Wednesday, September 29, 2004.
The 6 a.m. wakeup call came too early after our late night the previous evening. Our last full day in Greece consisted of a bus tour through industrial and agricultural areas along the coastal road to the Corinth Canal to Mycenae to see the two acropolis and intact Epidaurus theater and remains of Askripious’s hospital (surgical instruments are displayed in the museum). Here, in the Homeric city of Atreides, the myth of Troy comes to life. The drive through the Naupolion plain was lovely, with rich villas along the waterfront.
We spent our last evening in Athens walking around the Plaka, past the lit buildings of the Acropolis for the last time. We opted out of Christos’s suggestion that we take in a Greek folkdance performance at a restaurant in the Plaka, and instead had a quiet dinner at our favorite restaurant near our hotel.
The next day would afford plenty of time for rest, on two airplanes and during the long wait between flights at the Rome airport.
The Acropolis at Mycene
The Corinth Canal
Tuesday, September 28, 2004.
We headed toward the Plaka, the oldest district of modern Athens, its narrow streets bustling with small shops, street vendors and tourists. This marketplace area is allegedly the same as in the late 19th century, very similar to the marketplace on Aegina, with outdoor displays and shop owners beckoning potential customers to gaze at their wares.
We walked toward the Ancient Agora, originally an open meeting space which was gradually flanked by public buildings and commercial arcades, temples and altars dedicated to the gods, and statues of prominent citizens and foreign benefactors. In 150 BCE, Attalus II, king of Pergamon, built the Stoa of Attalos. In the 1950s the Stoa was reconstructed, largely financed with Rockefeller money, to house a museum displaying artifacts and statues from this ancient Agora.
We walked nearly five miles, tracking down various landmarks on our map, among them Anglican, Byzantine and Russian churches. We passed another street demonstration, apparently concerning education tuition, with lines of policemen at the ready in case the crowd became unruly. The demonstrators were orderly – and very vocal – and the policemen gave them wide berth. The bus accident tragedy yesterday put a pall on the closing ceremonies, to the extent that several planned performances were cancelled. Nonetheless, the stadium that allegedly seated 46,000 was reported to have had a crowd of 70,000 in attendance. The ceremony began with a moment of silence for the dead and injured teenagers and a dedication to those who have overcome hardships to participate in the Paralympics. A speech by the president was followed by the unveiling of a new Paralympic logo and flag and a speech by the president of the IOC. A stellar performance by Chinese dancers preceded the passing of the banner to China for the 2008 Olympics. The throngs of people were especially evident as we crowded like sardines in the metro toward town. The closing ceremony lasted only an hour, but it was another hour before we could board the metro toward our hotel. We arrived around 10:30 p.m., in time for a chat with Christos and Lukas about the school bus tragedy, the significance of the Paralympics, and world affairs.
The Olympic flame -- at the closing ceremonies
Monday, September 27, 2004.
We set out for Hadrian’s arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus – both of which were visible from our tour of the Athens Acropolis on Saturday – around 8:30 a.m. We walked through the National Gardens past the President’s residence, which was guarded by soldiers in traditional dress, and found our way to the Panathinaiko Stadium, cite of the first modern Olympics in 1896. The 2004 Paralympic marathon had finished there the day before, running the identical course that the able-bodied competitors had completed on August 29.
Proceeding around the circumference of the gardens, we happened upon the Benaki museum (named for its benefactor), three expansive floors of art and sculpture including treasures from the monastery of St. Catherine. We spent over two hours viewing the extensive and interesting collections, which left us only 20 minutes to see the exhibits in the Jewish Museum before it closed at 2:30 p.m.
The Jewish Museum in Athens, founded in 1977, is a haunting and enlightening tour of 2,300 years of Jewish life in Greece. The small seven-story museum, houses the restored interior of the old Romaniote Synagogue of the Jewish Community of Patras, with embroidered textiles and religious and domestic items, historical documents and educational literature, military attire and Romaniote and Sephardic wedding dresses and everyday clothing, and descriptions of Jewish traditions, holidays and life cycle events. One floor showcases the Holocaust and the Greek-Jewish contribution to the Zionist movement and resettlement of Jews in Eretz-Israel, with a wall of letters and biographies of holocaust survivors.
After our usual afternoon tea, this time at Monasteraki Square, the hub of the Plaka, the old marketplace, we went to the Roman Agora.
Then on we went to the games, this time to see freestyle and medley (relay) swimming events. Because this is the final day of the final medal events, we had to wait 45 minutes to get into the aquatic center which was full before the events started. It was worth the wait, however, to see the amazing performances of one-armed, one-legged, legless and even armless swimmers, who became impressively adept as soon as they entered the water.
We learned, sadly, that there had been a bus accident in the morning, which killed 7 teenagers and injured several others on their way to the Paralympics. The bus from the school had been hit by a speeding truck driver carrying a load of glass. Once again, we had a very late dinner, returning to our hotel at 10:30 p.m.
The Temple of Olympic Zeus in Athens
Sunday, September 26, 2004.
Our wakeup call came at 6 a.m. so that we could have breakfast before the bus picked us up at 7:15. A three-hour bus ride through rural Greece took us to Delphi, the “navel of the earth” and center of wisdom, according to Greek lore. We visited the Sanctuary of Apollo Pythios and the theater and stadium on Mount Parnassus. Again, the view from this acropolis gave us the feeling of being on top of the world. The museum at Delphi was every bit as impressive as the ruins themselves. In the same style as the other archeological museums we had visited, the displayed were arranged in chronological order, with explanations about the progression of history and culture of the time.
The bus made three or four stops along the way, time for tea both to and from Delphi and also for lunch. At every occasion, Barb (and other tour passengers) bought jewelry and souvenirs at several gift shops. Barb, having been confined to training camps and competitions over the last four months, was eager to get gifts for friends and family back home.
We were back at our hotel by 6:30 p.m., with plenty of time to escort Barb via metro to the OAKA complex to catch the athletes’ bus to the Olympic Village in time for dinner. Rick and I went back to Tripolis, the restaurant we had dined at the day before, and received royal treatment as if in gratitude for our return! The evening was refreshingly cool, so our stroll back to the hotel was especially pleasant.
The Temple of Apollo at Delphi
Barb and Rick at Delphi
Saturday, September 25, 2004.
Only the pious were in attendance at Synagogue Beth Shalom by 7:30 a.m. on Yom Kippur morning. We arrived shortly after 8am – through very quiet streets – to join the group of 18-20 men, 6 or 7 of whom were huddled around the bimah, and 6 women upstairs in the balcony. By 9am the men numbered about 30, and the women 15. All prayers were in Hebrew (of course!) with unfamiliar melodies sung only by the men on the bimah. Rick, with yarmulke and prayer shawl, is getting accustomed to attending orthodox services in historic synagogues among international congregants.
We left the synagogue around 9:30 a.m. for a stroll to the Acropolis which had been the most important religious center of Athens for many centuries, dating back to the 5th century BCE. Already the ruins of the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erectheion (whose famous Caryatids adorned the cover of Rick’s 8th grade Latin text), and the Parthenon had already drawn hoards of tourists, many of them Paralympic athletes in wheelchairs and blind athletes with guides, carefully negotiating the rough stone walkways and stairs. Despite 24 years between visits, the columns of the Parthenon were every bit as big and impressive to me now as before. There has been a lot of restoration since then, but the view of the city from the top of the acropolis is still awe-inspiring and spiritual. The Acropolis museum – nine rooms of pottery and figurines, sculptures, friezes, and artifacts dating from 600 BCE to 330 BCE – was packed, with tour guides giving explanations in different languages in every room.
