August 1998 Munich

We changed our plans from driving to taking a train from Praha to Plizen, CZ and then on to Munich.  It took 5 ½ hours.  Very pleasant trip, better than driving it ourselves.  We had only one point on the trip where we thought maybe we were not going where we wanted to.  Near the CZ and German border the train stopped, then started to reverse, and stopped again.  There was a lot of bumping, disconnecting and connecting of train car noises, then we started to continue on, but it was in reverse direction.   What we discovered was that this was the point where the train splits.  A part continues on within CZ and the other part goes on to Munich.  Luckily, we were on the section of the train that went on to Munich.

At the point on the Isar Bridge called “bei den Munichen” (where Monks live) the transports had to pay customs duty on the ”white gold”, as salt was called in the Middle Ages since it was so scarce and expensive.  The little settlement grew on the strength of this and got rich.  Munich today has a population of 1.2 million. 

We stayed at the Comforapart Hotel.  It had a kitchenette, which was nice in that we could have chilled German wine at night.  No air-conditioning, but luckily it didn’t get too hot while we were there.  Our room faced the street.  From our window and off in the horizon we could see the Fernsehturn tower that is part of the Olympic Park and the 4-cylinder engine block looking building that houses the BMW headquarters. 

The restaurant within the hotel was Chinese.  That was also where breakfast was served.  That was sort of strange to walk into a Chinese restaurant and have breakfast.

The afternoon on the day we arrived we walked over to the Olympic park area where the 20^th Olympic Games were held in 1972.  The area was an airport from 1925-1939.  A number of the Olympic buildings are still used as a sport and recreation center for swimming, tennis, soccer, and even concerts.

Munich is a great city for getting around with easy public transportation and flat terrain.  This was the trip of seeing palaces and we saw a lot of them.

On our first full day we went to the old city center.  In the old town square is the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall).  Its 250’ high tower dominates the neo-gothic frontage.  Midway up this tower is the Glockenspiel.  From 1903 to 1944 the 43 bells and 32 wooden figures performed a dance that celebrated the wedding of Duke Wilhelm V in 1508 and the copper’s dance which is to exorcise the plague of 1517.  Since W.W.II the wooden figures dance to a recording of bells.  Not as impressive as the one in Praha, but worth watching none the less.

The parish of Alter Peterkirche (Old Peter Church) is the oldest in Munich.  A church as stood on this foundation since 1158.  The original church was destroyed by fire in 1327.  It took 20 years to rebuild.  The current square tower was erected in 1607 after lightening destroyed the original spires.  W.W.II destroyed it again, but it has been reconstructed to its 17^th century look.  There are 8 clock faces, reason unknown.  The local joke is so 8 people can tell the time at once.

On our second day we toured the “Residenz.”  The pamphlet that they gave us with the tickets for the self-guided walking tour is 181 pages long, and it isn’t a pamphlet of mostly photos! 

The Wittelsbach family ruled Bavaria for almost 700 years.  In the early 1500’s a four-winged moated castle was built on this site.  From that time each successive Wittelsbach ruler added his or her own addition.  Many times adding their own complete set of apartments.  It has not been used as an actual residence since 1918.  It is now a museum consisting of 112 rooms, halls, and galleries plus 10 treasury rooms.  Most of what we see today was reconstructed after W.W.II to its original look.  A lot of the furnishings are original from the Residenz that were taken safely away from the city and stored secretly during the war.

Nymphenburg, now inside the ever-expanding city limits, was the Wittelsbach’s summer refuge away from the heat of the Residenz in the city center.  This palace is set in extensive grounds with fountains, ponds, and four enchanting garden pavilions.

In 1662 Princess Henriette Adelaide presented to her husband his new son and heir.  The birth of the child inspired the architects of the time to build both the Theatenerkirche and the Nymphenburg.  The palace is approached by a long canal with avenues along either bank leading to a semi-circle of lawns.  Just like the Rezidenz, the Nymphenburg complex grew well into the 18^th century as each succeeding ruler added another wing or changed the landscaping of the gardens.  The gardens encompass about 500 acres.

We toured the palaces, but the majority of the time we walked the gardens even coming back a second day to walk around them.

Within the gardens are four small pavilions.  One was used as a hunting lodge.  Another is an artificial ruin built for private meditation.  The exterior and interior cracks and flaking plaster were deliberately incorporated.  Another was used for medication and prayer.  The largest is the Badenburg that was used as a small bathing pavilion and sits on a small lake.  It has one of the first indoor swimming pools in the basement.  The pool was originally coated in lead.  The sides above the water level are tiled in blue and white Delft Dutch tiles.  

We found a great stopping place for a beer after a long day.  The Lowenbrau-Keller beer garden was a tram stop a couple of blocks from our hotel.  It is connected to the Lowenbrau brewery.

There are lots and lots of BMWs and Mercedes naturally.  We even came across a Woolworth’s.

Our transportation pass allowed us to take a train seven miles north of Munich to Schlob Schleissheim.  Schleissheim is two palaces on opposite ends of a ¾ mile long canal surrounded by formal French gardens.   They has a nice beer garden on site where we had our lunch. 

