Steven & Michael's 2nd Visit

Steven & Michael are back in Europe. It's so good to see them and I can't believe that they were just here for Thanksgiving. They spent a few days in Munich, Germany, and Salzburg, Austria. Now they are staying a few days in Brno before heading to Prague and then back home to Atlanta.

Today has been a day of sightseeing. We went to Náměstí Svobody, then to the Capuchin Crypt to see the mummies, had lunch and then we went up to the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul (Petrov). We even stumbled upon some sort of "dragoncon" event at Moravské náměstí, complete with what looked like Irish folk dancing. Go figure...

They were just here for Steven's birthday in December and Michael's birthday is tomorrow. So logically, I think they need to come back in July for my birthday too. We're going out for dinner and dancing tonight to celebrate. I'm sure Sunday will be a recovery day. On Monday morning, the three of us are taking a day trip to Olomouc.


My boys soooo hooked me up. Since they flew over in business class they were able to carry extra bags and brought me all kinds of goodies. I felt like a little kid at Christmas!!! I got Stovetop stuffing, Splenda sugar packets, Splenda brown sugar, Jiffy corn bread mix, Spanish rice, Velvetta cheese, ziploc bags, kitchen trash bags, sunscreen, Febreze, black beans, pickle relish, mac 'n cheese, razor blades, Degree deodorant, Jiffy extra crunchy peanut butter, cold medicine, instant mashed potatos, Blistex, Q-tips, and angel hair pasta. Plus all kinds of seasoning packets...enchilada sauce, hollondaise sauce, taco seasoning, meatloaf seasoning, Italian dressing, ranch dressing, country gravy, Sloppy Joe mix, turkey gravy...

EDIT: Steven & Michael are scheduled to fly out of Prague on Sunday, 18.4. However, Czech airspace is closed due to the ash from the Iceland volcano. Currently, flights are closed until 11 AM CET on Monday, 19.4. I'm not sure when they will be able to get home.

EDIT: Steven & Michael are still stuck in Prague. But there are worse places than Prague to be stuck at. They were told they can fly Delta out Friday (23.4) for $6,200 or fly out on Saturday (24.4) for free. But the Saturday flight gets them to JFK. They then have to take a taxi to La Guardia to catch a flight back to Atlanta. Poor guys!!

EDIT: They finally made it back to Atlanta!! A full week late. Damn volcano.

Prague Cathedral

Katedrála svatého Víta, Saint Vitus' Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Prague, and the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. The full name of the cathedral is St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas and St. Adalbert Cathedral.

It is located inside of the Prague Castle and contains the tombs of many Bohemian kings. It's the largest and most important church in the country.

The Gothic cathedral has quite a long history. The original church was founded by St. Wenceslas (who is buried here) in 925 on a rotunda. Prince Spytihněv had the rotunda demolished in 1060 and replaced it with a Romanesque basilica that stood until 1344.

Then when the Prague bishop was promoted to archbishop, Emperor Charles IV initiated the construction of the kindgdom's main cathedral in French Gothic style.




The construction continued until the early 15th century, when it was interrupted for several centuries by the Hussite Wars and the Thirty Years' War.

The Neo-Gothic three-nave and the façade with two towers were constructed in 1873-1929. So the cathedral was finally completed in the 20th century - almost 600 years later!









The cathedral was consecrated on St. Václav's (Wenceslas) feast day, the 1,000 year anniversary of his murder.

The most sacred place of the cathedral is the Chapel of St. Václav, where the Czech regalia have been housed.




The walls of the chapel are decorated with gemstones and paintings from the period of Charles IV. The cathedral is not only the royal treasury, but also the royal tomb.

National Museum

At the top of Wenceslas Square, in Prague, is the Czech National Museum. I haven't had the chance to actually go inside of it yet but maybe on my next visit in July.

The building is quite imposing. In fact, Russian soldiers actually shot at it during the 1968 Soviet-led invasion.

I've heard two different stories as to why so I don't know for sure.

One story is that the Russians thought it was the Czech Parliament.

The other version I heard was that it was believed to be the home of the Czech radio station which had been broadcasting anti-Russian programming.

The Magic Flute

Last Saturday, we went to see a German-language opera in Prague. Die Zauberflöte, The Magic Flute, was composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was the last of his operas ever staged during his lifetime.

This one is a long one. The opera is in two acts and with the intermission, it lasted almost three hours. It is in the form of a Singspiel - it includes both singing and spoken dialogue. It was performed in German but there were both Czech and English subtitles. The German singing was fine. However, the spoken diallogue sounded a bit funny.

The Magic Flute is a fairy-tale with serveral twists and turns. It takes you a while to figure out who's really good and who's really bad. Here's the basic plot summary...

