kicked his foot. The guy exploded awake looking for a fight, saw the uniforms and quickly subsided. A couple minutes later, I noticed he was dozing off again, slumped forward, arms on thighs but not falling off the bench. He was still there when we left.

I’ve read about derelicts and imagined what they’d look like. I saw one this morning in that station. Longish white hair, beard, and moustache going every direction, rheumy eyes, shaking hands, unsteady gait, too-big pants held up with a belt (or it might have been a bit of rope), and worn-out shirt. I was so amazed that I didn’t have a chance to look at his feet before he was past us and around the corner.

We traveled through some bee-yooo-tiful country on the train from Prague to Salzburg. I took a ton of pictures. Same deal as from Vienna to Prague. I looks like it could be Anywhere, USA but there’s something different that I can’t put my finger on.

We are now in Salzburg, Austria and will stay the night. There is internet here but it costs 1 Euro/hour. Not a bad price. The Cyber Café charges 3 Euros/hour. So I may decide to be on the internet for three hours, but not more than that.

We walked the old part of Salzburg. Again, it was amazing to think that Mozart likely ran down this street right were I was standing

We also walked across the river twice (to old town and back) and we went to the Scloss Mirabell. I have no idea how any family could live in a house (castle) that big. You’d need servants for the servants! The formal gardens there are just beautiful. Box hedges, dusty miller, marigolds, begonias, fountains, statues…..wow.

We leave tomorrow around 10am and go to Yverdon, Switzerland by way of Zürich. I’ve been in three large European cities now and they each feel different.

Hungary seems a little more scrappy. A little more “things could happen here so hang on to your purse and passport”. Still awakening from the stupor of Communism.

Prague seemed steeped in history and struggle. Of a people freed to become what they aspire to be.

Salzburg seemed to me to have more of a small-town feel; a place of music; gentleness.

Three great cities - three people having a great time.