We did a day trip by train to Starnberger See (Sea), about an hour southwest of Munich.  This is a large lake carved out by glacial action in the ice age.  We took a wonderful 2 ½ hour excursion steamer ferry tour of the lake.  The ferry made numerous stops along the see.  We had a good lunch and a beer or two, naturally.  One of the stops was at the Schloss Berg.  It is here that the tragic farily tale monarch, Ludwig II, came to his mysterious death.  In June 1886 the bodies of King Ludwig II and his doctor were recovered from the lake.  It has never been determined whether their deaths were results of murder, suicide, accident, or some combination of the three.

     Neuschwanstein Palace.






On our last day we took a one-day Royal Palace bus tour to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau palaces.  When Ludwig II came to the throne, he started planning Neuschwanstein castle near his father, Maximilian’s castle, Hohenschwangau.  Neuschwanstein is the most recognizable castle in Europe.  It took 17 years to complete (1869-1886), and he never lived there.  He was declared incurably insane shortly before its completion.  He was confined to Schloss Berg mentioned above. 

The bus stops at a third palace Ludwig has built, Linderhof.  It took 9 years to build (1870-1879).  It is based on the Grand Trianon of Versailles.  In the dining room, Ludwig would have his meals served to him alone at a “magic dining table” which could be made to disappear into the floor.

July 29, 1998

 Yesterday we committed ourselves to returning on August 27th.  We did some serious checking on housing here.  It would be just too complicated.  I really miss not having a house of our own.  Even though the aunt has been gone with the stupid dog(s) for the last three weeks and the uncle leaves every weekend it just isn’t the same.  I want to open the door and let the dog out.  He hardly spends any time outdoors now.  Does his thing and wants right back in.  He used to stay out for an hour at a time and bark when he wanted back in.  I want my patio furniture, to sit outside and read.  Here we have the cement steps.  There is friction between our landlady and her uncle, so no one wants to mow the yard.  It got mowed the other day for the first time in a month.

Jack would choose to stay at the drop of a hat.  The ethics of the people are like those back in the 50’s, very polite, family oriented.  Food is cheap.  But what would we do with all of our personal things we have stored?  I would have to learn Czech to get a decent job.  I would need a job in order to afford a house to rent or buy.  There is just tons of stuff we have had to consider.  Plus, interest rates in the States have never been lower, as our banker keeps reminding us.

August 20 - I have put off finishing this thinking I would know where it is we are going to live.  We still don’t know!  So we will play it by ear and send out cards whenever and wherever we have an address or send email when we get back on line.  If anyone does need to contact us after the 27th my sister will always know where we are:  Dar Hoch  630-232-1513.  Also, we scratched driving to Munich - we took the train - another really great trip.  But, I have to do packing instead of writing-seven days and counting

July 28, 1998

Weather

It has been an unseasonably cool and wet summer.  Spring was exceptionally hot and dry.  Not hot as in the 80’s, but hot as in the 70’s.  Maybe one or two days were in the 80’s.  It makes for perfect weather for bumming around the city.

Since the middle of June it has been on the cool side, which was good while Mom was here because of all the walking.  We had to use an umbrella darn near every day.  It never was a down pour or a lot of wind with the rain that you got soaked from it., just sprinkles or a straight rain that lasted a few minutes. 

The rains are causing flooding in the far northern and far southern parts of the country.  These areas have the big mountains so all that rain comes washing down into the valleys.  The small dams have not been holding and/or the water is just going right over the top.

Yet a couple of days last week were extra warm.  We even left the windows closed one day to keep the apartment cooler.

Military Museum

Finally we got into the military museum.  We tried early in the spring only to learn it is open May through October only.  When we tried in May it was closed “Until June 6th” for reconstruction.  The end of June it said the reopening date was delayed again until early July.  We gave it a couple of extra weeks and tried again last week.  It was open!

It didn’t compare to the one in Vienna, but it was worth the $1.50.  It concentrated on the Thirty Years War more than anything else.  It had a tremendous gun collection with examples from every country.  Most labels were only in Czech.  One large area was in Czech and English.  It appears they have some areas still closed off. 

We enjoyed it.  The museum is just outside the first courtyard of the castle.  I have always liked walking the castle area and then going down the south side to Lesser Town.  It makes for a nice long walk.  Gets a little crowded this time of the year.  I’m always surprised how many people walk UP to the castle.  It’s a whole lot easier to spend the 30 or 40 cents for the tram to take them up, and then walk back down.   

Observations:

•  The Bronco/Blazer type sports vehicles and mini vans have become real popular this summer.  Still, we have seen only two pickup trucks.

•  We had our 20th anniversary in June.  What a marvelous anniversary gift to each other - living in Praha!

•  We ate at TGIFriday’s Saturday evening.  What a waste.  Slower than slow service.  We splurged and each had a steak.  I could cook better.   Oh well, it was some place different.  Been there, done that, ain’t buy’n no T-shirt.

