Prague Journal

Sunday, January 16, 2005.

The sun is shining today and the sky is calm – no snow or rain in sight, despite the forecasts. This afternoon’s hike was before lunch, so Jitka did not join us. The direction of our hike was aborted when we were greeted by a boar off the side of the road in the stream. He was obviously crippled, presumably by a fall, and did not ascend the bank, but we decided to turn back anyway so as not to antagonize him by crossing his path. He did not look like he was any danger to us, but he was probably afraid of us since he was aware of his weakened condition. In fact, he looked like he had been stranded for some time. Ales called the game authorities when we returned to the cottage. Since boars are plentiful these days, it is likely he will be killed and put out of his misery.
Our train back to Prague was not due to leave until nearly 4:00 p.m., so we had plenty of time for another full-course lunch and leisure conversation. I cannot help but comment on the lunch, which would have been sufficient with just the delicious stir-fried vegetables. But we also had chicken-kabobs and rohliky (small yellow oblong) potatoes. Jitka had also made a very light chocolate-cake roll filled with light whipped cream for dessert. I can hardly imagine wanting dinner when we get back to Prague.
A neighbor had visited earlier with a basket of eggs, so Jitka put ten in an egg box for us to take with us (boxes here hold ten, not twelve eggs as we’re used to in the US). These are farm eggs, so they’re very fresh and laid by healthy hens who roam free. Jitka also gave us two more jars of her wonderful black-current jam. I shouldn’t have mentioned to her that because we liked the jam she had given us earlier in the fall, we had bought some black-current jam when we saw it in the store, but were amazed at how different it tasted (obviously more sugar, but less fruit).
Before we left, Jitka showed us some photos she had taken in Provence (France) a few years ago – they are absolutely spectacular. Rick and I were in Provence over 20 years ago, so we are eager to go back. Of course the list of place we’d like to get to this year is long, since we’ve seen so few places on the European continent.
Ales accompanied us back to Prague, so we did not have to be attentive to the stops or worried about catching the right train at the station in Pisek. The commuter train from Jetĕtice to Pisek runs every two hours and was nearly empty until the half-way point at Milevsko. The express train from Pisek to Prague, however, is typically standing-room-only on Sundays and today was no exception. But, again we were lucky and found seats together in an end compartment, so the 2-hour ride was comfortable and relaxing. We arrived at the Prague train station before 7:00p.m., hopped on the metro (subway), and were home before 8:00 – plenty of time to unpack, unwind, and attend to the things we need to do before our work week begins tomorrow.

posted by JWinn @ 10:49 PM