We walked back to the hotel and read, wrote, slept and meditated the afternoon away. By the time we returned to the synagogue for the Neila service, there was standing room only – over 200 men and 150 women, with another 50 or so outside the front door. At 7:52 p.m., according to the posted schedule, the rabbi blew the shofar and a party atmosphere overtook the crowd. There were lots of hugs and kisses (both cheeks in typical European custom) and lots of conversation. I ran into a woman from Chicago (her accent unmistakable), accompanied by her father and her 9-year-old son, who had moved to Greece 18 years ago. She had no desire to return to the US; happy to be connected to her roots and in a place where, she claimed, Jews were accepted openly and people shared a sense of community. She told the same story I had heard before of how everyone had pitched in to make sure the Olympic venues were ready on time, to the point of round-the-clock shifts of people, boyscouts included, erecting signs and planting trees. She was one of many who described the Greeks as people who rally to get things done at the last minute.
When we got back to our hotel, Barb was waiting for us and chatting with Christos, who by now knew her well from all the phone messages over the last few days. We had arranged for Barb to spend the night with us so that we three could go on a tour that left from our hotel on Sunday morning. Dinner was an outdoor table at one of Christos’s recommended restaurants. We all ate heartily – Rick and I hungry from our fast and Barb hungry from her workout routines and competition schedule, and finished with ice cream at our favorite bakery/confectionary on Omonia Square.
View of the Acropolis in Athens
Friday, September 24, 2004.
Tonight is Yom Kippur, so we took time in the morning to go to Thissio to check out the Beth Shalom Synagogue and the schedule of services. The synagogue is splendid, and the Jewish community seems to be thriving. We were told that the Rosh Hashannah service had attracted 2,000 people and that a similarly large crowd was expected for the Kol Nidre service, which would start at 6pm.
On the other side of Thissio station is the fenced-in site of the Kerameikos ruins, with pottery workshops and gravesites on either side of Plato’s Road to the Academy. The Kerameikos museum was splendid, showing pottery, bas reliefs and statues from pre-geometric (800 BCE) to classic times (100 BCE).
Barb’s time trial was set to begin at 3:30, and we wanted to see some of the men’s events before hers, so we left for the road race course on the coast before noon. The tramride was a full hour, and we spent some time finding the bus stop (which was cleverly hidden by trees and a tall bench enclosure), all of which made the trip take over 2 ½ hours. The bus ride itself was a full 25 minutes, stopping a few blocks away from the course. Because of the security barriers and the bus route change, we got to the course just as the CP men on tricycles were finishing (Stu Flacks won a silver for the US). We were able to see Barb before the women’s race began, but quickly headed for the top of the hill so we could see her at the turn. The women’s road race is a time trial, so women started at one-minute intervals. Barb started ninth, so we saw her ride two laps before we were able to get to the top of the course. The headwinds were tremendous and the hill much steeper than we had expected. All the riders were laboring and Barb was very disappointed in her time and angry that the women were made to ride so late in the day when the winds were strongest. After the final calculations were made, she placed fourth, not even a full second behind the bronze medal winner. We stayed to congratulate her after the race, knowing full well that we would not be able to get to the synagogue by 6pm. The trip to Syntagma took only 1 ½ hours (since we now knew the most graceful tram/bus connection), and in another half hour – at 7:30 p.m. – we were at our hotel, obviously too late for the erev Yom Kippur service at the synagogue. After a hastily job of freshening up after the hot, dusty, windy coast trip, we created our own ceremonial Shabbat meal at the hotel restaurant (sans candles or Torah).
Barb racing uphill and against the wind -- 4th place in the Time Trial!
Synagogue Beth Shalom in Athens
Thursday, September 23, 2004.
Another long sports-viewing day. This time we went to the Helliniko Olympic complex on the southwestern coast to see rugby, archery, 7-on-7 football (amputee and CP soccer), and women’s sitting volleyball. The Chinese women beat the Netherlands three sets to one, but the games were close. The Chinese and Netherlands cheering sections were also in competition, one in red, the other in orange, with very loud “China” and “Holland” cheers. We left after the first match where Slovenia trounced the USA. Neither team looked nearly as good as China or Holland, but we heard later that the USA won the bronze medal match on Monday. Between events we took the tram to the marina and walked along the southwestern beaches. The coastal area is quite upscale, with modern shopping areas and fancy villas (and expensive cars) across the road from private beaches and marinas with large shiny yachts.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004.
We went back to the velodrome in the morning to see the final team sprints and (blind) tandem time trials. The Australian men placed first and third, with the US tandems getting a silver medal. In the women’s tandem event, Katie and Clarissa won a gold medal for the US.
We then spent some time watching wheelchair basketball. The US women whipped Great Britain by 74-24, no real contest. The Australian and the Netherlands teams were more evenly matched, with the Aussies winning by 30-25. (In the final competition on Monday, the women's US team beat Australia to win the Gold Medal.)
Next on our agenda were several athletic events. In between the men’s blind 100, 200, and 1500 meter races (totally blind runners have assistants running beside them), we saw women javelin throwers and men shot putters. The women’s 800 meter event was sad to see, as the CP (cerebral palsy) runner who had been leading everyone until the final lap, tripped and fell a few meters from the finish line.
Our last event of the afternoon was men’s basketball, but we arrived only in time to see the very end of the Canadian victory over France (62-43).
Tonight’s dinner, at Christos’s suggestion, was at Delfi near Syntagma Square. Unlike the other restaurants we had been to, Delfi had a non-smoking section and an extensive (and expensive) menu of fresh fish and seafood. We opted for dessert at a local café where the prices were more moderate.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004.
We are off to the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA) to see the cycling events on the velodrome: sprints, pursuits, and time trials. The Japanese women sprinters were ahead of everyone by several seconds. Barb set a world record in her classification, but placed sixth in her event. The Australian men tandem sprinters were very aggressive, to the point of causing several crashes. It’s amazing to see the variety of events and the fluidity on the bicycles despite various disabilities (amputees as well as CP and head injury classifications). We sat behind the parents of a Canadian women’s tandem team, who remarked about the lack of funding in North American for the Paralympics as compared to the Chinese, Australian, and European teams. (We later read an article about Cambodian athletes – most of whom have lost limbs from landmine explosions—who get no funding at all for training or equipment.)
The morning races ended at noon, so Rick and I arranged to meet Barb at the Olympic village – this time with official passes that would let us inside the complex. Barb took the athletes’ bus directly there. We had to go by public transportation which meant a tram ride to the suburban train which went to the location of the sole special Olympic bus that went to the village. All this took a full 1 ½ hours.
We spent the afternoon at the village, a bustling hive of activity and good cheer. Between the 4000 Paralympic athletes, coaches and support staff, there were at least 10,000 people housed there. I was amazed to see people with no legs walking smoothly on prosthetic limbs. Of course there were wheelchairs spinning about and one- and two-legged walkers, many arm- or hand-less people, and a few guide dogs for the many visually impaired athletes. The disabled crowd is distinctive from the able-bodied in age and temperament. Fewer of these athletes are young – since many, like Barb, have come by their disabilities in adulthood – and while they are fiercely competitive in the arena, are very supportive of each other – even their direct competitors – off the playing field.