That’s it from us for now.  We leave for Munich the 11th and get back the 19th.  We’re going to rent a car in order to take a few side trips.  Wonder how that will feel?  We haven’t driven a car in nine months. 

July 1, 1998 - Two Weeks w/Mom

Two Weeks With Mom

My Mom arrived for a two week stay on Wednesday, July 1st.  I haven’t spent a complete two weeks with Mom since living at home in high school.  We had a really good time!!  Jack was in some sort of sugar swing.  He was in a foul mood the entire time, not complaining-just stating the facts as he would say.   Luckily he pretty much left us to tour on our own.  And tour we did!  There may be two or three places in Praha that we didn’t see.  I had the touring of Praha itself in a circle so wherever we left off one day we just picked up again the following day.  We didn’t go out of town as much as planned.  That was due to poor planning on my part.  I should have had bus schedules and locations figured out in advance. 

                                                         

The most memorable will have to be the trip to Karlstein Castle.  We took a mid morning train.  Get this - round trip for both of us cost $6!  Total, not each!  It took about 45 minutes, maybe an hour.  That was because it was a “milk route”.  The train stops at every little burg on the way. 

When Mary and Nick were here Mike had taken them there.  Mary commented on how much cheaper crystal prices were in Karlstein compared to Praha.  Boy was she right.  There really isn’t a town of Karlstein like a typical town.  It is small shops and a few homes that line the road that leads up to Karlstein Castle.  Unless you live there, no cars are allowed.  They do have horse and buggies to rent, other than that you walk it.  It’s a very long uphill walk.  Mom and I discovered the healthy way to do it.  Stop at every crystal shop.  This way you never work up a sweat or get out of breath.  Well, almost.  Towards the top it gets steep and there are only benches to rest at-no shops.  We probably looked like drunks going back and forth across the street to make sure we didn’t miss any interesting shops.  About half way up we started to make written notes on prices because it was getting confusing where we had seen which items and for how much.  By the time we hit the steep part we knew pretty much which items we were going to pick up on the way back down.

Once to the top there is a courtyard where the ticket office is for tours of the castle.  There was also a high school orchestra preparing to perform.  We sat down to rest figuring we would watch them.  Before long it became clear they were not going to perform any time soon.  So I said to Mom, “Ya ready to take a tour?”   Her reply, “Nah-let’s get lunch and buy the stuff we picked out!”  Fine with me.  We took a few pictures from the fortress wall and headed back down.

Lunch was about a third of the way back down, just after we came down the steep part.  As we were sitting there the orchestra began to play.  It wasn’t real clear to hear, but we thought it was nice to have music with our lunch.

Second best was an idea of Jack’s.  We all took a luncheon cruise on the Vltava River.  There were some cruise companies that only offered a one hour lunch cruise.  This meant they only went as far as the Charles Bridge.  Or the two hour one included a walking tour around Old Town Square.  I had taken Mom there several times already.

We found one that was for two hours.  This meant it went through the lock and up river past Vysehrad.  It was on the expensive side, I think about 650kc ($20), but worth every penny.  We got a small glass of Becherovka as we entered the boat.  Becherovka is a secret recipe of fermented fruit that has been a Czech staple for centuries.  Lunch was a buffet of traditional Czech salads, main courses, and desserts.   It had just started to rain as we boarded.  The clouds started breaking up just as we finished lunch so we went to the upper deck to enjoy the view.  Jack said he planned for the rain to stop just so we could take pictures.

Mom and I also took the train to Dresden.  We had a little more excitement than Jack and I had with Mike back in June.  On the way across the border to Germany not only were there the usual German and Czech border personnel (at one point there was six of them in the train car at one time) checking passports, two guys dressed completely in black also strutted in.  I called them ninja patrol; little black stocking caps and all.  They made the guy across from us (he was probably mid twenties in age) open his duffel bag and they searched it.  Everyone was noticeably quiet as this was happening.  They didn’t find anything and moved on. 

On the way home just as we approached the Czech border the man across the aisle and one row up was asked by the Czech border personnel for his visa.  He didn’t have one.  We then learned that anyone from Australia must have a visa in advance to enter the country.  He said he didn’t know this.  He was taking the train from northern Germany to Vienna.  It route passes through the Czech Rep.  They took his passport and said he would have to get off at the next stop, which basically was in the middle of nowhere.  They told him that he would have to catch another train back to Dresden then make connections to go around CZ via Munich to Vienna.  He didn’t seem to be really all that upset.  Maybe he knew it was no sense arguing, or he did know in advance and just thought he could talk his way through.  Who knows?

This was on a Monday.  We picked this particular day to travel outside of CZ as it was a national holiday for the Czech’s.  Nothing would be open except a few shops and restaurants.  However, most public places are closed on Monday’s throughout Europe.  As I mentioned before there is a lot of reconstruction going on.  But, we walked to the river, across the Bruhl Terrace by the Catholic Church, went into the courtyard of the Zwinger Palace.   We even stopped in at a few sporting goods stores.  My brother has a knife collection from a company in Germany, we didn’t find what he wanted.  In other words we did our usual 400 mile daily walk.

