Back to School Fever

Sometime back in early July, I sat staring at an e-mail describing a position available at Riverside School. They were looking for teaching assistants - and I thought it might be fun to work with kids again. I sent them my resume, went to an interview, and was offered the position. So - tomorrow I am going to WORK!! What was I thinking???

Actually, I think I will enjoy being in a school environment again!

A hike in the park (2 actually)

Now that summer is winding down, we felt that we had to get out and experience some of the natural beauty just outside the city.

Divoka Sarka is a huge nature preserve between the city and the airport, easily accessible by public transport. There is a tram terminus just before the park entrance, and several bus lines head out that way. For those with cars, the parking lot at the entrance is .....McDonald's!!!

As you head out into the park, you soon forget that there is a city anywhere near. Yesterday was perfect for hiking - sunny but cool. We struck out along a paved road with our friends Bruce and Connie, walked over a dam at the reservoir, and then were soon lost in the wilderness. Some of the trails in this area are rocky farm paths, some are paved roads, and some appear to be the tracks followed by the mountain goats that supposedly live here (we didn't see any :-( ). We followed a combination of trails and found a public swimming pool and pub buried deep in the wilds, and beautiful scenery as we walked through a gorge area with towering cliffs on each side. As we came back to the end of our trek, we decided that we really had to get to the top of the cliffs, so up we went.

That's actually a steeper ascent than it looks in this photo!


Not quite at the top....

I made it!

It was worth the climb, but as we walked around on the summit, we realized that there was a much better trail we could have followed to get to the top - it was a much easier descent!

From up here, looking back toward the McDonald's, you can see another park that is close to Chris and Laura's flat and which houses the famous star-shaped chateau. (Letohradek Hvezda).

After indulging in some ice cream, we walked out of McDonald's, looked across the street, and noticed that the chateau didn't appear to be very far away. So off we went, following the star, which we soon realized was at the top of a hill (and we were on the bottom). No matter, we found a trail that brought us up to the top, and enjoyed this park which is a formal estate, with well-tended gardens and long tree-lined avenues.

Great fun!

Laura's birthday!

Our favorite daughter-in-law's birthday was yesterday, and we spent the morning with Elliot so that Laura could start off her day by going out to breakfast with Chris. (Owen was taking Czech lessons.)

We hung around throughout the day to enjoy the subsequent dinner and cake - all prepared by her men!

Dinner was pasta and sauce (homemade by Chris) with a simple side dish of sliced cucumbers, bread, and wine.

Dessert was scrumptious chocolate cake.... see below for some photos of the cake preparation.


Chris and Owen are studying the Moosewood Cookbook - are you sure this is the right recipe?



Owen shows Daddy how to use the mixer.....

Cracking eggs is a man's job!

It is unfortunate that Tom didn't photo the finished product- but if you want to see what it looked like, click on Chris & Laura's blog - Chris' birthday post! Same cake. Great job, men!!

Paddle boats with Owen

Grandma has been wanting to go out on the river in a paddleboat, and taking Owen for a day provided the perfect opportunity!!

Why do boys love to push buttons??? See that tempting green button there?


Just HAD to do it- luckily it's just a "door open" button!!

Prague views from the water...

A long stretch to the pedals...

Ducks to be fed..

After we returned the paddleboat, we jumped aboard a small boat that operates as a ferry to certain points along the river - all part of the public transport system. No extra tickets required. Our destination - Detsky Ostrov (Children's island).

The pirate ship ... (who's on the slide?)

The giant misting umbrella - very refreshing on a hot, hot day. Forgot swim clothes or a change of clothing for the kids? No problem - nakedness is normal here.

Then back to Owen's house to sing Happy Birthday to Chris, and to sample some yummy chocolate cake!

I met a man upon the stair

Yesterday, I met a man upon the stair - a neighbor who spoke enough English to tell me "4 more weeks". He said that he had heard the completion date for our new lift would be September 11. UGH!!





It's amazing what little bits of nothing get lodged in your brain to surface at unexpected moments! I thought I recalled that there was a poem or something that began with "I met a man..." so I Googled it to get it right!

"Yesterday upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there.

He wasn't there again today, Oh how I wish he'd go away."

Antigonish - William Hughes Mearnes 1899

Anyway, judging from the barriers they installed across the shaft openings - we are in for a long haul!!



