The phrase that keeps popping into my mind about this whole trip is, "It's a bit hedonistic." McDonald's serves alcohol, some of them do beer and some of them even do shots. The mountain we climbed had beer sold at the top. The tour bus sells beer (twenty crowns for not-terrible beer at not-quite-room-temperature can be a fantastic treat.) The gas stations and truck stops all sell beer and shots. I nipped in on our rest stop on the way back from the Slovakia and had a bit of a knock-back with a couple of buddies, so that for the last hour of our journey I was three sheets to the wind from horrible toffee liqueur and delicious Czech specialty, Becherovka. I chattered with people all the way back to the hotel. A group of us broke off and decided to have a real night of it, so we headed out to a pub specializing in dark beers called The Black Stuff. That's where I met my first Czechs.
I'll explain that comment. The Czechs tend to be very reserved, in my (rather limited) experience. The older generation is especially... well, not quite standoffish, but no smiles or pleasantries either. The two Czech girls sitting at the table next to us struck up a conversation, though. Shocking! Their names were Susanna and Janna, they are biology students at the Olomouc university. They asked if we were from Ireland or Northern Europe, they couldn't decide. So we explained no, from Kentucky actually. The really admirable thing about them is that they actually seemed to know where it was. THey teased me about Americans not knowing any geography and probably not even knowing where the Czech Republic is.
Long story short, the two girls stayed with us, four of their friends showed up and chatted with us. Our group slowly dwindled until it was just two Czech students, four from my group and a German and a.. guy named Diego, I have no idea who he was, but he spoke Czech and English and sucked at pool. I didn't pay attention to the pool game, just to the students really. We talked about education and healthcare and religion in our countries. Alec did most of the talking except when he and Lucas would confer over some more difficult piece of vocabulary. I used the word 'religious' early in our conversation and Alec's reaction cracked me up. He reeled back as though he had put his hand on a hot stove. "You are not religious, are you?!" he asked. I explained quickly that I certainly am not religious in the least little bit, but that most of Kentucky is. He told me that he doesn't like American politics, but he likes Americans, he said that they are very open.
We stayed at the bar until it closed, then went to another one until it closed too, then finally to the bar with the pool table where we only stayed for about an hour. In our travels from one bar to another it somehow happened that we all sang Living in an Amish Paradise by Weird Al Yankovic. It is a smaller world than I know what to do about. By the time we stumbled out onto the quiet streets of Olomouc birds were singing and the sky had much more blue than black in it. I hiked home, giddy and zombified by my long day. By the time we hot in to the Hotel Gol I had been awake fir 24 hours. I tumbled into bed without so much as changing into my night shirt.
I woke up two hours later (this morning) to get ready for a tour of a gorgeous chateau and garden grounds. I took a bunch of pictures, so I won't describe it much. I have to get someone to let me use their computer for uploading since I don't want to do it in the internet cafe where I am now.
Ive changed my mind about Mexican food for dinner. I'm going to go buy a gyro, the cheapest, saltiest, most delicious food in Olomouc, I'm going to eat the hell out of the gyro, and then I am going to pass out and sleep until we have to leave for Vienna in the morning.
Oh, and I got email addresses of the Czech students, so I may end up meeting up with them and continuing our rambling conversation and sharing insights. It is funny to me just how much translates.
(I'll probably one day fix these for typos and such, but it's all I can do to... y'know, remember what happened on what day right now, so throwing anything at the page is better than nothing.)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Every day here is like some long stretchy thing that slides over me in an... incoherent simile kind of way.
I will start with the Castle Devine and Bratislava, since those were lovely.
In Bratislava, Slovakia, we looked at a museum and walked along the Danube river and then settled for lunch on Old Town. We found a restaurant right off of the square, prime for people watching. (As happens with any group, we are building a panoply of euphemisms, the most evocative of which is 'These pretzels are makin' me thirsty'. There are an awful lot of pretzels in Bratislava, it is a town of hotties.) After our dinner in a Slovakian Irish pub (even better, there's a Czech Mexican place I'm going to have dinner) I ran around the city with Amy, and we found
at least three different paths and alleys away from and back to the main square. There were t-shirts that said "Habsburger King" with the Burger King symbol. Jokes for nerds.