The trip back to our hotel was a bit shorter, since we could take the Olympic bus directly to a metro station, so we had time to relax before dinner at yet another interesting Greek restaurant. Like Prague, dinners in Athens have lots of bread and potatoes. Unlike Athens, salads are typical, and diners are given water at the table and presented with a check before they have to ask. Menus are usually in several languages and most waitstaff speak enough English to explain and recommend various dishes. Many restaurants as well as outdoor cafes have waiters beckoning would-be patrons to dine at their establishment. Greek style of service reminded us more of the Arab marketplaces than of Europe.
throngs of Holland fans decked out in orange
Monday, September 20, 2004.
Because we started the day with a leisurely breakfast, we had few island options by the time we got to the port at Piraeus. Luck was with us, however, when we got tickets on the fast ferry – a hydroplane – to Aegina, the closest island to the mainland. The 45-minute trip was enjoyable and we had most of the day to stroll around the marketplace and see several ruins and distinctive churches. We got to the archeological museum shortly before it was set to close at 3pm, so we only saw the ruins outside. We followed a sign to the Christos Caprolos Museum, not knowing quite how far it would be nor what we would find. Hiking along the coastal road (“a very pleasant walk [of] 3 klms” according to the brochure) we reached the museum around 4pm and were told by a woman on a motorscooter that the museum was closed on Mondays but that she would be happy to let us in. In halting English she explained that artist and sculptor Christos Carprolos, for whom the museum is named, had recently died, having worked in Aegina up to 1993. A prominent statue of the artist’s mother (displayed on posters around town) reminded me of Mother Teresa, protecting the island from potential harm.
The walk down to the pier felt much shorter than the walk up to the museum, so we took time for tea (one of Rick’s favorite rituals). I had grilled octopus, which is one of the many forms of seafood in abundance at the coastal cafes. We returned to Athens on the 6:00 ferry and went to dinner at an interesting Greek tavern, recommended by Christos who mans the reception desk at our hotel in the evenings, who became our trusted advisor and friend.
Octopus drying in the sun at an outdoor cafe on Aegina
Sunday, September 19, 2004.
In honor of the Olympic Games, Athens had been dressed with sculptures, photographs, banners, open-air concerts and plays, music and light displays at various landmarks throughout the city. Information kiosks abound, manned with helpful multi-lingual attendants and stocked with city maps, metro guides, and Olympic venue locations, logistics and descriptions. There seem to be cats and pigeons everywhere, both noticeably absent on Prague streets, and ownerless dogs sleeping in the sun.
Our mission was to meet Barb at the Olympic Village, an easy but long trip from the city center via metro and bus. The Athens Metro is quite nice – nearly as easy to navigate as the Prague metro and much cleaner and newer. There is speculation about how long the metro stations will be free of debris and graffiti, but right now they are jewels. Syntagma Square (“Constitution Square”) is a central hub. Construction of the metro station beneath the square was halted several times because of the archeological finds here, but the station is a museum, explaining the Metro construction process and exhibiting ancient artifacts unearthed during its construction. We walked around the square – an interesting juxtaposition of old and new. Most of the surrounding “neighborhoods” look long-overdue for renovation, especially in contrast to the immediate vicinity of the square. Only a short walk away offers a view of the Acropolis.
We met Barb at the entrance to the Olympic Village, but were not able to get into the village itself because of the tight security. Barb had put us on the list for passes, but they only allow so many visitors on any given day, so we would have to wait until tomorrow to see the village complex. We were told that Greece spent three times as much as Australia (host of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney) for security at these Olympic games, largely due to post-911 fears and new regulations imposed by the IOC.
It was, by Rick’s measure, time for tea by the time we returned to the center of town. (Tea at the outdoor cafes ranges from 2.50-3.00 Euro; coffee is 2.50-4.50.) The major streets – even on Sunday night – are full of activity. Most news kiosks have an assortment of international newspapers and lots of pornography. Greek pornographic postcards, playing cards and statues are prominently displayed. After a leisurely stroll around town, we opted for dinner at the hotel – a nice full-course meal – and topped off our evening with dessert at one of the many 24-hour cafés and bakeries on Omonia Square.
The Olympic Village in Athens
Saturday, September 18, 2004
After a busy morning of packing (bringing too much, of course, but wanting to be prepared for unanticipated events), we are off to Greece – yes the tickets arrived via Fed Ex yesterday! – to see our dear friend Barb Buchan compete in the 2004 Paralympic Games. We raced to the bus to the Prague airport so that we would have plenty of time to want in line.
The long wait was in Rome, which rivaled any airport we’ve been in in the US for bottlenecks and screening scrutiny. The second Rome airport line was for passport control, which surprised me because we were on a through flight to Athens). The line was so slow that everyone was grumbling and those who had imminent flights were pleading to get to their gate on time. By the time we got to the passport control official, even he was shaking his head and mumbling “Mama Mia,” apparently because of some visa irregularities for a group of men who, after much interrogation, were escorted away for further questioning. We had thought that the 1 ½ hours we had between flights would give us sitting and waiting time, but in fact we had just enough time to get to the gate for boarding.
The airplane from Rome to Athens had video monitors, with no headphones for sound, that showed old Tom & Jerry (Hanna-Barbara) cartoons! The upside of the Rome passport control line was that we were now entering from an EU country and had no passport check entering Greece. The downside is that we have no stamp on our passport to show that we ever visited Greece!Greece is one hour later than the Czech Republic, so it was dark when we arrived. Asking for directions and reading signs, however, was easier than in the US (and much much easier than in the Czech Republic), since everything is written in both Greek and English and nearly everyone in any official capacity speaks English. We had no trouble getting on the bus to Omonia Square (“Congress Square”), a short walk to the Ionis Hotel where Barb had made reservations for us. We ate a late dinner at a Neon Café (a chain of cafeteria-style eateries). Prices are relatively high here – at least twice the price of most places in Prague. Mythos beer is 2.50 Euro– perhaps because the dollar is so weak (one Euro costs roughly $1.25); local brews in Prague at a comparable restaurant would be about $1.
Friday, September 17, 2004.
For our last morning together, the Fulbright group visited the Museum of Czech Cubism at the House at the Black Madonna, a five-story building with jetty windows that originally housed retail and utility spaces and a café on the first floor that was furnished with cubist furniture. The building is named after the stone sculpture of a black Madonna sitting on top of it, and is one of the world’s rarest examples of Cubist architecture. The trademarks of the Czech Cubists, a unique, avant-garde group active in Prague between 1910 and 1914, are sharp points, slicing planes, and crystalline shapes that can be seen in paintings, sculpture, building facades, furniture, and decorative objects. According to art historian Miroslav Lamac "Prague became the city of cubism with cubist apartment blocks full of cubist flats furnished with cubist furniture. The inhabitants could drink coffee from cubist cups, put flowers in cubist vases, keep the time on cubist clocks, light their rooms with cubist lamps and read books in cubist type." The Czech Cubists believed that an object's true internal energy could only be released by breaking up the vertical and horizontal surfaces that restrain and repress it in conventional design. By incorporating angled planes into the design of everyday objects, they tried to give them a dynamism that turned them into works of art in their own right. For them, the pyramid was the pinnacle of architectural design and the crystal the ideal natural form. I was particularly moved by the sculpture of Otto Gutfreund, a German/Czech Jew from northeast Bohemia.