Out the window of the train in one of the areas that was flat and a lot of agriculture were real tall upright telephone poles.  Rows and rows of poles on somewhat of an angle or a slant with a wire or cable across the top connecting the poles to each other.  There was something green growing up these poles.  Like giant bean stalks.  Hanka clued us in as to what it was, hops for the beer!  I’d like to see how they harvest it.  I never really knew if hops were a bush or grew like peas or soybeans. 

It turned out it was a good thing Mom left when she did - we didn’t have hot water.  The uncle upstairs left on Friday afternoon for the assumed summer cottage.  Saturday evening we noticed we didn’t have hot water.  Our landlady sent the nephew over to see if he could fix it, with no luck.  Mom left on Tuesday and we didn’t get hot water until Wednesday afternoon. 

Observations from Mom

•  Not many overweight children.  Kids don’t get all the junk food, plus they have to walk to get anywhere.

•  A lot of sirens.  Everyone notices this.  We have come to the conclusion that government paid health has something to do with it.  Most sirens are ambulances.  The government pays - heh why not call them for a lift!

•  So many flowers in the yards.  I had thought this spring that maybe it was because we were walking and not zooming by in a car, but, there are more flowers here.  Perennials and annuals.  Geraniums are the flower of choice for the many, many window boxes. 

• Semi’s are the cab over the engine / flat nose type.  I never really noticed this until she had said it.  There are none with the engine out in front of the cab that is predominant in the States.

•  No flys.  Which makes outdoor eating wonderful.  It seems like every restaurant or cafe has seating outdoor, even if it is only a few tables.  We are going to miss having lunch or just having a beer in an outdoor cafe more than anything. 

June 27, 1998

The Czech Republic is comprised of two regions, Bohemia and Moravia.  Bohemia is the bigger of the two and encompasses the western two thirds of the country.  Moravia is the eastern third. 

Brno is in southern Moravia.  It is 140 miles SE of Praha and about an hour from the Austrian border.  With a population of  350,000 it is the second largest city in the Czech Republic (CZ) and the capital of Moravia.

Hanka is a pitcher on a softball team.  They had one game on Saturday (June27th) and another game on Sunday (June 28th) against two teams in Brno.  Both Mike and Hanka also took the following Monday and Tuesday off so we could tag along and see a little of the Moravian country side.  It was also the end of the month and we needed to renew our 30 day maximum stay in CZ by leaving the country and coming back in.  The Austrian border was close enough so we could easily accomplish this.

The playing field was within the city limits, but off the beaten path.  A narrow road that eventually becomes a dirt two track took us to the ball field.  It was a good thing Mike and Hanka had been there before.  We only took two wrong turns.  We now knew why it took them over an hour to find the park and field. 

Hanka’s team won both games.  Hanka pitched the Sunday game for a few innings.  With working and Marek she doesn’t get in as much practice as she wishes she could.  In softball they use the windmill type pitch.  As you can see, I know nothing about softball.  I’m amazed anyone can control the ball.

Saturday evening we stayed at a hotel close to the field.  The other members of the team were staying in a dormitory type pension that has large rooms with ten or so beds to a room.  Mike and Hanka stayed with them the last time.  Mike said never again with Marek.  They could not get him to settle down with all the activity in the room.

There was a wedding reception being held in one of the banquet rooms of the hotel.  After dinner Hanka and I had to peek in to see what the bride was wearing.  As we were standing in the hallway looking in the bride noticed us.  She brought Marek a piece of chocolate that was wrapped in gold foil to resemble a silver dollar size coin.  He thought this was just great. 

The game got over just before noon so we set out to tour the city of Brno.  Hrad Spilberk is 13th century fortress on top of a very large hill.  We walked it as none of the information or maps that we had indicated auto access.  Naturally, once to the top we discovered the access road on the other side of the hill.  The fortress itself is under reconstruction so we knew parts of it would be closed.  What we didn’t anticipate was a TV crew was also filming inside and the entire interior was closed.  Oh well, the views alone we spectacular.  Brno, like Praha, is set in a giant valley.  

We walked back down and through the city center and up to The Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.  Notice I said up.  The cathedral is also on a hill.  Luckily it was much smaller than Spilberk’s.  Jack kept questioning why it seemed we are always walking up hill?  The church dates back to the 12th century.  However, only part of the original foundation has survived.  The current structure is from the 1700’s.  Typical of all churches it has incredibly tall ceiling, many side alters, and very ornate frescos and wall paintings.

Above the entrance of the town hall are five long columns or turrets with a statue at the base of each spire or turret.  Town officials supposedly reneged on their original payment off to the builder in 1510.  The builder took his revenge by bending the turret above the Statue of Liberty.  We have a great picture of it.  Also inside this same entrance and hanging from the ceiling is the “Dragon.”  It was given to the city in 1608 by an arch prince.  When Jack first saw it he said “That’s no dragon.  That’s an alligator!”  Marek replied with “A big alligator!”  We don’t know all the details behind the meaning of why he gave the city this “dragon”.  Hanka said it is just referred to as The Dragon of Brno.