Castle Devine is a fortress built at the top of a hill, it is in a sort of expected ruin, no roof, but lots of stone walls and good solid staircases leading up to breathtaking views. From the main keep I could see where the Danube and Morava rivers meet, the Danube swift and the Morava sluggish. I could see Bratislava in one direction, and Vienna in the other. It was a perfectly clear day, hot as hell with a wind that kicked up off the river. We wore t-shirts on our heads like turbans and climbed on rockwalls where the curator couldn't see us.
(The day before Devine and Slovakia were devoted to the Mountain Radagast, but I'm not telling that story until I get home.)
I will start with the Castle Devine and Bratislava, since those were lovely.
In Bratislava, Slovakia, we looked at a museum and walked along the Danube river and then settled for lunch on Old Town. We found a restaurant right off of the square, prime for people watching. (As happens with any group, we are building a panoply of euphemisms, the most evocative of which is 'These pretzels are makin' me thirsty'. There are an awful lot of pretzels in Bratislava, it is a town of hotties.) After our dinner in a Slovakian Irish pub (even better, there's a Czech Mexican place I'm going to have dinner) I ran around the city with Amy, and we found
at least three different paths and alleys away from and back to the main square. There were t-shirts that said "Habsburger King" with the Burger King symbol. Jokes for nerds.
Castle Devine is a fortress built at the top of a hill, it is in a sort of expected ruin, no roof, but lots of stone walls and good solid staircases leading up to breathtaking views. From the main keep I could see where the Danube and Morava rivers meet, the Danube swift and the Morava sluggish. I could see Bratislava in one direction, and Vienna in the other. It was a perfectly clear day, hot as hell with a wind that kicked up off the river. We wore t-shirts on our heads like turbans and climbed on rockwalls where the curator couldn't see us.
(The day before Devine and Slovakia were devoted to the Mountain Radagast, but I'm not telling that story until I get home.)
Sunday, May 25, 2008
The Czech word for 'thank you' is, phonetically, 'day kwee', but I kept forgetting. Dave gave me a nmemnonic device for remembering it. "Dick weed", which means that now I feel rude every time I thank someone, but I certainly remember how to say the word, now!
Restaurat culture seems to be totally different here. There is a McDonald's right on the square behind the trinity tower, but a Big Mac costs the equivalent of eleven dollars there. I could get used to living like that.
Restaurat culture seems to be totally different here. There is a McDonald's right on the square behind the trinity tower, but a Big Mac costs the equivalent of eleven dollars there. I could get used to living like that.
There is a certain appealing bizarreness to sitting in an internet cafe in the Old Town of Olomouc listening to Scott Joplin's The Entertainer and the sound of typing.
Today was a museum and church day, and consequently a staring and spiral staircase day, and taking pictures in very dimly lit churches is not easy, let me tell you.
One spiral staircase took us up to a glass and white room that showed us the whole city laid out, the only thing that seemed higher was a castle (or at least incredibly large chateau) on a distant hillside, and the gold-tipped spires of the cathedral, or Katraldy Wenceslas. (Not "Good King Wenceslas" like in the Christmas Carol, I think that guy was Polish, or Bohemian instead of Moravian.) Another spiral staircase, in one of the churches, took us up to the balcony and the organ. The organist played music for us, and then came down and talked to us for a little while. He started in on his speil speaking German, because he thought we were German tourists. (I wonder why?) The organ is the oldest in Moravia, several hundred years, and made of hundreds of pipes. The more bass notes on the organ were especially thrilling, they would sit in your chest thrumming.
There are tennis courts right next to the Gol, our hotel. We tend to sit outside in the evenings, while people stagger out from their naps or get their pre-bar drinking started. Last night a group of about twelve of us sat out there talking and drinking and an irritated tennis player came over and scolded us, "I thought that Germans were the loudest nation. I was wrong."
Food has been fantastic. I keep gobbling it up quickly and forgetting to take pictures before I have only a plate of breadcrumbs and stray olives and carroty bits left. Today was onion soup and hot raspberries over icecream. If the gyro stand is open that is what I am having for dinner. The gyros are only 45 crowns, which is... well, one dollar is equivalent to sixteen crowns by current exchange rates. So it's hella cheap, and the big greasy pile of pressed meat skewered by the front window and slowly being rotated is enough to make me--on-again-off-again vegetarian that I am--drool. And as far as money goes, I feel rich here, eating out every day and I haven't run out of the food spending money I was given, I haven't even had to tap into home money. Tomorrow will be for buying souviners and some clothes though, so some will get spent, soon.
