Just a quick note before I go to work to say that I did make it back home (despite Delta's best intentions of stranding me in Cincinnati overnight - Hi, Jen!, they only managed to delay me by a few hours).
My plans to go to Bad Elster (or Leipzig) for a concert this weekend were thwarted by lack of time to buy the tickets, but I decided that this was actually good thing, because now I would have two more days in Prague. Two days to wander around on my terms rather than according to a schedule (an admittedly amazing schedule, but with little time just for wandering).
So that is what I did. I found an amazing cafe that looked like it had dropped out of a Bohemian Art Nouveau-era Paris, which is not surprising since the Czech Republic really is Bohemia. There were old pictures of early film actors and lithographs lining the wall. A piano in the corner that demanded to be played with Marlene Dietrich singing under the Art Deco bronze chandelier, or Sarah Bernhardt reciting in the corner next to the wraught-iron lacing over the cafe bar. And, as if this cafe wasn't speaking directly enough to my sensibilities of the Bohemian artistic cafe culture, there was a print of Pushkin staring at me in the reflection of the tilted ceiling to floor mirror on the wall opposite my table. Did I mention that nearly 1/4 of the small menu was vegetarian? The more I describe the cafe, the more I feel that I need to take it back with me as my souvenir to myself. I also found a flyer for the most recent production of an English language theatre troupe in Prague.
Of course, after this cafe, I was feeling particularly inspired by the early 1900 Prague-Parisian zeitgeist, and this morning I went to see the Museum of Alphonse Mucha. It is strange to visit a museum of someone whose art was based on lithograph reproductions. They had amazing prints of his work, and they looked like original copies, but... his entire work was making poster that could be copied over and over without losing detail. But it was still interesting to see many of his posters in the same place. Although, strangely absent was his massive life's work "The Slavic Epic," which he returned to the Czech Republic to work on before the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Other than that, I've spent today just wandering. Well, and I bought an overpriced souvenir - a pub glass. Our guide suggested just stealing a glass from a real pub, that's how she got her glasswear, she said. I decided that I did not want to include a Czech prison as the final stop on my trip, so I payed the "tourist tax" and bought one in one of the less disreputable souvenir shops.
Tonight is the quarter final soccer match between Czech Republic and Denmark. I think I will watch a real European soccer match at a small local pub (less risk of rioting that way... although the Czechs don't seem to be the rioting type of people anyway).
First time I've had to sit down at an internet cafe to really type an entry (just too much to do in this city and too little time)
Another list, followed by a little more indepth thoughts:
Places visited:
Prague Castle
Jewish Quarter
Vyšhrad (the original castle of Prague and the cemetary where Dvořak and Smetana are burried)
more of the never ending winding streets with interesting pubs and cafes and 15th-early 20th Century buildings.
I am almost overwhelmed by the omnipresent sense of history in this city. Not only old buildings, but a cultural connection to the heroes that over 1000 years of recorded history will provide. The pub where I had lunch was playing a hip-hop song dealing with Jan Hůs's martyrdom and the Hussite Wars (which, incidentally, the opera I mentioned last time also dealt with). This martyr's story moves me, too, if only for how it didn't end in the 15th Century. Jan Hůs was a Protastant and supporter of the poor who was burned at the stake for criticizing corruption in the Catholic Church. As he died, he shouted "The Truth shall prevail!" which also became the rallying cry of Havel during the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
Walked around the Jewish Quarter, where th golem was supposed to have been created and destroyed by Rabbi Low to protect the quarter. The cemetary in the Jewish Quarter is on a hill, but it wasn't built on a hill. The space they were allowed was so limited, that once the cemetary was full, they had to burry people on top of previous graves - making for a very eeire cemetary where gravestones are packed as tightly as possible (some dating from 14th Century) and with a very randomly uneven terrain.
But the most shocking moment was last night at a pub near the foot of the castle. We were trying to find a place that wasn't filled with people watching the Euro 2004 soccer matches, and eventually settled on an over-priced pub catering to tourists, but it was open and not showing the soccer match, so we stayed. As I was returning to our table from the restroom, someone called out to me in English: "Did you go to Carleton?" I stopped dead and spun. Turns out that they were two Carls from the class of '03 travelling across the world from Japan to England. Not even by travelling half-way across the world can I avoid randomly running into Carls. (Of course we took a picture for the alumi magazine)
Once again, I haven't touched on all the things I wanted to write, but there is a whole city out there still waiting, and now I only have a little more time with it.
I only have a few minutes before I have to return to the college to hear our final speaker, so this will be a quick list of my first few days in Prague.
This first thing that happened when we arrived in Prague was nothing. By which I mean that when we should have received our luggage, nothing happened. We waited for an hour after clearing passport control, and our bags never showed up. We were promised that our bags would arrive by 2:00 the following day.
Jeg lagged. Living in the same clothes for two days. Worried about making a good first impression with our academic hosts. But eventually the bags arrived in time for us to go to the opera, so everyone was able to shower and look presentable by curtain.
The city is amazingly beautiful. A blend of the best of Eastern and Western Europe, with a healthy dose of dissident literary history.
Went to see a Janacek opera about a man who gets drunk and travels to the moon and then the 15th Century. And last night we saw a dance performance that tried to blend projected 3D image and physical dance.
Most of our time has been spent with speakers who are very versed in their given fields, and I look forward to applying some of their theories to my paper.
Tonight we are touring the Senate and a brewery, a very appropriate pairing for Prague.
Sorry that this was such a quick overview, but I had to catch internet time where I could, and now I have to run back to hear the final speaker on Innovation Societies.
The first entry in this weblog is a good-bye of sorts. Not a philosophical "good-bye to childhood" sort of thing (I'm an actor, so I doubt I will ever hit that "philosophical good-bye"), but a much simpler straightforward "Bon Voyage" sort of good-bye.
I am leaving tomorrow for a week in Prague, to study Innovation Theory in Transitioning Societies (the official title of the class is “Global Dynamics of Emerging Knowledge and Innovation Societies”).
Since my time online will be limited during this trip (limited by classes, theatres, cultural excursions, and just going out and living in Prague for only a week!), I thought that starting up this blog would be a good way to let family and friends know about my trip. After I return, I can then use this space for periodic updates to my life for those who are interested.
Thanks to my grandfather (Hi, Papa, if you are reading this) who gave me the idea to start up this weblog after previous incarnations slowly died from neglect and forgotton passwords. Hopefully this time it will last a little longer.
The layout of this blog will change over the next few weeks, as I just did a cursory set-up to get something in place before I leave tomorrow morning. So don’t be shocked if things look different.