Monday we set off towards the Austrian border.  We crossed the Moravian Highlands.  This is a reealllly big plateau.  For as far as you can see were crop fields surrounded by mountains off on the horizon.  This is the largest agricultural area of the Czech Rep.  Most of the crops appeared to be wheat fields.  We saw some corn and soybeans.  Hanka said a lot of potatoes were also grown in the area.

We arrived in the early afternoon.  We knew being a Monday the Mikulov Chateau would not be open, but we wanted to see the view and just walk around the courtyard.  Yes, it was up hill once more!  The original chateau dates back to the 1700’s.  The outside is rather simple, but very large.  It was used as an archive for the Nazis.  In 1945 as the war was ending instead of shredding or just destroying the documents stored there - they set fire to the entire chateau!  Reconstruction has been going on since the 1950’s as funds became available.

We found a very nice hotel for the evening.  It also had a bar and TV where we could watch the World Cup games.

As we were checking in we met a couple from the Chicago area.  His family had left CZ when he was a child in the 1940’s so he spoke Czech and still had cousins in the Moravian area.  After mentioning that my sister lives in Geneva west of Chicago they replied that their daughter lives there.  In fact the orchestra from one of the schools in Geneva was in Brno a couple of days earlier and they were able to take in a concert.  Their granddaughter plays in the orchestra.  Small world.

At breakfast the man from Chicago gave Marek a US silver dollar.  Not a real silver dollar, but everyone still calls them silver dollars.  He brought a bunch of them along to give to his cousins’ kids.  Marek was engrossed with turning it over and looking at it.  Finally he handed it to Hanka and said “Open it”.  He figured it was like the chocolate one the bride had given him!

The Tuesday morning we drove the whole mile or two to the Austrian border.  We could see the border buildings from the park area at the Mikulov Chateau.  A half mile from the border crossing, we were in the Austrian town of Drasenhofen.  This was a very small neatly kept farming community.  We took a couple of pictures then headed back to the border, got our entrance stamp and headed for Lednice back in the Czech Rep.

The Chateau Lednice is in our opinion a mansion not a chateau.  It has undergone many alterations and additions since its beginnings in 1544. The last being a wing added from 1846-58.  The chateau was built by the Liechtenstien family as their summer cottage.  Whata cottage!!  We took a tour of the first floor interior.  Every room was ornate and intricately carved wood ceilings, walls, and staircases.  We only saw 1/100 of the gardens and park area.  Creation of the gardens, surrounding park, ponds, and lake began in 1790 and continued for 21 more years with minor changes off and on until 1880. 

After a couple hours at Lednice it was back to Praha.   We had a great time traveling with Mike, Hanka, and Marek. 

But, I have to tell you one episode that Hanka & I will always remember and Mike & Jack will prefer to forget.  This goes back to Monday night in Mikulov.  While we were in the bar before dinner watching the World Cup Football (Soccer) Game a man came up to Hanka and spoke to her.  At dinner Hanka told us that the man had said there was a wine garden near the hotel.  It was - of all places - up the hill a ways.  But this wasn’t really up a hill, it was a long incline.  The next soccer game didn’t start until 8 or 9pm so the guys were open to the idea of going for a walk and trying to locate the wine garden (at first).  Well we learned that “up the hill a ways and then left at the vineyards” can mean anywhere from a mile to five miles.  We were in the town limits the entire way so we had a sidewalk, but we walked at least - at the very least - a mile on this long incline.  Mike was pushing Marek in the stroller so at one point he basically said enough is enough, let’s turn back.  Jack has walked nothing but uphill for the last two days and he figured he should be in heaven about now.  Hanka and I talked them both into waiting until we got to the end of the block.  I really wanted to find this wine garden.  Moravian wine is thee most popular thee best wine and I’m right in the middle of the greatest vineyards in the country!  I really wanted to find a local winery.  So we get to the end of the block.  The vineyards are - no exaggeration - at least another mile away. . .and we really had no idea where it really was other than ‘left at the vineyards’.  So Hanka and I conceded that it was best to retreat back to the hotel.   At least it was downhill.  

June 1998

It has been a busy summer.  When we weren’t traipsing the country side, entertaining, or baby-sitting we just sorta vegetated for a day or two and read.   So - to pick up where I left off - May 23rd.  May!?  Can that be right?  Two months?  And I thought in May not writing for a month was bad.

Meissen Porcelain

First, as I had written when we had gone to Amsterdam there was a museum that had a large room that displayed Meissen Porcelain.  At the time I wasn’t able to find anything on Meissen.  I did discover what it was quite by accident.  I brought a book along from the USA about Germany.  We were planning a one day trip by train to Dresden (more on that later) so I wanted to read up on it.  In the book the section right after Dresden was a section on the town of - Meissen.  The first sentence reads, “The home of Europe’s first porcelain manufacture . . “

Great story behind Meissen porcelain.  Credit given to Berlitz ‘Discover Germany’:

“Working with a group of scientists and miners, chemist Johann Friedrich Bottger developed Europe’s first porcelain process in Dresden in 1708.  With the Swedes invading Saxony (what is now south-east Germany), Augustus the Strong moved the clearly lucrative operation to Meissen’s Albrechtsburg Castle.  To protect the trade secret, Bottger and his team were kept prisoner in the castle, none of them knowing all the steps in the manufacturing process.