The morning concluded with a short visit to the Fulbright office, where the staff is gearing up for the next round of applications. After lunch, I strolled down Wenceslas Square where, amid the bustling stores and kiosks, one is taken with sculpture from the International Exhibit of Modern Art and the cow parade (cows appear to be ubiquitous in Prague these days, from parks and street corners to the top of some metro stops).
Evening services at Spanish Synagogue seemed to have more of the regular Bejt Praha attendees. After the service we had Kiddush with bread and honey. We went with Harriet and Marty Ottenheimer, linguistic anthropologists and ethnographers (he is here this fall on a Fulbright grant; she had a similar grant three years ago) to a modest (and delicious) Afghani restaurant. Beer led the dinner; dinner begged dessert; good conversation (four academics!) led to a rather late night!
Czech bagpipes!
Thursday, September 16, 2004.
new year, but we are attending the last full day of the Fulbright orientation activities, including our second “Survival Czech” lesson, sessions about recent Czech higher education changes and a brief history of Czech culture, and a scholars roundtable. Most of the questions at the roundtable centered around expectations and behaviors of students, since most of the scholars will be teaching regular classes.
The best thing about the Fulbright program from my perspective is the opportunity to meet people who are in my field and/or have connections and information that can help me in my research. Throughout the Fulbright sessions I’ve met people at both the University of Economics and Charles University, mostly former Fulbrighters, who are doing similar research or teaching in my discipline. Rick, too, has met people who share similar interests. Best of all, we have met very interesting people who, like us, are sponsored by this year’s Fulbright grants. Most have traveled extensively; some have taught in other countries.
Our “closing dinner” this evening was held at the Cloister Brewery, a brewpub with (according to those among us who should know) superb beer. I can personally attest to the fact that the food was good also! An additional treat was a Czech bagpipe performance by a Fulbright student who is just finishing his stint here researching old Czech instruments.
We returned home early by the clock, but already dark. Fall is evident in the cool weather and the rapidly shortening days – noticeable in just the two weeks we’ve been here. I imagine signs of fall are also evident in Colorado.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004.
Today’s Fulbright schedule consisted of a “Survival Czech I” session and presentation by the director of the Prague Multicultural Center. The afternoon was spent at the American Embassy, meeting various dignitaries and officers and learning about consular and security issues (and registering our passports for safety). Security at the embassy is high for obvious reasons, but the consular office also has the responsibility of stepping in when bad things happen to Americans in the Czech Republic. For example, an American family was injured in a bomb attack in Prague last month. (The attack had to do with evening some scores in the Israeli mafia, and a suspect was apprehended in Israel just yesterday.) But the consular office also warned us that pickpocketing had increased in the last few years (this had been a problem even seven years ago), with a worrisome increase in the level of attendant physical harm (this is new).
We were given tickets for a performance of Rigoletto at the National Theater, but several of us opted out for Rosh Hashana services instead. It is a little strange that no one at the Fulbright office gave any thought to the Jewish holidays, especially since several of the recipients are Jewish, and one, who is not Jewish herself, is studying Jewish theater in Terezin during the Holocaust. But it is just one of many signs that Jewish life in Prague is more of a novelty to the local citizenry than an ongoing fact of daily existence which would be woven into their consciousness.
Rosh Hashana services were lovely. Sadly, Rabbi Arnold Turetsky, who has led High Holidays for Bejt Praha for several years passed away in July in New York. Happily, Rabbi Morton Narrowe, originally from Philadelphia, but most recently the head Rabbi in Sweden, has been involved with the Jewish Community in and around Prague for the past two years and filled Rabbi Turetsky’s shoes on the bimah of the Spanish Synagogue for the holidays. The Spanish Synagogue--so called for its style, not for any Spanish or Sephardic ties--was restored in 2000 and is now back in all its glory: vibrant and ornate red, blue, and gold décor. It has become part of the Education Center of the Jewish Museum, a venue for lectures and activities, in addition to the regular Bejt Praha “Open” Jewish Community services.
Following the service, we joined the Bejt Praha regulars at the Jewish Town Hall for dinner, complete with Košer wine, homemade Challah, and socializing. The community has many more Czechs now than when we were there in 1998, when the attendees were predominately tourists. Still, the most common language heard is probably English, with Czech and Hebrew close behind. Tomorrow’s service will include the Tašlich, walking along the Vltava River, casting stones of sins into the water.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004.
Today’s Fulbright activities consisted of introductions (of grantees and Fulbright office personnel), information about the Fulbright program and scheduled activities this year, banking and internet issues, and some logistical information about Prague and the Czech Republic. Of the “scholars,” there are twelve of us this academic year (with one exception, on 3-4 month grants), six here now and six others who will come in February for the spring semester. Most are teachers; I am the only scholar here on a research grant. There are two others, Fulbright-Hays scholars, who are doing dissertation research. There are also four high school teachers on exchange programs, and eight students (mostly recent baccalaureate graduates) all of whom are engaged in research projects here for the full academic year. Rick is one of five or six “accompanying spouses.”
The morning’s activities consisted mostly of filling out forms and updating information, and short information lectures from the Fulbright Commission staff. After a nice lunch, we were put in small groups with Fulbright alumni for Q &A and “orienting” around the area for a more in-depth understanding of such things as pharmacies vs drug stores, pubs, restaurants and sweet-shops (dessert & coffee houses), laundry and dry cleaning services, and (at our request) information about cell phone options. The latter became an expedition to a store that sold several different models, which filled in some of the questions I had had during previous inquiries, mostly concerning the different companies’ rates, plans, and SIMM chip (pre-paid internal cards) compatibility. Phones are expensive here – as are most things not made in the Czech Republic – and all plans (including land lines) have varying (per-minute) charges depending on the time of day and the receiver of the call. The benefit of the mobile phones – and their most common use – is for instant-messaging (“SMS”) which is cheap and convenient. None of the phones here is compatible with the US cell system (these are all satellite based) and most people buy the SIMM chips rather than commit to a monthly fixed-usage contract.
In the mail today was an invoice from Dell, complete with official stamp and signature, accompanied by the invoice that I had signed at their office, verifying my purchase of the AC outlet cord that I had purchased last week!
Monday, September 13, 2004.
Today started out with a trip downtown to the Alitalia office, to confirm that the tickets I had ordered from cheaptickets.com were for paper tickets – that allegedly had been sent to my US address – and that we could not board the plane without them. I was advised to have someone from the US send them to me here via FedEx. Fortunately, the time difference between Prague and the US worked in my favor, since it was still early in the morning in the US, well before anyone would be awake. I sent a distress email to our dear friends Jim and Vivien – who have bailed us out so many times before, testing our friendship well beyond reasonable limits – and they called our renters to confirm that our tickets had been delivered there and to make arrangements for them to be sent via FedEx to our Prague address.
Rick’s morning, on the other hand, consisted of a trip to Charles University to test his remote e-mail access, which appeared to be successful. We’re hoping that we’ll both be able to access e-mail when we travel. Rick says we should get a fancy mobile phone that also does e-mail. He’s been looking at newfangled gadgets on the t-mobile website.
