Monday night Kylowna and I went to Carmen at the Narodni Divadlo, the National Theater. Such fun...gypsies, soldiers, bawdiness, jealousy, and one determined, strong woman. Bravo for Carmen!
We had dinner near Old Town Square afterward...the biggest plate of ribs you could imagine, strolling violinists, and a cover charge plus mandatory tip that made us both figure we'd not go again despite the decent food and live music. Combined they were a bit less than we'd planned to leave for a tip, but there is something really annoying about being treated as if you were planning on not paying.
On the contrary note, I had dinner Tuesday at a vegetarian restaurant with MJ. The food was less good. They were switching to their "summer menu" the next day and had very limited choices. But the ambiance was pleasant, the service was good and the place is a winner.
In contrast to lively Carmen, I saw serious Tosca Wednesday. Wonderful resident opera here is not much more than movies at home. The music in Tosca is spectacular. The artists were too. But the contrast between the somber, traditional female Tosca and the bawdy, I'm-in-charge-of my-life Carmen left Carmen in the lead for fun.
Days have been busy with class and presentation preparations. Next week I go to Romania to present two seminars on strategic communication. I hope also to meet with a nonprofit group of women journalists. The Romanian Fulbright office is organizing the activities, but it all started in Berlin when I met Margaret, a Fulbrighter from New Jersey who is in Bucharest this year. I'm spending Easter with her and her husband, Ben.
The week after Romania, I am going to Slovakia to do two or maybe three seminars on fund raising. The US Embassy in Slovakia is organizing the trip.
I have plenty of preparing to do, and also a bunch of paper grading, but as you can imagine, I have no complaints!!
I met a fascinating man Friday http://www.jansokol.cz/cv-en.php?lang=en. He is the dean of the Faculty of Humanities, with which I am associated, at Charles University.
I feel like I just met the face of recent Czech history. He is from a Catholic Prague family and his father was a teacher. He was not allowed to go to a gymnasium to prepare for university. After high school he was an apprentice goldsmith. He got interested in mathematics and computing and built an academic career, despite his non-traditional background for it. His father-in-law was the leader of the Charter 77 Forum, and Vaclav Havel's mentor. He was taken into custody for questioning at age 70 and died a few days after his release. Sokol was one of the original signers of the Charter. Eventually there were just over 2,000 people who signed it, and they are the people behind the
Velvet Revolution, at least according to some historians.
If you look at the web link you’ll notice that after the Velvet Revolution he started his university education, became a professor, was Minister of Education, ran for president of the country, and wrote a few books. He chain smokes. Really cool guy!
Friday afternoon I came to Český Krumlov. I won't get to post for a couple of days, but I am writing on Friday evening. This is a medieval town on the UNESCO World Heritage list. What I saw in my brief walk around reminded me of a hilltop village in Italy...but with a river running through it and a huge castle dominating it.
My hotel is in a building from the 1400s...not luxury, but it has been improved since the original, and has a funky charm. My room is in an auxiliary building and doesn't look like a hotel. When I walked out the door earlier, a group of Chinese people were walking by and a woman asked me, in perfect English, if this was a "family house." I spent about half an hour with the group. They are here as tourists, mostly seeing Prague. I wished they had not already eaten because I would have tagged along with them. But I came back and ate at the hotel. The town is quite empty. I expected there would be crowds. Maybe tomorrow I'll find the crowds at the castle.
I had a traditional Czech dinner. I asked the waiter what was especially good and ordered it. It turned out to be slices of beef with lots of gravy, topped with currents and WHIPPED CREAM. There were also three potato dumplings, which Czechs serve a lot. They are nothing like the dumplings my Mom made to go in Chicken and Dumplings. These are large thick slices of dumplings, instead of Mom's dropped-from-a-tablespoon-into-the-stew-size whole ones. No whipped cream on them, just gravy. Of course, I had it with beer, the Czech national food.
I think I found the worst possible way to get here, although I felt better about my trip when my new Chinese friend told me they too had a very long bus ride. My bus took almost four hours and stopped at every town between Prague and here...plus some fields with no sign of life except the bus stop.
Luckily I bought my ticket ahead and had a reserved seat because in addition to the 50 or so seated passengers, the aisle was packed, sardine-full, with standing passengers, all the way. Some would leave, and others would get on. People were standing all the time, and so crowded that they were leaning against those of us who were lucky enough to not be standing.
My reserved seat was only half a seat because my seat mate was a huge woman who spilled into my seat. There was no armrest between to help her stay in her seat. I tried to hang into the aisle, but there were so many people there it wasn't really possible. For part of the time I was squished between my seat mate and a guy who smelled like last night’s beer. Yuck. I didn’t even get to see the countryside. I was in one of the seats where two windows meet and the curtains cover most of the view. The rest was covered by my seat mate’s largesse. I was really glad to get here. I guess "adventure" wouldn't be adventure if it was always just what you planned. Tomorrow, the castle!
Saturday’s Castles and New Friends
First thing after breakfast, provided by the hotel, I climbed to the castle and bought my ticket for the tour, so I’d know what time the English tour was. There are many in Czech, but at this time of year, not more than a few in English. I then had a full hour to wander the town before the tour began.
I bought some Czech ginkho honey liqueur and looked longingly at some jewelry, deciding it was overpriced. I'll look again in Prague.
The tour was worth the time and money. The castle has, of course, been made over many times. It was gothic, then renaissance, then baroque and rococo. There are remnants of each in the rooms, and the rococo ball room is particularly fun.
I met a Marilyn and Al, from Georgia. They rented a car in Berlin, visiting Dresden and Prague before coming here on their way to seeing much more of the Czech Republic and Poland. They invited me to go along this afternoon to visit the castle Hluboka near České Budéjovice. It too has been gothic and renaissance. But then it was made to look like Windsor Castle. Ha! We had a grand time and really enjoyed the second castle of the day...they sold great coffee at the cafe too. What a nice surprise for me...to make new friends in Český Krumlov.
When we got back, they were doing a quick dinner and then a concert. I opted for a short break, a leisurely stroll, and a slow dinner at the restaurant they had gone to and liked the night before. I arrived there just as they were leaving for the concert. Another nice surprise, to run into them again.
Tonight I am going to study my Czech lessons. Having ventured out of Prague for the first time, I am motivated anew to enhance my meager vocabulary so I can do better at getting directions, buying things, and just being more polite. Czech people are very polite. They don't just order food, for example. They start with "please, I'd like..." I brought my book to study on the bus...fat chance of that!!! So tonight is a good chance to work on words.
Tomorrow, I'll find out if all the buses are as bad as the one I took yesterday to get here. Even if they are, it is worth it.
Sunday’s Much Better Bus Ride
Today is Palm Sunday. I was walking to the bus when people were leaving church. They were carrying pussy willow branches instead of palms. I'll have to ask about that.
It is still a long bus ride, but today was totally fine. I had a whole seat. People stood, all three and a half hours, but they were not packed tightly and did not keep bumping us. I had a window, a whole window. The countryside was quite charming and all the little towns were fun to see on the way back. Good trip.
I went to the Easter Market at Old Town Square and foraged up dinner at various vendors. I was sorry to miss the Cedar Key Arts Festival. I read the Sun article and it sounded as if I would have spent money had I been there. Next year, if I haven’t become an ex-pat!
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