Bottger insisted on employing not common potters but the finest rococo sculptors, goldsmiths, and jewelers for the designing of the porcelain.  The acknowledged grand master of Meissen designing was Johann Joachim Kandler, whose exquisite work can be seen in Dresden’s Porcelain Museum.

The secret of Bottger’s first, red porcelain, now known as Bottger Stoneware leaked out in 1714, and his team could move around more freely.  Bottger had also developed a series of new glazes, black and violet, finally perfecting a pure white porcelain in 1715 using locally quarried kaolin, the fine white china clay.  He was promptly jailed again for trying to sell the formula.”

So, know we know what Meissen porcelain is.  Now I wish I paid more attention to the exhibition in Amsterdam.

Flowers

Previously, I had also described some flowering bushes that were in our yard when I was a kid that are in, or were in bloom, here.  My sister, Dar, remembers them and also knew their names.  The bush that had large flowers that appeared to be a cross between a rose and a carnation is a Peony bush.  The other larger bush, but with smaller flowers in cluster that look like miniature umbrellas is a Spirea or Bridal Wreath.

All in the Family?

At the end of the last letter/journal I mentioned an ever so slight  bed wetting problem I had as a child.   Having spent the better part of the day writing I wanted to make sure I sent it out that night.  It was close to the time to fix dinner, I was directing the conversation more towards Dar and Mom, not really thinking that this also goes to Jack’s family and a number of friends.  I was just in a hurry, not thinking.

So what does Dar respond with??  Here is a copy of her exact words in her e-mail:   “I just read your journal notes.  Boy did you ever do an oops!!    I almost wet my pants laughing so hard when I read it.  I never would have admitted that in public.   Mom will get a kick out of this journal note.”

Now, does anyone else see a pattern here?

For those of you who had cute little remarks.   Very funny.   Someday, when you least expect it! 

To those of you who chose to ignore it, my thanks.

New Weather Girl

This spring, while watching TV right after the news they showed about a dozen women.  All were presented in basically the same manner.  The girl was seated in a barber chair with her back to the camera.  The person who appeared to be styling their hair would then turn the girl around to face the camera.  Or, the camera would come in on an angle and show the face of the girl reflected in the mirror.  Each girl would then smile just like they do at beauty pageants.  Some smiled a little more suggestively than others.  There was also displayed a phone number at the bottom of the screen as each appeared.  The number would get progressively higher by one digit.  We saw this same “ad” once after that.

The next time it was less women.  Our guess was six or seven.  This time they were standing as though they were modeling cloths.  They turned a complete circle, but really didn’t walk.  Just moved from foot to foot, hand on hip then hand up towards chin, full turn, that sort of thing.  Most were in short skirts or tight pants.  Again the camera would come in for a close up of the fact.  This time not only was the phone number listed, but also their weight and measurements!  Of course it was in metric.  At this point we still had no idea what it was about and really didn’t try to analyze it all that much.

The next time it all made sense.  There were only four girls and four phone numbers.  This time they were in front of a weather map of the Czech Republic!  They would be standing to one side of the map.  Walk towards the middle of the map.  Make a sweeping gesture with the hand, probably to indicate a front moving into an area.   Turn and do the same with the other hand.  But the outfits were shorter and tighter...Jack would notice that.  One had on a short evening dress.   There was a new weather girl about a week later.  It didn’t really matter as we don’t remember which of the final four she was.  

Wash Machine

I’ve been meaning to make note of this for some time.  Our wash machine is a Whirlpool.  It is a front loading wash machine and dryer all in one.  It doesn’t put in anywhere near as much water as front loading type at the Laundromat.  The water level appears to be a couple of inches above the bottom of the drum.  The strange part is the cycle it runs.   First it rotates, say to the left, for three or four rotations.  Then it stops for three seconds.  Then rotates to the right for three or four rotations.  It does this a half dozen times then it stops for say five seconds and then starts to rotate to the left for three times as many rotations, stops for five seconds and starts the longer rotation the other way.  It does this the entire time, even in the drying cycle.  Short rotations, then long rotations, then short again, with the pause between turnings in the opposite direction.   The spin cycle really gets going, 1,000 revolutions per minute.

Observations from notes of this spring.

•  They do tend to lower the gates at train crossings a tad early.  We have timed it.  It is a full two minutes before the train goes by.  The one crossing is along and very busy street.  Traffic backs up for a mile in that length of time.  The gates are also very long and do not allow any room for attempting to weave around them.  Bike racing is very popular here.  Can you imagine the outcry if the gates would come down just as the cyclists came up to the crossing? 

