Leaving Praha

IMGP4791, originally uploaded by smoooch.

On my way to Cesky Krumove for one night. I return to Prague tomorrow night only to make my Paris connection and then I will arrive in Paris on Tuesday at 1pm local time.

I have a what looks like a charming hostel booked for all three nights, The Le Montclair Hostel in the historically poetic and artistic Montmartre are of Paris. Should be very lovely, especially if the sun is hsining and I somehow manage to avoid a pack of roving drunken teenagers.

I¨m also going into the Euro Currency, which will make everything that much pricier. Hopefully, I¨ll be able to download all my photos as I continue on.

xox
Jill

Wow

IMGP4661, originally uploaded by smoooch.

Dear North America

Dear North America,

Please stop what you're doing. You're like a syrupy sludge that seeps into all cracks and crevices of culture. No matter what, you find a way to get in. Sometimes, you go by almost unnoticed and other times you are this garish obnoxious ooze that comes with an accompaning odor.

While I thank you for somethings. Like recognizable brands when I'm in need of something familiar, you know those days when you really want a Coca Cola and not one of those imitation brands that taste a little bit too something. But I kind of resent your presence while I'm on a bus travelling through the lush Czech countryside and Bryan Adams comes over a radio. That was just bad, North America. I could have laughed if it was Beyonce. But Bryan Adams? Or Prince when I'm grocery shopping in a foreign country?

What really got me was while visiting Prague, there was a stage set up for enetertainment as a part of the Easter celebrations. A band was playing and it was vagually familiar. Then it dawned on me, they were singing covers of Johnny Cash in Czech.

Believe me, the world will be fine if they can't buy Nike knock offs or buy Levi jeans. We North Americans can learn to feel at home in foreign countries if we can't by Heinz and Campbell's soup. Trust me. Please stop what you are doing and leave these little lovely countries to develop their own popular culture with out you blinding everyone senseless with all things North American.

You are not thwe whole world.

Thanks for listening,
JIll

travelling into the past

I jumped on a bus at the last minute and went to Terezin today. Terezin was a town when the Nazi's invaded the borders of the Czech Republic. They ordered all the citizen to leave and turned it into a ghetto for the Jews. Propaganda at the time, referred to it as a resort for the Jews; "Hitler has built a town for the Jews."

What it was, was a place to concentrate Jews until they could be "liquidized." The entire town, every single building was utilized. The Nazi's even built an auxiliary road around the town to keep people away. It was bizarre. Now, it is a town again. Very few of the original citizens chose to return after the war though. Almost every building has a marker on it, explaining its use during the time it was a ghetto. It was also nearly deserted. I saw a few people riding their bikes though town and a few children, but almost no one, except tourists that had come to Terezin to see the horrors of what it once was.

Now I know I have no interest in seeing any more Nazi history.

It felt very bizarre and odd and I felt terrible taking photos, so I almost didn't. After a while, I didn't want to see the old Jewish cemetery or other places "of interest". The first thing I saw was a memorial to all the children who had died at Terezin. I cried. All the saved drawings, the poems, the little pictures. Terezin was an anomaly of concentration camps. The Nazi's allowed art, theatre and music. Children were given drawing lessons. They did it to keep up the propaganda of being a "resort", of being desireable. But as a result, was these really amazing drawings, portraits, pictures, sketches and paintings that survived. Many of them so good, had the artists survived, we may know more about them today.

Unfortunately, many of those artists were caught with clandestine pictures and accused of creating "hate propaganda" or something. Most of them, when caught, were either killed or shipped to Auschwitz.

What a very strange day has it been.

I have also returned my ticket for Cesky Krumlov and arranged for earlier passage to Paris. I want to make sure that I have enough time to see all that I want in Paris and Brussels and I'd rather see Bruge. It will be a little bit more costly, but it's the reason I'm here. I knew that 4 days in Cesky would make me antsy and restless. Downside is that I'm having trouble booking a hostel in Paris. I seemed to have forgotten that its spring break in Europe and most students have the month off.

