Bohemian Rhapsody

Rhapsodic, perhaps not, but enjoyable to say the least! After Hungary, the family went to Prague for a few days, to get a feel for the city. Here is the Old Town Square (most famous, I believe):

Hard Rock Cafe

 

 Though Budapest was decidedly Mom's favorite city, Prague was Dad's. He mentioned how much he loved the old buildings and the grime that made it all more "real". Well, cool. I can't help but agree, though I may have put it differently.

We enjoyed ourselves, though it was rainier than in Budapest or Vienna. We had one good day, one rainy day (when we went to see Prague Castle) and it was quite a bit colder - though, Prague is rather farther north than Budapest.  

We watched the Astronomical Clock, as everyone who visits Prague does. It's so beautiful and amazingly accurate, to miss it would be sacrilege, really, to the code of the traveler.
























We did most of the touristy things - the Jewish quarter, Prague castle, lots of walking; we did not make it to the Kafka museum before it closed, sadly, but it was not a total bust: we drank plenty of beer!

Old Town Hall

One of the places we went to was a pub devoted to Vlad the Impaler. I know, I know! You're thinking, "What?!?! That's worse than those vampire nuts!" Well, it was Mom's suggestion, and right across from our guesthouse, so we figured, why not? It was an unexpected good time.

not the vampire bar, just the absinth museum

The bar was not actually open for business, but the door was unlocked, and the owner and his friends were smoking pot and playing X-box games when we came in. We really were just going to head right back out and find a different place down the road, but the owner insisted we sit down and make ourselves comfortable. He didn't know a lot of English, but he knew enough. He ran out to the store (or maybe even to his own apartment) and brought us back bottles of beer.

How could we refuse him when he went to all that trouble? The walls were all in red, and there were framed posters of Vlad, plus some medieval reproductions on the walls and other posters of vampires (none from Twilight) which made me think of some of my sister's goth-obsessed friends from high school. But just vaguely.

Another crazy interlude was a transvestite strip club we happened upon while looking for a restroom and/or a place to have dinner. I wanted to go to the Rilke cafe (named after the poet), but it was too expensive - or so everyone else said. Mom walked further down the street to this little hole-in-the-wall place, which turned out to be the transvestite strip club. It was only about 6 PM, and they were not really open for business. I think the bouncer tried to convince Mom it was not a family place (thus discouraging her) in Czech, but she couldn't understand him. Turns out, the pole in the middle of a stage, off the dining room, was proof enough - no explanation necessary.

I rented an apartment again for us, since it's so much cheaper than a hotel. In Europe, you can't have more than two adults in a hotel room without having to pay a tax (or pay for another room), but if you stay in a "guesthouse" you can circumvent that and pay less - so we did. This one in Prague was unfortunately grungier than the one in Budapest (and for some reason run by Pakistanis) but it was comfortable enough...and they had cats! 

We saw two, both of which came into our apartment because of the rain. We couldn't get rid of them! And they looked just like our cats - one was black and one was a tiger cat - a boy and girl. I named the boy Clemens (male derivative of Clementine, or Tina for short) and the other one Julia II (for our black cat Julia). Julia II is expecting kittens, and we're pretty sure we know who the father is...

Sam and Clemens

Julia II

Here are some more pictures of the Charles Bridge, the Jewish quarter, and Prague Castle, including the King Solomon's restaurant (which I thought was distasteful, but Mom thought was funny):

Golem?

Mom, Dad and Sam leave for home today. I'm leaving Austria myself soon. Wondering at the moment if I can get in everything I need to, since today is Corpus Christi, and (like all Catholic holidays in Austria) nothing is open. I'm obliged to put off everything to tomorrow before I go to the airport. Einfach ist das Leben nicht!

Die Goldene Stadt

I just got back from a weekend in Prague with Jake and Jen. It was a lot of fun. I sort of did the same things I did last time in Prague. I felt strangely familiar with the city, actually, and since neither of them had been to Prague before, I played tour guide - much to my surprise.



Unfortunately, since it's December and getting pretty cold outside, and since winter is fast approaching and there is less and less daylight the closer we get to the winter solstice, this trip was quite a bit different than the one I went on last year. It might even be a good idea to explain why I did go. Well, ever year for Maria Empfängnis, that is, the Immaculate Conception (and basically every other Catholic holiday), Austria calls off school. In that way, it's a good opportunity to travel. But it is still in December.



Last year at this time, I went to visit Sarah in Poland. The weather this year was much more convenient for traveling - warmer. We haven't had any snow yet, not a flake! It has been cold enough to snow, but that gray, cloudy Vienna sky clears out every time the temperature drops - and then darkens again above freezing for rain.



ANYWAY, here are some photos from Prague. All of the Christmas decorations were out, and Christmas markets, too! Exciting stuff - and a bit like we hadn't left Vienna in that way. But of course, the fare is different, but still. there was Glühwein.


We mostly did the touristy things, like go to the astrological clock, climb the tower, visit Charles Bridge, drink lots of beer, eat lots of heavy Czech food and visit Prague castle and the old town. All in all, a relaxing trip!

