Rick and I headed to the Fulbright reception shortly after 4 p.m. where we met the other Fulbright grantees and directors of the Fulbright board, including Hana Rambouskova, with whom I had exchanged countless e-mails dating back to March concerning my Fulbright award and Czech visa application. We walked down the street to the home of the American Ambassador, William Cabaniss, for a reception. We were treated to a concert of the Hawthorne String Quartet, who (to quote from the program) “have distinguished themselves internationally for championing the works of composers persecuted during the Nazi regime with an emphasis on the Czech composers incarcerated in the Theresienstadt concentration camp (Terezin)… The Terezin Chamber Music Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to assuring the permanence of the music written by composers who perished in the Holocaust. As the music and history of these artists are powerful tools in the ongoing struggle against racism and intolerance, the Foundation is committed to ensuring their appreciation by people of all beliefs and experiences. As a memorial to the artists and their creative spirit, which flourished despite the inhuman conditions of the Theresienstadt concentration camp, the Foundation devotes itself to interfaith concerts, lectures, recordings, children’s programs and research.” The program highlighted Gideon Klein (who died at the age of 26), Sigmund Schul (who died in Terezin), Karel Svenk (who died in Auschwitz), and David Post (the only composer still alive, who was present at the concert this evening). The quartet, with clarinetist Thomas Martin, also played a quintet by Mozart and an encore by Gershwin. A wonderful way to start the new year!
Sunday, September 12, 2004
A rainy Sunday, not conducive to tooting about when one is on foot. Fortunately, the things that rain makes difficult – mainly laundry and shopping – are not essential today. It’s a good excuse to plow through the pages of downloaded emails and stacks of unfinished business that have been piling up over the last several weeks.
The nicest thing about not teaching is not having to spend the first two weeks of September preparing for class. Usually at this time I’m assessing class sizes to determine appropriate course structure and juggling class lists to determine student-team composition. I usually use new texts each fall, so there is also a lot of preparation involved in constructing new syllabi. And, of course, there are obligatory meetings and lunches to launch the new year and announce new programs and policies. What I do miss is the excitement of the start of the year, the new and returning students, and reconnecting with faculty friends who I seldom see over the summer.
Saturday, September 11, 2004.
In the US, September 11 is a day of remembrance and mourning, but in Prague today is the last Saturday of most people’s holiday, since school starts in another week. There was a sign near our bus stop advertising what looked to me like a children’s festival, put on by the Friends of Šarka , with a drawing of Šarka herself, for whom the park is named, tied to a tree. The time and place were clear – start at 8:30-10:00 a.m. at the playground behind the tennis courts not far from our flat. There was a registration table and a few booths set up with refreshments. Families were given maps and directions – for what I thought might be either a scavenger hunt or simply directions to the main festivities – and a 6-station checklist to be stamped at each of the activity areas. I decided to follow one of the groups for what became a four-mile hike! Some of the trails were clearly marked, so I could proceed on my own, but others branched off so I had to wait for a group behind me unless I could see another group ahead. There were several times that I felt totally lost, since I had no reference points (and no map) and was too low in the Šarka to see any building spires for landmarks. The route crossed three streets, each with two policemen stationed as crossing guards. At the third street crossing, with no other hikers in sight, I asked the policemen where I was (wrong question, really, since the answer was obvious: the Šarka) and then had the presence of mind to ask the direction to Hanspaulka, the area where we live and close to where the hike began. To my relief, they pointed at the path going up the hill and said it was only 2 kilometers away.
I got home with little time to spare before heading out again, this time with Rick to meet our dear friend Charlotte and her new husband Bruce for lunch. Charlotte claims that she and Bruce are one of only two couples they know where both are American. So here we were, four Americans, chatting in English and sharing amusing anecdotes. We also met Bruce’s son Brad who, with wife and young daughter, is now living in Prague and working as an IT director. Charlotte and Bruce are in the process of purchasing a building that they will renovate for housing units, one of which will become their new residence next summer. Bruce claims that the rental market is soft, but the market for home purchases is quite good right now. We can see evidence of this in the many real estate brochures and areas of development not far from where we live.
Friday, September 10, 2005.
I had seen a used HP Laser printer at one of the several computer stores I had visited on Thursday—the same model we had at home in Colorado that we bought in 1996—so Rick and I went downtown to see if it would work properly with his math software. Given the price of ink-jet cartridges, a laser printer seemed to be a more economical choice since we did not intend to print photos or need any color printing. Hooked up to Rick’s laptop, the printer seemed to work, so we decided to buy it – roughly $80 which included an after-market toner cartridge. The man at the shop said that it was guaranteed to work for one year. Let’s hope so. The sight of Rick carrying the printer on the subway home, wrapped in saran wrap, was probably not unusual to anyone but me.
Once home, Rick had the sometimes-difficult task of setting his computer defaults and trying to print an entire mathematics document. Neither was entirely successful, so we have our fingers crossed that the printer will not self-destruct on a long document for lack of memory or that Rick won’t resort to throwing the printer across the room in frustration when the paper jams or he gets error messages.
After a few other errands, I met Karin at Bohemia Bagel, from whence we took a walk and ended up sitting on a park bench in the sun catching up on the last six years. She’s as entrepreneurial and focused as ever, with more maturity and understanding Czech rhythms and ways. She intends to stay here, to the extent of moving her furniture to Prague from her Paris apartment, which she had been using only a few weeks out of the year. It’s so nice to connect with a dear friend – it makes our relocation to Prague so much easier. It’s hard to believe it’s been seven years.
Rushing home to change, we then went to Josefov with the intent of joining the Bejt Praha group at the Spanish Synagogue. Alas, there was a notice that said they were not meeting this evening. So, not wanting miss services on Shabbat, we once again went to the Altnai Schul. As before, there were at least 30 women. This crowd seemed younger and more prayerful than last week. Again, a lot of Israelis, a few Brits and Americans among the international entourage.
Rick and I went to an old favorite Czech restaurant U Kapra for an inexpensive but elegant meal, complete with desserts: strudel and whipped cream for me and bananas in chocolate sauce for Rick. My credit card was successful, so I imagine my e-mail distress note to the credit card company had some effect. As soon as I start getting a salary and my cash flow improves, I may revert to using cash.
Thursday, September 9, 2005.
A pilgrimage to the Dell Computer store to get an adapter took up most of the day. When I received my new laptop this spring, I had feared that getting a European adapter would pose a problem, since Dell – unlike any other manufacturer I’ve observed – has a non-standard plug that attaches the outlet cord to the power supply. I had looked at Dell’s website and called their support line several months ago and was told that I would have to get the proper cord after I arrived in Prague. Hooking the US plug to the transformer seemed to alleviate the problem, until it interfered with the phone line.
Armed with the part so as to avoid any language problem, I headed toward town. A computer shop close to the city center was listed as a Dell dealer in the phone book, so I went there first. The person in the shop (one person, small shop) directed me to another store about a block away. When I encountered the same story there, I set off across town to the Dell headquarters, armed with the map and directions.