Fantatsic.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

trio

trio, originally uploaded by smoooch.

IMGP4484, originally uploaded by smoooch.

"Prague doesn't let goes of us either. The old crone has claws. One has to yeild or else. We would have to set fire to it on two sides, at Vysehrad and the Castle: only then would it be possible for us to get away. Perhaps you'll give it some consideration before carnival."

-Frank Kafka

Info for Mom

From this post, you can find more info about the Lorriane Cross here, on Wilipedia. I called it Lorraine's Cross, but it's not a possesive. Whoops.

on the move

On April 2 I will jump a bus for Cesky Krumlov, where I will stay for 4 nights, only because I couldn't get a ticket to Paris until the 6th. I am booked into the lovely and beguiling Hostel Merlin, where I plan to do nothing. Sit in cafes and write postcards and sip tea or bad Nescafe coffee. I will walk slowly and ponder the peeling plaster walls. I will relax and think of nothing that starts with L. I will photograph everything.

On the 6th, I take the bus back to Prague and wait 3 hrs and trek to another bus station for my bus to Paris. I have booked a single room for 72 Euro. A little treat in Paris to have my own room. Did I mention it's spring break and there are gaggles of teenagers roaming the city in slutty packs? They seem to recently discovered the delirious effects of intoxicating themselves to the nauseating point of obnoxiousness. Or is it just me getting old?

I'm looking forward to returning to Paris for a few things I forgot.

-14 Metro stations adorned with Art Nouveau entrances.
-The Moulin Rouge
-Musee D'Orsay for Impressionistic art
-Montparnasse Cemeterie for Brancusi's Kiss, properly
-The Eiffel Tower
-A Perfumerie designed by Mucha on Rue Royal
-Various buildings designed by Art Nouveau architect Hector Guimard
- a jewelery shop that Mucha designed on Rue Royal. Gee, I hope that's still standing.

By the way, did I ever mention that the term Art Nouveau came from a shop in Paris owned by Siegfried Bing called L'Art Nouveau? I'll die if it still exists.

I just found this interesting link which is a biography of who's who in Art Nouveau.

What a time I am having. What delicious inspiration. Paris will be such a thrill and then BRUSSELS, the birth place of it all

Happy birthday to me.

IMGP4393, originally uploaded by smoooch.

I'm 36 today. I'm spring born and an Aries. That means I'm headstrong, independant and fearless. If only I had a pretty yellow bonnet.

xox
Jill

make a wish

IMGP4495, originally uploaded by smoooch.

This is from the Charles Bridge.

You make a wish at Lorraine's Cross. As you can see the blackened tarnished metal is shined to a gold from all the hands that touched it. I hoped it wasn't like touching the foot of St. Peter at the Vatican and I had to ask someone who was St. Peter. I made the wish anyway.

observations

• Hardly any garbage cans.
• Hardly any garbage on the street.
• No one has an Ipod, not like North Americ where every second person has one.
• People aren't very fat despite all the grilled sausages and fried chicken cutlets sold on the streets.

It's amazing what a big salad, some fruit, and a lot of water can do for your emotions. And a big nap in the middle of the day. Feeling tons better and rejuvenated for sure. Tomorrow I will explore the area on the otherside of the river near the Castle. A few more Art Nouveau places to hunt down and maybe a little education into who Kafka was. Also, I plan to explore the old Jewish section which was a ghetto at one time. Just outside my hostel is Wenesclas Square, where the Nazi's paraded during the occupation of Prague. Really unbelievable what this city has been through.

I bought two bus tickets today. One for Cesky Krumlov, leave on the second of April and retun on the sixth. One for Paris, leave on the sixth about two hrs after I arrive from Cesky. Its a fourteen hr trip. Must find that English bookstore before I leave.

How many hands have opened this door?

IMGP4531, originally uploaded by smoooch.