•  No one has wind chimes.  I miss my wind chimes.  We didn’t have those tiny tinkly types.  We had the big long beautifully sounding ones. 

•  They grow better cucumbers here.  My mom said they are called Burpless back in the States.   They are long, generally a foot in length or a little bit more, and slender, about an inch and a half in diameter.  Plus, they have very thin and small seeds.  The cucumbers in the states are always seem to have half to three quarters seeds. 

•  Aluminum foil and plastic warp are bought by the replacement or refill roll.  You purchase the box with the cutting edge the first time and then just pop in a new roll. 

•  The cheaper plastic wrap and even the cheaper aluminum foil is comparable to the higher grade of each in the States.  I paid about 75¢ for the last plastic wrap replacement.  I don’t recall what the aluminum foil cost.

•  Kleenex or facial tissue I should say, is thicker.  The best ones are the little purse size packages.  The cost of five packages runs about $1.00.  The largest box is a box of 100.  They also are about $1, but not as thick or as soft.

•  They don’t add water to ham, hamburger, or poultry.  That means I’ve learned to add a little more liquid when cooking.

•  Everyone one has white legs.  It’s great.  I blend right in with everyone.  I’ve never been one to go to tanning booths or lay in the sun.  What few tanning booths that are available are expensive.  Usually the women who you know has gone to one are a foreigner.

•  There are no screens on the windows.  At first this bothered me as I’m not one to tolerate flies.  I also thought what is to prevent a bird from flying in.  The tree branches are close to the house.  Everyone has (almost everyone) has lace curtains.  I started watching and noticed that the lace curtains were pulled shut with the window open.  The lace acts as a screen to some extent.  That plus there are very few flies.  Even now in July.

•  I got taken at a fruit stand in June.  It wasn’t until I walked away that I realized it.  There is always this awkward moment when I attempt to understand the number they say and if I can’t right away I tell them ‘English’ and make a motion to have them write it down. Needless to say, I’ll never buy from her again.  I make a point of walking past her and looking right at her.  Just to let her know, I live here, I’m not a one time customer that you would have never seen again.  Get this - I paid 32 Koruna for two bananas.  That’s $1for two bananas!   

•  They dropped the old movies in English on Saturday afternoons.   They do have Laurel and Hardy silent short films before the news on week days. 

•  We saw our first and only squirrel in the park the early part of June.  It wasn’t as well fed as we have in the States.  Maybe it’s just the type of squirrel.  It has longer pointed ears and the ears are hairy.  The tail wasn’t bushy at all, sort of thin patchy hairs or fur.

•  We have seen two rabbits though.  Once in an open field near the apartment and once in the park near Mike and Hanka’s.  It was more of a Jack Rabbit.  Quite large.  Sits up more and takes big hops.

•  Once again we have no idea what was going on the TV, but it was - I swear this is right, but Jack said it can’t be, it was during the previews of what was coming up on the news.  They showed an operating room and the doctor high-five’s the nurse and other doctor across from him.  I know it wasn’t a clip of a TV show.  It was these little brief clips of the news stories.  We didn’t stick to that station to see what it was about for reasons I can’t remember.

• Since May there is a separate 15 or 20 minute evening sports news.  They need the 15 minutes with all the sports they cover.  I wrote down one news cast.  It contained mountain bike race, midget racing with something that looked like moon buggies, regular bike racing, kiak racing like in the Olympics, Monty Carlo type car race, NHL, NBA,  an all terrain off road race in a desert, and of course soccer.  It made for a fast moving program.

Michigan Weather

The weekend after Memorial Day (May 30 & 31) the Midwest was hit with some high wind storms.  Better yet, let me find and copy what Dave A. (I worked with him at OHD) e-mailed us.  He lives near Spring Lake:

“A day or so after my modem was replaced we had a big storm Thurs May 28th.  It hit the Spring Lake and Muskegon areas only with 75mph to 80mph winds.  Our power was out on Friday.  The STUPID Muskegon paper called it "The Storm of the Century".  On Sunday, June 1st Grand Haven to Muskegon and all the way into Grand Rapids was hit by another storm.   Winds up to 135mph the City of Spring Lake and Walker were the hardest hit.  We did not have power until Wed., and no phones till Thurs.  I guess that was the "Storm of the Century" hold it now... what was the first storm then? How about the "Storm before the Storm" (I should be a writer.). 

The storms were weird.  I emailed you before about the weird weather we are having...remember?  The storm on Thurs woke me up a lot of lightening and strong winds.  Nothing happened to us but a few of our immediate neighbors lost trees.  Spring Lake looked terrible on Friday with many trees down. The storm on Sunday was mostly winds.  The storm itself was moving at 75mph.  I was sleeping through that until Mary woke me up, by that time it was over.  Nothing happened to us again, but Spring Lake lost many, many, many, many, many trees, and a few homes and businesses.  Now take that damage and multiply it by three and you have Walker.  The National Guard has been at both location for a week cleaning up the mess.”