My only hope is that this might do some good as an exercise program. But why are real stairs so much more difficult than a stair-stepper at the gym??

Auschwitz

On our way back to Prague, we made the hour and 1/2 side trip to Auschwitz. It was fitting that it began to rain again as we toured this site.

Although Auschwitz is perhaps most infamous because of the numbers of Jews tortured and murdered here, we learned that the same fate was meted out to thousands of Polish intelligentsia ( those "thinking people" who might organize revolts against the Germans), Russian soldiers, and even members of gypsy tribes.


Photographs were only allowed outside. This is one of the block barracks where those considered fit enough to work were housed.





On the way to the gas chamber. The guide explained that prisoners were executed in many ways in the early years of the camp - by firing squad, mass hangings, torture/neglect, and untreated disease. These methods weren't fast enough to handle the huge numbers of people that needed to be exterminated, so experiments were conducted using poisonous gas. That method proved to be very effective and efficient, so the partially underground munitions bunker that already existed was converted to the gas chamber. You can see part of it behind the sign on the left. On the right is the gallows where the camp commandante Rudolph Hoss was hanged
in 1947.


The site was chosen by the Germans because these buildings already existed, having been a military base for Polish soldiers. Today, the aged brick and tree-lined streets appear quite pleasant.

However, the electrified barbed-wire perimeter is a reminder of the reality.

Visitors flock to this site by the thousands- here is a tour group entering one of the barracks. I thought that the most moving exhibits were the preserved piles of personal belongings that were discovered after the camp's liberation. They focus on the few possessions that the prisoners brought with them, having been decieved into thinking that they were going to a place to begin their lives anew. There were the suitcases, the hair and toothbrushes, the kitchen items, children's clothing, the shoes, reading glasses, and then the items that illustrate the atrocities committed here -bales of human hair and jaw bones showing how gold fillings had been removed from the teeth.

Never forget what political apathy can give rise to.....

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemoller

Krakow trip

Our friends Jim and Mabelle called us last Monday and asked if we wanted to take a quick trip to Krakow, Poland. Never ones to turn down an opportunity to travel, we of course accepted and headed out early Tuesday AM. Our drive took a little longer than planned due to construction and heavy rains, so when we hit the city limits we were all on the lookout for our hotel.

Tom spotted this sign ... (if you can't read it, it says KRAK Motel). Perhaps someone should let them know that's not a great choice for a name?

We actually stayed at the Hotel Chopin, which was a very nice, reasonably -priced hotel. The staff were great, and the young lady on reception even promised to do her best to make it stop raining. She must have had some influence somewhere, because the rain did stop immediately after our check-in, and we went out to explore the town.

Street scene.....

The Market Square in the evening, featuring the Adam Mickiewicz Monument. Old Adam apparently was a poet, and his statue makes a convenient meetingplace in the square. If you look closely, you can see rows of little market stalls behind the statue. It appears that they were setting up the stalls in preparation for some major festivities (we didn't find out what) and we were disappointed that they were not open while we were there.

We did find the permanent shopping area known as Cloth Hall which is now full of stalls that market souvenirs ranging from cheap touristy items to very expensive pottery, amber, gold & silver jewelry, and crystal. We found the prices in Krakow to be more reasonable than in Prague.

A typical stall...

The market square pigeons... these guys are used to being fed by the passers-by, and some are fairly tame. We watched as a young girl grabbed one, showed it to her little brother, then tucked it under her arm and strolled away with it. Instant pet?? I wanted one too, but Jim said I couldn't take it in the car :-(

These young ladies were a troop of Girl Guides singing to raise money for their programs...

We did walk past the Wawel Castle, which is a much smaller version of Prague's landmark. We didn't even go inside the walls or take a photo!!

Hunger finally called us into a nearby restaurant, Pod Wawelem Kompania Kuflowa, where the Warka beer was served in litre mugs, (normal is 0.5l) and all the meals appeared to be super-sized. Mabelle ordered the chicken skewer, thinking it might be a lighter meal.

This is how it was served.....

The meal ended with a complimentary shot of cherry vodka - great place!

On Wednesday morning, we went back to the markets and made our selections- earrings for me, and a bracelet for Mabelle. We also stocked up on cherry vodka :-)

Another year married!

Today marks 39 years - who would have thunk it? :-)

We found our elevator !

Day 4.....

Mind the gap!!