For Michael

For Michael, originally uploaded by smoooch.

It's alittle out of sequence but.. I got on this bus for Michael. He said, "You should go to Hamstead Heath. I used to go there and watch football with my brother."

Hi Michael. I hope you're watching my blog.

email for Grandma and Mom

The hostel is OK. Nothing fancy. I thought I had the room to myself last night but someone came in quite late and woke me up. It's very near the old town in Prague and walking distance to everything I need. No real kitchen, just a microwave and a kettle. Hot showers that go on and on and a very cheap Internet place downstairs.

The Mucha museum is right around the corner. I went there yesterday and almost started crying because I was looking at the original Indian Ink drafts of Mucha's great posters and sketches. It was really amazing. Unbelievable. I'm sure I will burst into tears at the sight of Victor Horta's work in Brussels. They have some really beautiful prints for sale for about $15 and up. I will wait till before I leave and perhaps mail one back. I tried to navigate the post office and it was almost trickier than getting a bus ticket.

Speaking of bus tickets. I thought I would go to Telc for the day tomorrow (my birthday) but it's horrendous. I spent 1 hour walking from info desk to info desk to find that the bus will cost about $5 and take 3 hrs each way. It leaves at 6:20 and arrives at 9:30 and the last bus leaves at 3:30. Sounds like fun doesn't it. The bus station, located at one of the subway stops is a dreadful experience. Alot like the train station. It's a reminder of Communist rule and has sadly been left behind in the 70's. Dirty, dusty, poorly lit and confusing. Also a haven for drug addicts, hustlers and general weirdness. Alot like all bus stations I guess.

I'm not sure what I will do for my birthday. Maybe the Prague Castle or the Municipal House. Maybe a meal in a restaurant.

I bought a bus pass the 1st day for $14 but I have hardly used it. I have decided to just jump on a tram every day and see where it will take me and ride the same one back to not get lost. Yesterday, I have no idea where I went but it felt like I was under the iron curtain. Very cold and deserted with rows and rows of huge apartment buildings. Colorful dots of bedding and laundry dangle from lines hung across the balconies. ALOT of graffiti. In fact there is alot of graffiti all over Prague. I'm surprised the city doesn't clean it up. Guidebooks say that Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in the world but it may only be true for the old town.

The food on the street is all sausages and fried chicken cutlets. Everything in grease. A sausage and a piece of rye with mustard is about $2. I tried one and hated it- really fatty, so I just ate the bread. I tried a chicken cutlet the other day and now I have sworn off buying meat in the streets. Too dodgy. I couldn't tell if the chicken was cooked or not so I threw it away. I went to Tesco's this morning and bought:

-bag of salad,
-small packet of 1000 island
-bottle of water
-2 single serving yogurts
-4 apples
-smallest jar of jam
-packet of cream cheese
-2 bananas-
-2 small french loaves

and it was 179Kr or about $9 (1$=20kr). Pretty close to food on the Drive, I think. I'm definitely not eating as much as I would if I was at home. I am walking around 18000 steps or 9km a day if my little pedometers is accurate. I think it may be more than that judging on how sore my feet are.

I hate to say it but I'm feeling sad, teary and lonely today. It's difficult to spend all day long and never speak to anyone or only speak in limited English. Seeing lots of people travelling with friends, laughing etc. I guess I start to feel a little self conscious, alone, afraid. It's confusing and the Czech are very abrupt and sometimes rude and also very very shy, which makes it difficult to meet anyone. I guess I feel alone and confused and want everyone to be waiting with big pillows and open arms. Not the way it is. I also haven't eaten anything yet today so I'm hungry. I'll feel better after lunch. Don't get me wrong, I'm still thrilled to be here and having so much fun. Just a bit of the blahs with today's overcast weather this morning.

Lots of love,
Jill

Beautiful Praha

IMGP4479, originally uploaded by smoooch.