I arrived nearly an hour later to a very new, very modern glass-and-steel complex “The Park.” It is not on the map that I have, but the Dell website had a map showing its location, clearly visible from the Chodov metro station. It looks like all the major high tech offices are there: IBM, Sony, GE, Panasonic, DHL, etc. The Dell office was easy to find. Once inside, I was greeted by a young woman who spoke very good English and who informed me that the person who handled the part I needed was sick and would not be back until Monday. She gave me the woman’s e-mail address and office phone number and advised me to contact her. Upon further inquiry, she called someone from the back room who thought he could find the part for me. After about ten minutes, he had the part number and after another 15 minutes, he had the part in hand. I was obviously relieved that I would not have to make a second trip, so I said that I would buy it. It took another person about 15 minutes to find the price, after which a third person processed the invoice, which also took 10-15 minutes, and another accepted my money Finally, after nearly 45 minutes from the time I arrived, the young woman at the front desk gave me my change and a receipt for the cord (which cost nearly $9). Cord in hand, I set off for the long trip home.
I decided to make the most of the short time available before most shops close and get a haircut near the Grossetto’s at Dejvicka, not far from our bus route. Success again, although not without some difficulty as no one in the shop spoke any English so it was difficult for me to describe how I wanted my hair cut. I was able to convey the fact that I did not want any extras such as shampoo, blow dry, curl, etc (everything is itemized and charged separately).
Back home, Rick and I went together to shop for dinner groceries. We bought a roast, sauerkraut, rye bread, salad fixings, and pastries and ice cream for dessert (and more beer, of course). I looked for applesauce, but none was to be found. I had picked some apples from the trees in our yard, so I put some in the oven and we had soft baked apples with our dinner! It felt like a very Czech meal.
The rest of the evening was spent fussing with our computers – downloading mail on a dialup connection is painfully slow – and trying to troubleshoot some credit card problems and the problematic plane tickets. Sometimes the internet is not a timesaver. The auto reply from the credit card company assured me that someone would contact me within two business days. Both the credit card website and the airline website give toll-free numbers that only work within the US. When I tried the from-outside-the-US collect phone number, I could not get through. Technology has its limits.
my new haircut!
Wednesday, September 8, 2004.
We’ve been here a week already and, except for the internet problems, we are fairly settled. This morning is laundry day. We have very little clothesline space – our balcony is perhaps 14 feet long – and the line hangs low, so I can only hang one small load at a time. But the weather is nice, so things dry rather quickly. I’ll miss these lovely days when the cold weather hits and I have to resort to hanging everything in the bath room.
Most of our day was spent fussing with the internet. We resorted to going to Charles University where Rick has an affiliation. He was there last fall, so he is acquainted with the secretary, Mrs. Polišenska. Rick brought his laptop, hoping to troubleshoot our problems and use their LAN line. We were introduced to the Department Chair who graciously gave Rick a key to the computer lab and directed us to Martin, the systems administrator. I showed Martin our dialup protocols and he could find nothing to suspect a problem. But he did set Rick up with an account on their system and gave us a LAN cable for Rick’s laptop. Voila! Rick was able to access his email through their Ethernet connection, so finally to check mail, and delete the 140 junk-mail messages that had accumulated over the last week. As is always the case, fussing with email made the time fly; we were there for over three hours!
Immediately upon arriving home, we got a call from dear Mrs. Halova. She had spoken with a professional computer technician who offered his services at our flat this evening for 600 Czk ($24). Within the hour this young man, another Martin, arrived at our flat. He also could find nothing wrong with the computer, but suspected a problem with the telephone connection. By disconnecting everything and placing the computer in different places, he was able to diagnose the problem: the transformer that I had used to plug my American computer adapter into the Czech outlet was interfering with the phone transmission. Eliminating the interference by removing the transformer solved everything. We are now connected to the world – at least by dialup. So now I, too, can download my email to my laptop and start to catch up on long-overdue projects and correspondence.
Rick and I went up the street to Na Staré Faře (“At the Old Parsonage”) for dinner to celebrate. We had a lovely Czech meal, with ice cream sundaes for dessert.
Tuesday, September 7, 2005.
Still no internet connection this morning. Mrs. Halova, our landlady, came around 10:30 a.m. as scheduled, and brought extra linens and, as a gift to us, an linen apron. She graciously called Český Telecom to enquire about our internet account and was told that they were adding capacity in our area and that we should be connected in two weeks. So much for the “urgent” notation on our account. They did tell her that they would give us a dialup connection by this afternoon, but of course that did not happen. It sounds like they want us to set up separate dialup account, which we won’t need if we get the broadband to work.
We raced downtown to meet Miloš at noon at the ČSOB Bank on Wenceslas Square to open a bank account. The account costs 200 Czk (roughly $8) to set up and has a 40 Czk fee each month. The ATM card, which should be available to us in two weeks, is also 200 Czk, and each ATM transaction is 5 Czk. Fulbright will deposit my stipend in American dollars, so there is a deposit transaction fee as well. If I want to transfer money directly from this bank to my landlady’s account at CNB, there is a transfer fee. We’ll probably opt for manual withdrawals and walk down the street to deposit our rent in her account as we did last time.
We made a pilgrimage to several bookstores and newsstands (for English-language newspapers and magazines) and then to Tesco where we picked up some cookware that we can use in the oven and microwave and other small kitchen items. A brief trip to the grocery store, mostly for pastries for tonight’s dessert. Regardless of Rick’s diet, he can hardly pass up fresh Czech breads and pastries (they are wonderful).
Checking e-mail once again at the Laundry Kings internet café reveals no urgent messages – lots of unfiltered junk – but the stack of files from research colleagues to download and print is growing. A note from Radim reveals that he is as perplexed as we are about the dialup problems. Obviously, our modem is working; the problem is on the receiving end.
We received real mail today – mostly change-of-address confirmations and our credit card bill, and also the Fulbright orientation schedule from Hana Rambouskova and a holiday letter from some dear Denver friends – so it feels like we are nearly settled.
Monday, September 6, 2004.
In the U.S., today is Labor Day. Here it is a regular work day, so I was able to go to the post office and get stamps and stop in a few stores to check out wares and inquire about computer printers, adapter plugs and cell phones.
Rick and I stopped at the fruitery at Hanspaulka and bought a few peaches, nectarines, apples, and broccoli. Typical vegetables available at most grocery stores are leeks, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, red and green peppers, and, of course, cabbage. The frozen vegetable options in most stores are limited to peas and carrots, Brussels sprouts, onions, and cauliflower. There are now some fancier packages of beans and “American” mixed vegetables, all fairly expensive, even by US standards. Rick wants to buy chocolate, but the offerings here are pricey and low quality, mostly with flavorings or fillings.
Our apartment suits us, but there are some conveniences that we miss. Without a disposal, brewing tea becomes messy, so even though bulk tea is much cheaper than bags, we are resorting to bagged tea to avoid the hassle of putting tea leaves in the trashcan. A dishwasher would be nice, but we really don’t have enough dishes to make a full load, and with only the two of us cleanup is easy. I do miss a shower. Our bathtub is situated such that standing up is difficult. Fortunately, we brought our own bath towels, since the only towels I’ve seen here are small and thin. Hand towels here look like what I’d call a dish towel. We don’t have much closet or drawer space, but we didn’t bring enough clothes for that to be a problem. On the other hand, we do have a microwave oven and hot-water pot this time.
I desperately need a haircut, but am sitting by the phone waiting for a callback from Český Telecom for our broadband service. The only call was from Hana Rambouskova, the Program Coordinator at the Fulbright office – a friendly and helpful voice. She’ll send me the itinerary for the orientation next week, since I haven’t been able to download my e-mail. I spoke with
Miloš Frieb, the Fulbright financial officer, who will help us open a bank account. My first check should be ready at the orientation next week.