There are parks all around th city where the old fortifications used to be, so last night I went walking with a few of the other students. We found peacocks in a tree, they caterwauled pitifully whenever somone walked by. It's amazing how even the males, with their ridiculous tails get up in the highest of branches. Then we foun and played on a great old playground with the good make-you-sick-real-quick spinning centrifuge thing and some seesaws that we were able to fit on. I think somebody took good seesaw pictures.
Baroque churches make me totally wish I were Catholic, zomg, a little kneeling and a lot of opulence, hell yeah. (j/k about the Catholic thing, you all know that, right? First night at the bar among the ten sitting around the barracks on the velvet couch there was only one Christian, and quite a few who freely and proudly labeled themselves as atheists.)
Allright, time to check The Facebook and then head back to the Gol for company and some time without shoes on.
Today was a museum and church day, and consequently a staring and spiral staircase day, and taking pictures in very dimly lit churches is not easy, let me tell you.
One spiral staircase took us up to a glass and white room that showed us the whole city laid out, the only thing that seemed higher was a castle (or at least incredibly large chateau) on a distant hillside, and the gold-tipped spires of the cathedral, or Katraldy Wenceslas. (Not "Good King Wenceslas" like in the Christmas Carol, I think that guy was Polish, or Bohemian instead of Moravian.) Another spiral staircase, in one of the churches, took us up to the balcony and the organ. The organist played music for us, and then came down and talked to us for a little while. He started in on his speil speaking German, because he thought we were German tourists. (I wonder why?) The organ is the oldest in Moravia, several hundred years, and made of hundreds of pipes. The more bass notes on the organ were especially thrilling, they would sit in your chest thrumming.
There are tennis courts right next to the Gol, our hotel. We tend to sit outside in the evenings, while people stagger out from their naps or get their pre-bar drinking started. Last night a group of about twelve of us sat out there talking and drinking and an irritated tennis player came over and scolded us, "I thought that Germans were the loudest nation. I was wrong."
Food has been fantastic. I keep gobbling it up quickly and forgetting to take pictures before I have only a plate of breadcrumbs and stray olives and carroty bits left. Today was onion soup and hot raspberries over icecream. If the gyro stand is open that is what I am having for dinner. The gyros are only 45 crowns, which is... well, one dollar is equivalent to sixteen crowns by current exchange rates. So it's hella cheap, and the big greasy pile of pressed meat skewered by the front window and slowly being rotated is enough to make me--on-again-off-again vegetarian that I am--drool. And as far as money goes, I feel rich here, eating out every day and I haven't run out of the food spending money I was given, I haven't even had to tap into home money. Tomorrow will be for buying souviners and some clothes though, so some will get spent, soon.
There are parks all around th city where the old fortifications used to be, so last night I went walking with a few of the other students. We found peacocks in a tree, they caterwauled pitifully whenever somone walked by. It's amazing how even the males, with their ridiculous tails get up in the highest of branches. Then we foun and played on a great old playground with the good make-you-sick-real-quick spinning centrifuge thing and some seesaws that we were able to fit on. I think somebody took good seesaw pictures.
Baroque churches make me totally wish I were Catholic, zomg, a little kneeling and a lot of opulence, hell yeah. (j/k about the Catholic thing, you all know that, right? First night at the bar among the ten sitting around the barracks on the velvet couch there was only one Christian, and quite a few who freely and proudly labeled themselves as atheists.)
Allright, time to check The Facebook and then head back to the Gol for company and some time without shoes on.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
I have arrived.
Olomouc is an unbelievably cool town, THis afternoon there was an antique car show going on in the downtown square, and a wedding party, and a bunch of tourists and a brass band. I love encountering unexpected brass bands. A Czech Louis Armstrong sang When THe Saints Go Marching in, in Czech, while I ate a calzone as big as my head and stared at the gold-painted cannon ball that has been lodged in the Trinity Tower in Olomouc square since sometimeduring the 30-years war.
History! FOod! Alcohol!
This is awesome. EVen the chocolate is awesome.
