Southern Bohemia

We spent a lovely long weekend with John and Lucie travelling through several towns in Southern Bohemia, crisscrossing the countryside on narrow tree-lined highways over gently rolling hills.

Picnic on the grounds of Orlik Castle


At Cervena Lhota, a chateau surrounded by water


Jindrichuv Hradec where we overnighted



Lucie, John, and Cat at the Dada Bar in Jindrichuv Hradec. We visited with the owner, Zdenek, who told us of his misadventures with the communists before the Velvet Revolution.


Mmmm, brambor! This pastry, realistically sculpted and literally called potato, is a tasty combination of cookie, cake, and cream covered in marzipan and cocoa powder.


Visiting Telc


A building on the main square in Telc covered in sgraffito where the top layer of color is scratched off in intricate patterns to reveal a color beneath.


Walking in the nearby countryside. There is an extensive network of well-marked trails in the Czech Republic making it possible to walk from village to village.

Carodejnice

April 30 is Carodejnice, Witches Day, in the Czech Republic. This celebration of the coming of spring and the purging of evil forces was originally a pagan one held on a gravemound or mountain top full of chanting of magical spells to protect animals, the banning of all trolls from houses, and the lighting of anything-- bonfires, candles, torches-- to dispel the memory of a long, dark winter.

Some of the pagan rituals of Carodejnice have survived, albeit in hardly recognisable forms. We went to Helena´s family´s neighborhood on the edge of Prague to watch the modern version - children dressing like witches and a "witch" being burned in a roaring bonfire.

Helena in costume ready to join the fun


The firefighters(!) getting it started


As the fire gets bigger, Helena's daughter Barbara gets closer


Barbara and her dad, Marek


Helena´s daughter, Laura, ready to roast a sausage in the fire


Is that a car on fire behind us?! No, just Carodejnice

Prague in the Spring

This city is lovely in spring. We're revelling in our good fortune being here. Most days we have a quite demanding schedule of relaxation and touring. Some days our heads feel like they will explode from the beauty. We take long walks, craning our necks to see the architectural details, and take numerous breaks to sample sweets from the bakeries and brews from the pubs. We view art in museums and galleries stunning enough to be exhibits themselves. We sit in parks and orchards when the weather's warm and enjoy the view from cafes when it´s not.

Here a random sampling of the above:

On Petřin hill


The very high Vltava River


Hiding from a rainy day in Cafe Slavia, historic gathering place


A building in the Branik neighborhood


Catching a train back from a day trip to Krivoklat


Jiriho z Podebrad Square--the gathering point for Prague´s Critical Mass (Critical Mass rides are held in cities all over the world as a way of increasing awareness for cycling as transport.)


A visit with Pavel


Our apartment's on the 3rd floor of a building from 1909 in the Vršovice neighborhood near parks, pubs, and public transportion.

Our street--notice the sidewalk beer garden conveniently located at our front door


Door to small balcony in the stairwell of our building

Photos from Southeast Asia Posted!

We haven't downloaded any more photos of Prague but please go back to the following dates for images of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam: 4/12, 3/28, 2/28, 2/15. You can get to these by scrolling down to the archives located on the right side.

Ah, the spring holidays!

First came Easter:
One of the most surprising things about the Czechs is how they celebrate Easter. For centuries it has been tradition for boys and men to braid a pomlázka (whip made from pussywillow twigs) for Easter. On Easter Monday, they visit female relatives, friends and neighbors, sing an Easter rhyme, and use their pomlázka (from pomladit meaning "to make younger") to hit the women and girls who then tie a ribbon onto the whip and give the males Easter eggs and candy. The grown-ups may also get alcohol so things can get pretty rowdy by evening. ("All Moravia must be drunk by now," commented our friend Pavel around noon on Easter Monday.) This charming tradition is explained by the belief that young, live pussywillow twigs bring health and youth to anyone who is whipped with them. Luckily for us, we were "only" chased twice: the first time near our home, by a man who had just been scolded by an older woman after he lightly tapped her, and the second time by Helena´s daughter's little boyfriend. Catherine knew many Czech women who hated this tradition (in fact we'd just talked about it with a young Czech woman we met on the train from Vienna) but Helena's daughters surprised her by enjoying being chased.
The locals deny that this practice harkens back to any sort of fertility ritual!

Pomlázkas for sale


Being chased at Helena´s


Easter treats at the bakery


Easter treats at a fair



Then, for a Passover celebration:
When the 8-day Pesach holiday began, we were in the midst of our extended travel and mind-shift from SE Asia to Europe. So even though it was quite belated and unorthodox, we decided to host a seder meal in our new apartment for a group of old and new friends on the last night of the holiday. As we started to plan the evening and explore the local food shops, we discovered it was going to be quite an adventure to find the basic necessary ingredient, Matzoh - the bread of affliction! Unfortunately, Hitler's plans to have Prague host a "museum to the extinguished race" in many ways came true as there is only a very small closed Jewish community (estimated to be about 3,000). The only place we found any Jewish presence was in what remains of the old Jewish quarter where the historic museums and sites are located. Here there are a few active Orthodox synagogues. We scored Matzoh almost immediately but were still searching for matzoh meal. After getting blank stares and muttering shakes of the head, Jen waded through the crowds of tourists until she stumbled upon a young English-speaking man wearing a yamulkah. He was actually a Brit studying at yeshiva in Israel but he was able to direct us to the local Chabad House where we were scolded at length by a young NY Jew. He said we could NOT be holding a Pesach seder at this late date but allowed that we could call it a Passover party. They were out of matzoh meal though he offered us some kosher wine, which we declined. Following local custom, we instead went to the wine bar on the corner of our block where we had an empty plastic water bottle filled with tasty Moravian wine straight from the barrel - bulk purchasing at its best! We hurried home with the prized box of matzoh to begin the cooking. The menu for the evening was a little unconventional without the matzoh meal (thus, boo hoo, no matzoh ball soup) and we always like to mix in a little Easter with our seder. To take the edge off our guests' hunger, we served chlebičky (small open-faced sandwiches) to start and beranek (traditional Czech Easter cake in the shape of a lamb) to finish. Using a brief haggadah (guide for the seder meal) printed from the internet, we had a lovely seder with 10 friends. Jen was the only Jew but everyone participated wholeheartedly in the readings, the blessings, the singing, the eating, and of course the searching for the afikomen.

John enjoying a chlebiček


During one of the evening´s songs

Czech Memory Lane

We have been in Prague for less than a week but in some ways I feel I never left. The smell of the metro, the sound of the trams, the taste of smazeny syr are not things I thought about every day for the last 10 years but I find they're as familiar to me as anything in my former home, Seattle. It's true I hadn't been able to keep in my head just how beautiful a city it is and how picturesque the countryside so Jen and I are appreciating that anew.

With Helena´s daughter, Barbara, whom Catherine last saw when she was 2!


On a day trip to Kutna Hora with old and new friends: Lloyd, Lucie, John, Karou, Jen

Praha

Dobry den! - good day in Czech. After close to 40 hours of travel, we have arrived in Prague where we are enjoying the hospitality of our friends John and Lucie. The city has had a long winter and it was a bit of a shock to arrive to the 40 degree weather from the 100+ temperatures in the tropics. We are quite excited to get out and explore the city and see the changes since our last visits. Of course, we have already confirmed that the Czech beer is as tasty as ever.