The Women in Business networking group now meets at Mlýnec, a fancy terrace restaurant overlooking the Vltava, just below the Charles Bridge. The bridge seems teeming with British tourists. But the merchants on the bridge – judging by their wares – are mostly unchanged from seven years ago. The WIB group was small, about 20 women. It was nice to see Karin and to meet some new people. It’s a more international group now, with several Czechs as well as Americans, Croats, Asians and Europeans. The expat community is never stable, so many of my “old” friends have moved away; some left just this summer, others are in the process of leaving now.
Sunday, September 5, 2004.
In Czech, Sunday is Nedĕle which literally means “no work.” Since most places are closed, Sunday is an opportunity for us to get some meaningful “work” done at home. The weather is lovely today – sunny and warm but not hot or humid. After a productive trip to the Julius Meinl for dinner groceries, we strolled down to Hanspaulka to see if the fruitery was open (it was not) and found a modest pension on our way back that may serve as lodging for guests. A very nice room with three beds and a kitchen is 750 Czk or about $30 per day. A more modest room was 315 Czk per day (one-tenth the price of the Hotel Zlata Praha up the street from us). Rick’s German helped us once again, as the proprietors spoke no English.
Before dinner we took a 2-mile walk through the lower Šarka (forest preserve) that borders our street. There are lots of new, very big houses just outside the perimeter. Many are reconstructions of older dwellings, but some look new from the ground up. Most of the houses have big yards with well-kept gardens; all the newer buildings have garages. The air smells of peach and apple trees and an occasional trash-burner. When the cold weather comes, we’ll undoubtedly smell coal and heating oil. Sunday is quiet – although many Czechs work on their houses and in their gardens – with almost no traffic on the streets.
Saturday, September 04, 2004
The buses don’t run as often on the weekends, so getting places takes a bit longer. Most stores around our house are closed; the Julius Meinl grocery store is open until 2 p.m. Rick picked up a few groceries while I went to Hradčanska to the internet café, this time to finalize plane reservations for our trip to Athens. Prices on the internet seem to be the best we can get and, although I found tickets for a bit less in Czech crowns than in dollars, the cheaptickets.com site was easiest to maneuver despite the fact that they would not issue an e-ticket. I checked the “pick up at the airport” box but we were charged a mailing fee and it appears as though they will send the tickets to our address in Colorado. I hope this doesn't pose a problem when we try to board the plane.
A note from Matt assures us that he’s OK, adjusting to his new quarters and new roommate and successfully registered for courses that seem to suit him. Our renters wrote to tell us that they are enjoying our house, so things appear stable there. I didn’t take time to read notes from the university, since the internet service has already cost us $2-4 per day. It makes the monthly fee for broadband seem reasonable. I do worry, however, what our phone bill will be with all our futile attempts at connecting with the Český Telecom modem line.
A successful jaunt downtown yielded another extension cord for Rick’s office, plus a few miscellaneous office supplies and postcards to send for the upcoming holidays. The Tesco, still in the same location, has had a face-lift. Everything is bar-code scanned. No one will bag your purchases, but all departments appear to take credit cards. The store was brimming with shoppers for school supplies – the same familiar brands and sizes of paper and notebooks. The grocery store below the first floor was even busier than the main floor of the department store. There were long lines at the now-pristine deli and meat counters. The only salad dressings I’ve seen are creamy (even those that are labeled “Italsky”), so I decided to buy olive oil and vinegar instead. It took me quite awhile to find the vinegar. I had found the olive oil easily, near the salt and sugar. I had expected vinegar to be close by, but this was not the case. Nor was it near the olives and pickles or near the mustards or soy sauce or spices. After walking through nearly every aisle, I finally found a row of vinegars on a shelf the frozen pizzas.
Roaming around Můstek and Wenceslas Square is on the one hand familiar, and another disquieting. Saturday still brings out lots of barkers handing out flyers for concerts to lots of tourists. The Dunkin Donuts has been replaced by a pizza parlor; there is a big New Yorker clothing store below the disco where a CD store used to be. Public bathrooms are still 3 Czk. Amongst the t-shirt and souvenir shops are several cell-phone boutiques, lots of jewelry and glass stores and clothing boutiques. Prague does look more typically European; higher prices come with more style.
Then came a slow but uneventful trip home, where dinner was waiting. Our first home-cooked meal: roast chicken with veggies, salad, fresh bread (traditional Czech chleb), and an ice cream cake for dessert. Rick, of course, enjoyed the Staropramen beer that he had bought earlier in the day. Czech beer always makes him happy.
New and improved deli and produce counter at Delvita
Delvita's produce section
A meat counter at Tesco Supermarket
Friday, September 3, 2004
Getting on the internet is a priority; we’ve had little luck at the internet cafés which are expensive (roughly $2 per half hour) and inconvenient. We went to Hradčanska to try the internet again. I was successful checking e-mail from DU; Rick was not. Fortunately, I did get the needed information regarding the Fulbright orientation dates and the time and location of Bejt Praha for this evening and the Women in Business group for Monday evening’s monthly dinner. Barb has made hotel reservations for us in Athens, but the dates are earlier than when we can arrive. Whether or not these can be changed, I need to get back to her quickly since she leaves the US on the 9th of September.
Already afternoon, we headed to GTS, hoping to arrange inexpensive plane tickets to Athens. We will need a form signed from the Czech universities here in order to get a GTS card, but the airline prices we were given seem to be no better than those I have seen readily available on the internet. Connections to Greece are not good, however, so it will be a long trip connecting either in Rome, Milan or Munich, arriving late in the evening regardless of when we leave Prague.
Wenceslas Square is not quite the same. The Jan Palach 1969/1989 student-protest memorial is gone and the statue of King Wenceslas on his horse is covered, presumably under construction. Most of the establishments are the same, however, as is the activity around the square.
A quick trip home to call about our broadband internet service. The woman on the line was able to give me a temporary dial-up to use before our service is activated next week, but so far it is not connecting. Another call, another voice, another frustrating wait.
Today is Friday, the end of the work week, the beginning of Shabbat. I would welcome the break had I been able to get more things accomplished this week. Bejt Praha’s website said that they still met at the Jewish Town Hall. I should have paid attention to the notice in the Prague Post that said they were at the Spanish Synagogue. However, once at Maisalova Street in Josefov, the best course of action seemed to be to join the people in line at the Altnai Shul. Rick was uncomfortable at the prospect, since our Hebrew is virtually non-existent, but we went anyway.
The Altnai Shul is early Gothic because at the time that the synagogue was built, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. In those days, the Jews were not allowed to be architects, so this building was designed by Christian builders, believed to be the same architects who designed the Franciscan St. Agnes Convent. The interior of the main hall has a vaulted ceiling like those typically seen in a Christian church. It is the only medieval hall with this type of architecture still in existence. The ceiling has six vault compartments supported by two octagonal pillars. The unique design of the ceiling vaults has five ribs. This is a single story building, so the women's galley is not upstairs, as is customary. Instead, there are side corridors where the women stand to view the services through narrow slits in the wall. The bimah, in the center of the sanctuary, is like an elaborate wrought iron cage. Above the bimah hangs a remnant of a red flag with the Star of David. In 1357, Charles IV, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire at the time, allowed the Jews of Prague to have their own city flag. Another tattered red banner hangs next to the Jewish flag. This was a gift from Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III to the Jews for their help in stopping an invasion by the Swedes in 1648 at the tail end of the Thirty Years War. On the east wall is the Holy Ark which contains the Torah scrolls. This is the synagogue which Franz Kafka attended when he lived in Prague; his bar mitzvah was held in this synagogue (although he is not buried here). On the west wall of the main hall, there is a glass case shaped like the two stone tablets on which Moses chiseled the ten commandants. The case is filled with tiny light bulbs which light up on the anniversary of someone's death if the relatives have paid for this feature. One of the lights is for Franz Kafka.