I'll go rejoin theoud drunks outside now, we're planning on walking down to a bar later, and we're already loud and argumentative, so that should be interesting.
Note, Czech's do not smile. Especially not the waiters and servers in restaurants, which is the biggest culture shock so far. That and cobble stones, OMG, cobblestones and the blase attitude of pedestrians just walking down the streetl, it's great.
So excited, will check back when I am less inebriated and morecoherent. Ciao!
P.S, I want to live where historic artifacts are used as everyday objects, these restaurants are housed by ancient buildings, children climb on the old ruins of the barracks in the green parks, the ancient heavy doors are worn down by hands and fingerprinted by the people who I won't ever meet. end history squee.
Olomouc is an unbelievably cool town, THis afternoon there was an antique car show going on in the downtown square, and a wedding party, and a bunch of tourists and a brass band. I love encountering unexpected brass bands. A Czech Louis Armstrong sang When THe Saints Go Marching in, in Czech, while I ate a calzone as big as my head and stared at the gold-painted cannon ball that has been lodged in the Trinity Tower in Olomouc square since sometimeduring the 30-years war.
History! FOod! Alcohol!
This is awesome. EVen the chocolate is awesome.
I'll go rejoin theoud drunks outside now, we're planning on walking down to a bar later, and we're already loud and argumentative, so that should be interesting.
Note, Czech's do not smile. Especially not the waiters and servers in restaurants, which is the biggest culture shock so far. That and cobble stones, OMG, cobblestones and the blase attitude of pedestrians just walking down the streetl, it's great.
So excited, will check back when I am less inebriated and morecoherent. Ciao!
P.S, I want to live where historic artifacts are used as everyday objects, these restaurants are housed by ancient buildings, children climb on the old ruins of the barracks in the green parks, the ancient heavy doors are worn down by hands and fingerprinted by the people who I won't ever meet. end history squee.
Monday, May 19, 2008
I found a fabulous webpage that is helping me pack: http://www.onebag.com/
I need to pick up some cardboard boxes tomorrow, so I can pack everything that's in my closet up so it doesn't get rained on. (Yes, I'm aware that it shouldn't rain in a closet, but it sometimes does in mine.) If I'm going to the liquor store anyway--for boxes--I'm going to pick up some itty-bitty bottles of Kentucky bourbon to take with me, in case I need to give anybody a present while I'm there. The only other thing I really need to buy is a little alarm clock. I need an alarm so I can get up extra early every morning and go for a run. (We'll see how that pans out.)
I need to pick up some cardboard boxes tomorrow, so I can pack everything that's in my closet up so it doesn't get rained on. (Yes, I'm aware that it shouldn't rain in a closet, but it sometimes does in mine.) If I'm going to the liquor store anyway--for boxes--I'm going to pick up some itty-bitty bottles of Kentucky bourbon to take with me, in case I need to give anybody a present while I'm there. The only other thing I really need to buy is a little alarm clock. I need an alarm so I can get up extra early every morning and go for a run. (We'll see how that pans out.)
Friday, May 16, 2008
To Do List
I'm just starting to get a little jittery about my trip, now that it is less than a week away. I either work or have plans every day between now and when I leave. It's time to get cracking and freak out packing!
To do list:
Budget for summer
tax forms to financial aid folks
go to the bank - tell them dates I'll be gone
Buy:
mini toothpaste
extra batteries
CF card
Pack:
single serving shampoo
soap
hairbrush
toothbrush
deodorant
hair bands
comb
knitting pattern for socks, yarn, wooden needles.
camera
USB cord for camera
leatherman -- in suitcase!
books
journal
notebook
address for home, Barb, Suzie, Who-Who, Grandaddy, Sally Bill Philip, Nate and Hannah, Jack,
charge batteries
To do list:
Budget for summer
tax forms to financial aid folks
go to the bank - tell them dates I'll be gone
Buy:
mini toothpaste
extra batteries
CF card
Pack:
single serving shampoo
soap
hairbrush
toothbrush
deodorant
hair bands
comb
knitting pattern for socks, yarn, wooden needles.
camera
USB cord for camera
leatherman -- in suitcase!
books
journal
notebook
address for home, Barb, Suzie, Who-Who, Grandaddy, Sally Bill Philip, Nate and Hannah, Jack,
charge batteries
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