The Queen of the Night has a daughter, Pamina, who is held by the high priest Sarastro. Prince Tamino falls in love with Pamina's portrait and is sent by the queen to rescue Pamina from Sarastro.
Papageno, the bird-catcher, is sent with Tamino. They both receive a magic flute and magic bells to guard them against danger. In Sarastro's temple Pamina resists the advances of the evil slave Monostatos, who is frightened off by Papageno's arrival. Papageno and Pamina flee. Meanwhile, Prince Tamino encounters Sarastro's followers and decides to join them. Tamino and Pamina finally meet.

Sarastro orders Tamino and Pamina to pass the tests that will prove them worthy. Despite temptations, the Prince remains faithful to Sarastro. The Queen of the Night, furious at the turn of events, tries to induce Pamina to stab Sarastro, but to no avail.

The Queen's last attempt at revenge is foiled by the coming of dawn, which dispels the forces of night. Pamina and Tamino are united within the Sacred Order. The bird-catcher Papageno finds his very own Papagena.

2nd Visit to Prague, Czech Republic

Last Friday, Claudia and I drove the D1 highway to Praha. We reserved the same Václavské náměstí apartment that I stayed at last December. Five of her friends made the trip from Stuttgart, Germany, to have a long weekend visit.

We had a great time hanging out in the city. It's way too difficult to plan itineraries for seven people so we just stuck to seeing the top touristy stuff. But since Prague is so beautiful I didn't mind seeing the Charles Bridge, the castle or the Dancing Building again. We did lots of walking through Old Town and New Town and checked out the Easter markets.

The last time I was in Prague we went to the castle but the cathedral was closed. I got to see it this time and it was incredible. I'll post about it later. We also went to the opera on Saturday night to see Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), in German.

All and all it was a nice, relaxing weekend. I could really get used to having Easter Monday as a public holiday.


Lots of pictures are already loaded on Flickr.

Easter Monday

Easter Monday is a public holiday in the Czech Republic. And a very interesting day at that. In the morning, guys go door to door to spank the girls on the legs with their pomlázka - a braided whip made from pussywillow twigs. An Easter carol asking for an egg is normally recited by the boys.

Hody, hody, doprovody, dejte vejce malovaný. Nedáte-li, malovaný, dejte aspoň bílý, slepička vám snese jiný.

In return, the girls are supposed to give colored eggs or chocolates to the boys and shots of slivovice (strong plum brandy) to the men. The girl then ties a ribbon on to the guy's pomlázka.

Most of the women I've spoken to really hate Easter Monday. The whippings are supposed to end at noon. However, this isn't always the case. And as the day goes on, with more and more shots of slivovice, sometimes the guys forget that the whippings are meant to be symbolic. The tradition is that the youth and vitality of the twigs is passed on to the women during the whipping.

Easter Sunday

Easter isn't really a religious celebration over here. Especially since the ČR is one of the most secular nations in the world. The communists must have really beat it out of them. In the U.S., most people celebrate Easter Sunday and go back to work on Monday. In Czech, Easter Sunday (Neděle velikonoční) is just a day to prepare for Easter Monday. The girls are busy decorating eggs and the boys are putting the final touches are their pomlázky.

White Saturday

Bilá sobota is White Saturday. Just like on Green Thursday and Good Friday, the boys in the villages go around with their rattles. But today they stop at every house and rattle until they're given money. The money is then split between themselves. Not sure what the point of the money is for. Maybe it's for having scrared Judas away for the last three days. Maybe people pay the boys so that they will knock it off with the dang rattles? Again, this stuff goes on out in most of the villages. But I think that some villages may have slightly different traditions. We haven't seen any of the rattling in Prague this weekend.

Good Friday

Velký pátek is Good Friday. From what I understand, the boys in the villages do the same thing they did yesterday…walk through town with their wooden rattles. Maybe I’ll get to see this in a village next year. This afternoon however, Claudia and I are headed to Praha. We’re staying at the same Václavské náměstí apartment that Steven, Michael and I stayed in last December. Five of her friends from Stuttgart are making the trip for a long weekend of sightseeing. It looks like I’ve got another weekend with German tourists.

Green Thursday

The ČR is one of the most secular countries in the world. So it’s kind of a surprise that there is so much involved with Easter here. Although here, it’s more of a pagan tradition than a religious holiday.

In the villages, the boys are supposed to form a group and walk through town, each with a wooden rattle. The noise is to chase away Judas.

Zelený čtvrtek (Green Thursday) used to be the day when only vegetables were eaten in preparation for Good Friday. Today, you are supposed to eat green things – salad and vegetables. There is also green beer.

After Czech class, plus tonight's rain, I'm in no mood to see the green beer. Maybe next year...