6th Floor Walk-up

After our trip to London, we thought maybe we'd sleep in this AM. Wrong!! Promptly at 7 AM, I began to hear all kinds of construction noises, some from out on the street and some that seemed to be in our stairwell. The metal clanging made me think that they were replacing a railing or something.

When we finally rolled out of bed and ingested our coffee, I looked out the window to see that both ends of the block across the street had been dug up, and something was being done in the holes. No biggie.

Then Chris called to see if we were up as he needed to pick up his bike that he left here while they were moving. Again no problem. We have to go down to street level to unlock the door for visitors, so I stepped out on the landing and pushed the button for the elevator. Nothing. I walked down the stairs to find the elevator door open and workmen hovering around the opening. Again no problem, as the elevator has had quite a bit of tweaking in the past few months. Chris left via the stairs, and Tom and I vegged out for most of the day.

When I started getting hungry, I realized that we were pretty short on groceries, so I headed out to go to the store. Again no elevator, so I walked down the stairs to find...

NO Elevator!!!

I saw parts of the old one in the garbage area- remember the clanging? and no signs of a new one anywhere!! A sign on the door says something in Czech that I hope says "we're replacing the elevator ", but Lord only knows when!! Needless to say - I only bought the necessities as I had to cart everything back up those 6 flights of stairs. :-)

The Six Days of London

Thanks to a guidebook written by Rick Steves and our friend Connie, who studied the guidebook and made great suggestions as to where we should go and what we should see, we spent an amazing 6 days in London last week.

Our itinerary was something like this:

Monday- arrival, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the London by Night Tour.
Tuesday: The changing of the guard, Buckingham Palace tour, the Royal Mews and the Queen's Gallery.
Wednesday: The Tower of London and the Tower Bridge
Thursday: Windsor Castle
Friday: Greenwich - the Royal Observatory and the Naval Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral
Saturday: British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery.

We took so many photos that we created several blog entries, so be sure to keep scrolling down to see all the photos.

We're where???? Actually Connie and I are helping the lost....



Below is Westminster Abbey, which we visited our first day. Don't let that blue sky fool you- it was cold in London for the entire week. Please note that we are wearing jackets.

We visited Westminster after normal tourist hours by attending an Evensong service. That way, you do not have to pay an admission fee, and you can appreciate the spendors of the architecture along with the music of the organ and choir.


There were a lot of tourists in London :-) so we didn't get very close to the changing of the guard.

if you double click I think you can see some hats - and lots and lots of people... Nope, no hats- I just checked!!

Our visit to the Royal Mews allowed us to see the carriages and cars still used for transporting the royals today. We were disappointed that most of the horses were on vacation in the country, but they did keep a few in the stable for the tourists to view.

Big Ben, with the huge Ferris Wheel called the London Eye in the background....

A view across the Thames....

Although we were on the lookout all week, we never did see a humped pelican...

The next two photos are the exterior of St. Paul's Cathedral. This is where the wedding of Diana and Charles took place. We went to an Evensong Service at this cathedral as well, and we were blessed to arrive early enough to be allowed to sit in the ancient choir stalls at the sides of the nave. What a thrill that was- no sitting with the peasants for us! Again, this was the perfect way to experience this great church; choir, organ and all.

We became quite adept at finding our way around via the tube and the busses - double deckers are everyone's favorite!

London- Wednesday

Wednesday was devoted to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. There is so much to be seen at the tower that it takes a good part of the day to get through it all.

You can take a guided tour from one of the famous Beefeaters and then wander on your own in the various parts of the complex. The Crown Jewels are kept here, and it is the site of executions such as Ann Bolyn. This year, there was an exhibit devoted to King Henry VIII, which was full of armor, weapons, and such.

This view of the Tower of London is from the landward side- the other side faces the Thames.

One of the Yeoman Guards or Beefeaters - one of twelve who live and work as part of the elite body of guards who have served the Tower of London.

The Traitor's Gate through which prisoners were brought via the river to the Tower for safekeeping (or execution).

Since prisoners are no longer kept at the Tower of London, the Beefeaters' job is to humor the tourists...

Cyndy and Connie at the station.....

The Tower Bridge is one of the many bridges across the Thames, and is important because the roadway can be opened to accommodate tall ships. Apparently we did not have a photo of the entire bridge, but there is a Gothic column on each side that supports the road bed and a walkway.

The walkway is up at the top level- yes, up there....and walk it we did.