Rabbi Karol Sidon, a former dissident and playwright, had been the chief Rabbi in Prague from 1992 until he was ousted last June. The dismissal of Sidon and appointment of Rabbi Manis Barash, former head of the Chabad center in Prague, caused quite a controversy in the Jewish Community. The orthodox community who meet at the Altnai Shul is still a fairly closed group, but the synagogue’s fame draws tourists from all over the globe. Sidon is still in Prague and very much involved in the Jewish community -- and has a loyal following. Barash read the Parsha in Hebrew and Czech. Being in the woman’s gallery was advantageous, since there were several women from the US and Israel who pointed me to the appropriate place in the Siddur and translated the Rabbi’s words for me, interspersed with interesting conversation about travels, congregations, and world order.
Rick chose the noisiest and most crowded restaurant in the vicinity for dinner – La Bodeguita del Medio, a Cuban bar/restaurant/music club. Most of the music came from a live salsa band in the bar below the restaurant. A few couples were dancing in the upstairs bar area as well. I had hoped that the prices would be more moderate, but the meal was worth the price and the wait for seating. We had a very tasty meal, complete with the best cognac-chocolate mousse with strawberries I could ever wish for. Rick had a ribeye steak for dinner and Cuban fried bananas for dessert. The fellows at the table next to us ordered one of the restaurant’s specialty drinks: a 2-liter Marguerita served in a glass about a foot tall, with 8-10 colorful meter-long straws jutting out the top. They finished their dinner with Cuban cigars.
The crowd riding the metro at night is distinctively different from those going to work in the morning. More people are jovial, usually with friends or sweethearts, often a little tipsy. There is an element of danger, however, since night is when most of the pickpockets seem to be around. We have been sensitized to be careful. Back on our street, everything is quiet. No traffic except for the regular bus.
typical street activity on Wenceslas Square
would you ever see a sculpture like this in a public square in the USA?
another interesting sculpture, this one at Mustek
Thursday, September 2, 2004
During rush hour on the Prague metro one sees all types of people, presumably going to work, school, or shopping. The long escalators connecting the metro lines are an interesting example of Czech culture: no smiles, no eye contact. Californians would say the people look dour and/or angry. To a Midwesterner, the Czechs look serious, almost gloomy.
Riding the 131 bus and taking the metro into town seemed quite familiar, from the little kvetiny (flower stand) and Asian market stalls near the Hradčanska metro station to the winding tunnels connecting the A and B metro lines, to the recorded voice announcing the stations. Even the graffiti on the old buildings seems unchanged.
Pink umbrella in hand, I met Hana’s parents at the Křižikova metro station at 9 a.m. They greeted me warmly and, despite our lack of a common language, exchanged pleasantries and gave me the coveted ADSL modem.
Back home, things became a bit complicated when I tried to install the modem, whose instructions were only in Czech. The pictures helped, and the icon on the computer indicated that I was connected, but I could not access a webpage. I struggled to connect for over an hour before I called Český Telecom for help, only to find out that my account would not be activated for another several days. The woman on the phone said she would mark my order “urgent” and call me when it was set up.
Having failed at getting connected at home, I set out for Hradčanska to meet Eva for lunch at a little Mexican restaurant near the metro station. Eva asked for the menu in English, but the Czech menu had enough English and Spanish for me to easily understand the offerings. After lunch we tried to find mobile phone deals at several of the banks to no avail. In my wanderings around I found an internet café to check e-mail. Stymied again, I was not able to log on. When I got home, I found that Rick had had the same experience trying to log in to his account. I spent another few hours fussing with the computer, and at least was successful in setting up the wireless router.
Nearly 7 p.m. we set out for Letná with the intention of going to one of the events at the Letní Letná circus festival, but were not able to get in as promised by Jules and Fanny, who perform with the French troupe Cahin-Caha, whom I had met at lunch. The walk through Letná, overlooking the city from below the Castle, was lovely and the people-watching – lots of rollerbladers on the paths – was interesting. We changed course around 8:30 and headed toward Malá Strana, looking for a suitable restaurant. Prices are noticeably higher than when we were here seven years ago, complicated by a very unfavorable exchange rate. Getting dinner for two for $10 does not exist anymore, but it is possible to eat dinner for around $20. We walked across the Charles Bridge around 9pm, and headed toward one of Rick’s favorite places not too far from the Center for Theoretical Study: U Pinkasů, a brewpub of sorts that has been around for over a hundred years. The restaurant’s first owner was Jakub Pinkas, a tailor who came to Prague in the first half of the 19th century from southern Bohemia. Through marriage he acquired a taproom on Perlová Street, later moving to its present location on Jungmannova. In 1876, Pinkas acquired the adjacent building, with extensive Gothic cellars, to expand the beerhouse which, by then, had grown in popularity. As the story goes, in 1843 Pinkas asked his friend Martin Salzmann to bring him a sample of the then new lager from Plzeò to taste. The new beer not only found favor with Pinkas, who had by then also decided to abandon his tailoring work for good, but also with the guests at his beerhouse. Since then U Pinkasů has, without interruption, only sold Pilsner Urquell, giving Prague its first Pilsner beerhouse. Sources say that around 600,000 liters of beer are drunk here every year. Rick claims they have the best beer in the world. We had our first “real” Czech dinner – lots of dumplings and gravy with a bit of meat and poppyseed/cherry strudel for dessert.
Wednesday, September 1, 2004.
Rick was up early, of course, but I slept in until nearly 9 a.m. I spent the morning unpacking and putting away the clothes that we had left scattered on the table and sofa the previous afternoon while Rick alternately worked on mathematics and took naps. I walked to the Julius Meinl grocery store, bringing home only as much as I could carry easily in one bag. I had forgotten about weighing produce at the produce area, but the woman at the checkout graciously helped me weigh the tomatoes I had purchased. Unlike the Delvita, the Julius Meinl does have a deli and butcher counter. They also had paper, scissors, and kitchen utensils so we are now nearly fully stocked with non-food essentials.
We went to dinner early – just down the street to Pizzerie Siesta – since Eva and Hunsa had planned to stop by our flat after dinner to drop off the items that Petr and Kari had brought to their house for us in June. We had hoped to have picked up something for dessert to serve to them, but most stores are still open from 6 a.m. until 6 or 7 p.m. so everything close by was closed by the time we headed back from dinner.
As if on cue, Hana Bartos called just as we walked in the door at 8 p.m. She had just talked with her mother who had found Radim’s ADSL modem and was willing to meet us downtown on Thursday morning. When Eva and Hunsa came with the suitcase full of our remaining vitamins and clothes, we looked at the map together to find a suitable (i.e. uncrowded and uncomplicated) place to meet Hana’s mother Helena. Eva phoned Helena and made the final arrangements for me. Another day of progress!