The Astronomical Clock in the Old Square-Prague

IMGP4521, originally uploaded by smoooch.

not singing

IMGP4527, originally uploaded by smoooch.

Everyone gathers at the Astronomical Clock in Prague to chime the bells and these little doors open and I think the Apostles come out and glare down on you. Anyway, behind me must have been 500 people waiting for the clock to chime, which was about 7 minutes away, so this woman had quite an audience.

While it looks like she is singing, she isn't. Nor is she dancing, although she did do a little jig during her sermon. She is actually yelling something at the top of her lungs. At one point she started shouting God is great and something that sounded like Allah. I half wondered about what suicide bombers reportedly shout before detonanting the bombs but her coat was open and she didn't seem to have any wires protruding.

In the end she was rather entertaining and the crowd cheered when she was done.

wherever you go, there they are

No matter what you do or where you go, the Hare Krisna will be there too. As in today, I went to the Municipal House in Prague, which is one of the finest examples of Art Nouveau architecture in Eastern Europe. There on the corner was a gaggle of robed men with shaved heads. A few had drums. Then the chanting began and they slowly paraded down the street, handing out a small piece of paper with the chant.

Incidentally, despite the amount of walking I have done (pedominter reads 14531 steps, 10.17 km, the blisters are better.

it will be an 11 hr train ride to Brussels

Um, I know this is the Czech Republic but I thought the communist rule was over. I found the main train station today and it reminded me what I thought it would be like to be in Siberia (except the sun is shining). It was dark and trapped in the 70's. Cold. Eastern Bloc Gangster types dozing off in little packs. Italian teenagers with slick hair and slicker sunglasses hang like greasy globs near the entrance. Little rotund old women with babushkas and walkers make their way through the prolific Coca- Cola signs.

The train to Brussels will make 15 stops and take 11 hours. There must be a better way. I heard the buses in Prague are faster than the trains. Really. I did hear that. And now I'm thinking it may be true.

Another sunny day in Prague.

If only I could find a decent Internet connection with the ability to download my photos without draining my batteries, I could show you the lovely lovely things I have seen. I am amassing quite a collection of doorknob photos. Every street has at least on building where the handle is either a lion, a swan, or some elaborately ornate structure. I'm not sure if the laughter seemingly whenever I stoop to photograph one is for me or just the many many tourists milling about.

I know for certain, when I walked into Hotel Europa, an Art Nouveau wonderland, the woman behind the desk clearly said, "oh it's just a stupid tourist gawking at the building again." Only she said it Czech.

Praha

With warm and sunny weather I headed out to explore the city of Prague. I can not believe sometimes how people are so blase about the architecture that surrounds them. Down the street from my hostel is a STUNNING building covered in Art Nouveau decoration. Huge stained glass doors that stand 16 feet high front the masterpiece. While I am outside agasp in disbelief, streams of people breeze past me, seemingly unaware.

I walked and walked and walked. I ate a spicy chicken panini with a draft beer out in the old town square and walked some more. I walked to Charles Bridge which is swarming with tourists like bees to honey on skin. I wandered alone the kiosks offering up the usual tourist kitzch and listened to the french jazz band and watched them drink wine out of the bottle. I smiled at them when they saw me watching and took their photos, with their lips stained red from the wine, faces red from a mixture of the sun and the booze.

I ducked inside a small door at the foot of the bridge and ascended the stairs, all the way to the top, I found myself out on a parapet looking over the city of Prague from all directions and then over the bridge itself. A city this beautiful, and you cant help but take beautiful photos. I only need to find a decent connection to get them on line.

I have ě blisters on the underside of each foot. This isn't going to be good if they get worse. The raw wool at the Pasu Sheep farm in Alberta, the weekend before I left is looking really good. I wish I had some.

One thing is for certain, is despite how beautiful and lovely and exhilarating it is, it is somewhat bittersweet to experience it alone. No one to say, ¨wow, look at that!". Well, there are the other tourists but they just look at you all crazy like.

xox
Jill