Prague - Report 3

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

On Wednesday we had a tour of the Jewish ghetto, which is very close to the Old Town Square. We visited several synagogues and the Jewish cemetery. We finished at noon, had a nice lunch, and took it easy in the afternoon.

In the evening, the group went to the National Theater to see a ballet, Eugene Onegin, performed by the Czech National Ballet. It was choreographed by John Cranko in 1973, and was an outstanding work. We had never heard of it being performed in the United States.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

We took a day trip to Kutna Hora, a town about 60 kilometers (one and a half hours) from Prague. Kutna Hora had silver mines in medieval time, and was wealthy enough to build the Cathedral -- St. Barbara's, which we toured. After a guided walk through town, we were on our own for lunch, and went to a wonderful restaurant, Dacicky (the name has Czech accents which I cannot reproduce) that the guide had pointed out, again with the MacKays from Seattle. We set a picnic tables in a shady courtyard, and I had wild game meatloaf.

In the afternoon, we went down in a silver mine -- down about 15 flights of stairs and then threw very narrow tunnels dripping with water. Fortunately, it came out on the side of a hill, so we did not have to climb back. It was not our favorite event of the tour. We had an equally disfavored stop on the way back -- a church near Kutna Hora with thousands of human skeletons and intricate displays of human skulls. This was designed to illustrate that "dust thou art, and to dust thou shall return". After the bus ride back to Prague, we just had dinner in the hotel.

Prague - Report 2

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

This was by far the most strenuous walking day of the tour. In the morning we started with the Powder Tower and the Black Madonna Cubist building we then walk through Old Town and took a tram across the river to the Lesser Town -- lesser because it is located below the Palace. We went to the Wallenstein Gardens, where we had been on Sunday, but it was more interesting with Honza as the guide. When we stopped for a break, he took water, soda, and a Czech liquor out of his backpack and serve the whole group; we then played the Rick Steve's team of standing around in a circle and repeating everybody's name. By the time the last person goes through the list of 24 names, you do remember at least 12 of them. Someone said this was an old Girl Scout game.

We then walked up towards the Palace through the lesser town. We went by St. Nicholas Church, but did not go into it. Rather than going directly onto the Charles Bridge to go home, we went around towards the side of into a neighborhood which had the Lennon Wall -- a wall of graffiti in honor of John Lennon. This was painted over by the Communists, and then re-created numerous times. We then walked across the Charles Bridge (which we had done on Sunday morning), and ended up at the Havelska Market -- a fairly wide street, with many booths selling food, toys, etc. in the middle. We had lunch with Dave and Mary Lou McKay from Seattle.

After resting for a while in the afternoon, we walked almost a half an hour to the National Theatre, where Honza started his tour of the 1989 Velvet Revolution. We started on a street corner where a student demonstration had turned into the national street, leading from the theater to Wenceslaus Square. Unfortunately, the street corner was one of the busiest in Prague, with trams going by in all four directions -- I have difficulty hearing his lecture. We then walked up the national street and into Wenceslaus Square, with Honza stopping for several other brief lectures. It was very interesting and obviously covered a major event in the history of the Czech Republic. After we ended in the square, we walked around 15 minutes uphill to a restaurant for dinner, and then took the tram back towards the hotel.

Wencelaus Square

Happy Mother's Day

I just logged in.  Tried to add a comment, bu could not figure it out.  So, I am adding a posting, I guess.  I wanted to say "Happy Mother's Day" to Mom.  This mother's day was the first in a few years where my husband was in town, so it was a much more mellow day than I usually get.  We went to Macaroni Grill for dinner - I love Macaroni Grill, and the kids tried to be nice to me all day.  It was great.    Looking forward to your next posting from your trip.

Prague - Report 1

May 12, 2008

We left DFW on AA 78 on May 9, and had a good overnight flight, on which we both got at least four hours sleep. Our first flight connecting to Prague was supposed to be full, but we fortunately got on and were in Prague by 6:15 pm. Our hotel is only one block from the main tourist attraction, the Old Town Square, so after we checked in, we went over there and had a pizza in an outdoor cafe. We were in bed by 10 o'clock.

Sunday morning we walked around a great deal. We stopped in at two churches, for high Mass. The first, St. James, was enormous, and we left when the priest started giving the sermon in Czech. We then walked to the Tyn Church, which had a wonderful high Mass with great music - organ, trumpets, and professional singers. We stayed for half the Mass.

We then walked across the Charles Bridge (see picture) and a few blocks beyond, had a beer at a sidewalk restaurant and walked back over the river on another bridge to get back to the hotel for our 3:00 meeting of the tour group.

After the introductory meeting, the group took a tram and the Metro to Vishyrad, the original fortified position at Prague in about the tenth century. It is now a park. Our tour guide, Honza Vihan, gave a good introduction to early Czech history. We also visited the National Cemetery, which is only for leading intellectual figures. Dvorshak and Smetana are buried there. We then went to a tour group dinner at a nearby restaurant. We got back to the hotel late and very tired from all the walking. (I am in an internet cafe now, while Mary Ellen is sleeping).

Today, we got up early to beat the hordes to Prague Castle. We were there by 9 am, and saw St. Vitus Cathedral, the Royal Palace, and several other places on the Palace Hill. Our formal tour activities ended at noon. We had a light lunch at a sidewalk Cafe, and then went to the Lobowitz Palace, which opened to the public only last year. The family was a renowned feudal family that had several castles and other properties in what is now the Czech Republic. Its properties were confiscated by the Nazis, returned after the war, and then confiscated again by the Communists. The current government returned them and the Lobowitzs are now trying to make a tourist attraction out of it. Here is a picture of Prague Castle.

The weather has been perfect -- dry, mid 70s. and cloudless skies -- and is forecast to continue this way all week. We have been very lucky.

Pop Pop and Anna look alikes

Mimi sent me a picture of myself at age 2. She thought I had the same sad face that Anna shows on occasion.

We looked at the party pictures

We went to Gina Propp's house in north Fort Worth today to look at the proofs of the pictures from the party. You have seen them all on the slideshow, but they are very attractive as photographs. the proofs have a white border, but they are 5 x7, the same as a finished product. The only difference is that the press will not have the white border.

We picked 25 prints for the album, and another five that she will try to squeeze in. The album will be ready in three or four weeks, at which time we will get all of the approximately 75 proofs back. We don't plan to keep the proofs, but will divide them up among John, Kathleen, and Sarah, so you may want to wait to order prints until you see the proofs. With our $125 credit, we ordered one 8x12 of the whole family for us. We also ordered one 5"x7"print for each of you, but I can't remember now which pictures we chose. I don't think we chose the large family one, but mom thinks we did. We'll have to wait until we get them back

Introduction

This is the beginning of the Fahy family blog, which will be publicized only to members of our family. I am also creating this as a classroom exercise in an adult education class at TCU. When this gets going, I will also be able to add editors, so others in the family will be able to contribute. We will also be able to include pictures of family events.