 In that way, I think it's easier to visit places you've already been again and again - you know what to expect, you know what you like, you feel comfortable and you don't have to think about planning or worry about having a terrible time. That's why people do it, of course.

The Astrological Clock

But it can get a bit boring to go to the same places all the time. I don't know that I'd really like to do places I've already been again soon. While I still have the opportunity to travel around Europe this year during the time I'm teaching, I think I'd like to see places I've never been yet. That's one of the reasons for traveling in the first place, isn't it?

Maria Theresia got her fingers into Prague, too.

St. Vitus in Prague Castle

light through rose window in St. Vitus

rose window, St. Vitus, Prague

Praha! Ha!

Over the weekend, I went to Prague.

It. Was. Fabulous.

Here's the story: I was getting sick of Amstetten. I figured, what the hell, I will look up hostels in Prague and see what the rates are. I will look up train tickets for Prague and see what the rates are. I need to get out of Austria for a weekend and have a little FUN while I'm in Europe - not that Austria is not fun! But when I get the travel bug, I can't help myself.

 So, I send out an email to the other TAs in Austria to see if anyone wants to come with. In the meantime, I book a bed in the hostel for 3 nights. No one gets back to me. I sit around twiddling my thumbs thinking, "Oh crap. I will have to go to Prague on my own because no one wants to go with me...maybe they all think I'm crazy? Maybe no one wants to travel with someone they don't know..." etc. But, finally, Joyna emails me back, and we set our plans to travel to Prague together!

 My first thought was - "Awesome! Someone to travel with!" And my second thought was, "I have no idea who Joyna is! What if we don't get along at all? Will we like each other? Will this weekend suck?" And, fortunately, we got along like a house on fire. It was great - almost...meant to be. We agreed on everything, didn't quarrel or have problems wandering around (and getting lost) in a country where we don't know the language.

The National Museum

The Astronomical Clock - it turns 600 this year!

Astronomical Clock tower

awesome building on Old Town Square

 We ended up taking a free walking tour of the city on Sunday. It was really great because 1) we got to see a lot of the city, 2) it was FREE 3) the weather was great and 4) our tour guide (Mark) reminded me of one of the characters Callie and I created together (Martin). This guy (an actor) who follows a girl to Paris, and ends up having random adventures because, basically, he has no inhibitions and can make friends with a brick wall...Mark has been in Prague for 6 years trying to break into acting (the English-speaking ex-pat community in Prague). Interesting, no? By the way, I am not making this up! Sometimes reality is too good for fiction.

Restaurant U Bulinu - the owner's family has a genetic condition that causes horns to grow...

Joyna waiting for our food :)

some Gothic church - there's practically one on every corner in Prague!

statue to some martyred saint

Don Giovanni premiered here 

The last standing theater where Mozart played!!!

Legend has it that when Don Giovanni premiered at this theater, Casanova himself - as an old man - sat in the audience and watched a fictionalized version of his womanizing as a young man! That's pretty damn cool, eh? Also, Amadeus was filmed in part here, and in other areas around Prague (although it was supposed to take place in Vienna). Our tour guide has sort of an obsession with the film, but I don't really care for it (and would never endorse it - the direction sucked and there were too many damn accents, which totally pisses me off in movies)...nevertheless, I adore Mozart. There was a little squealing and jumping up and down when we got to this theater - which is still used as a theater, by the way! WOWIE!





<-- this is the tower at Charles Bridge (Karluv Most)

Funny story about the bridge. It was originally made of wood and collapsed in the 14th century. So, Charles IV, the emperor of Bohemia, told his royal engineers to fix it. Legend has it that they mixed eggs in with the cement (sort of the same chemical concept as baking a cake). This seems to have worked, because the bridge is still standing! Also, scientists recently took a sample of the bridge to test this legend...and discovered chicken embryos in the concrete! I guess the engineers were on to something...

And from there, we walked to the Jewish Quarter, where there are a number of synagogues and (according to legend) the Golem. I read Meyrink's The Golem and saw the silent film for one of my German classes, and I totally love the legend of the Golem.

In the 1500s the Holy Roman Emperor was terrorizing the Jews of Prague (not necessarily a new thing, even at this point...) and so a rabbi called upon God/his rabbinical powers/the Kabbalah and created this form of a giant, powerful thing - the Golem - out of clay to help him rescue the Jews of Prague from persecution. He breathed life into the Golem, and the Golem protected the Jews...very cool.

There is also a klezmer band based in NYC called Golem!

Spanish Synagogue

"Darling - I'll call you later"

Old Town Sqaure

Various views of the Prague castle: 

And...views from the Charles Bridge:

me in front of bridge

me on bridge

another view from the bridge

guy playing music from Evita on water glasses 

Joyna in front of hilariously proportioned door

opera house at night

guy on top of tower blowing horn at the hour

inside St. Nicholas Church

outside St. Nicholas

St. Nick's from afar

AND...PRAGUE CASTLE! Inside, that is...

courtyard

St. Vitus cathedral

rose window

inside St. Vitus

Alfons Mucha stained glass window

other stained glass window...

back of St. Vitus

changing of the guard

engraved building

some monastery

...and...view of Prague from hill/monastery (where we ate dinner)