Postponed Munich Trip

Back in late April we made all the necessary plans for traveling to Munich, Germany the first week of June.  Well, in mid May that all got changed.  Hanka’s brother surprised their parents with a paid trip to Greece just about the same time we would have been in Munich.  Hanka already had two people on vacation at her pharmacy, so she could not take time off to be with Marek.  Early June is planting season.  Hanka’s parents put in huge gardens at their home and at their cottage.  Timing wasn’t good for anyone.  He meant well and all, but it could not have been a worse time. 

We rescheduled our trip to do extra baby-sitting duty for two weeks.  We intended to reschedule and go the last week of June.  However, we made the mistake of canceling the dog’s reservation without making new reservations.  We had to first make sure the hotel we wanted would be available in late June.  By the time we had done that, the dog kennel was booked up until one week in mid August.  So now we go to Munich in August.  This also means any big trip, oh says to Lisbon, Portugal, will be a no go for June or even July.  

I’m pleased to say that Jiri and Marie had a wonderful time in Greece.  We had the right amount of rain while they were gone so Mike and Hanka didn’t need to do any watering at the cottage, which is a two hour drive.

Dresden, Germany

We went to Dresden in late May by train; a very relaxing train trip.  It takes about two and a half hours and the tracks follow the Elbe River most of the way.  It makes for great scenery because it is also quite hilly. 

We went past a city along the river that is having a little dispute with the Romanian gypsies.  They want to build a wall around the area the Romies live in.  Gypsies are not known for their cleanliness.  The argument wasn't the fact that a town government would be that publically discriminatory, but who was going to pay for it! 

Dresden itself is a city under reconstruction.  It was severely fire bombed on Feb 13 and 14 in 1945.  Because it was part of East Germany, the communists didn’t put much effort to rebuild.  Now that is all one country again it seems the past two years everything is under reconstruction. 

There is one church, Frauenkirche, that was left in ruins and a monument erected near it as a memorial to the destruction of wars.  I was surprised to find that the monument is hardly recognizable because the church is being reconstructed around it.  In fact the ruble of the church had been removed, numbered, and put into racks.  They are reconstructing the church like a puzzle.  Reconstruction is to be complete in time to celebrate the church’s 800th anniversary in the year 2006.

We were in Dresden in 1991.  It was rather depressing to see the destruction the war had left.  Dresden didn’t just suffer some damage from a few bombs.  The entire city was destroyed.  Another little history lesson, and also from Berlitz ‘Discover Germany’:   

  “With the proposed rebuilding of the Frauenkirche, the post-communist municipality wants to stop the recriminations that arose from the 1945 bombardment.  However, the historical debate remains:  why was Dresden destroyed?

   With no vital industries and enjoying the protective image of a “city of art”, it escaped attack until the war neared its end.  Churchill’s memoirs refer to “a heavy raid on Dresden, then a centre of communications of Germany’s Eastern Front”.  But  British historian Bais Hard says “Dresden was subjected to a devastating attach-striking the city centre, not the factories or railways... Hart attributes the attack largely to please the Russians.  The British saw it as retaliation for the Luftwaffe’s destruction of residential neighborhoods of London.”

Hot Weather

There were a couple of days in June when the temps got well into the 80’s.  It just happened we took a bus out to the airport to check the cost of flights for my mom.  The bus doesn’t take the same route as a car and tourist buses do.  It goes somewhat of a back way past the old airport.  The bus driver was very considerate once we got off the main street and highway.   He would leave the doors open between three of the stops that were relatively close together, not that he wasn’t cautious.  He watched the mirror a lot.  It was relatively straight portion of road.  The bus wasn’t packed.  There was only myself and two other people standing, and we were well away from the doors. 

I, being the nice person that I am and because I wanted to encourage him to keep them open, gave him the old thumbs up sign.  Normally that would be a nice gesture.  However, in Europe it probably made no sense to him.  You see, in Europe they count with the thumb to indicate number one and the index finger as number two and so forth.  Unlike the States where we count we use the index finger as indicating number one and the middle finger as number two, ring finger as three, etc.   In effect it would have been the same as someone holding up their index finger to any of you.  He was probably wondering “One?”  “One what?”  “One minute?”  “One more time and I’ll report you?”

The past week the weather hasn’t gotten quite as hot.  It has been in the upper 70’s, low 80’s yesterday.  The one thing you notice using public transportation is personal hygiene.  Either not everyone has bathed or they have been doing some manual labor.  In other words the Ban wore off on some people.

More Person Hygiene

I took a small visual survey of leg shaving.  The unofficial results:  The vast majority of women in their 20’s and early 30’s shave their legs.  The late 30’s to 50 year olds its more like 50/50.  And it drops in the over 50 to the majority do not.  However, those over 50 will have their toenails painted perfectly.  Social status comes into play.  The very well dressed, well groomed of any age shave their legs almost 100%.  And no I have not done, nor will I be doing an arm pit survey.

World Cup Football (soccer)

We got into watching the World Cup games.  We didn’t know very much about soccer rules and strategy before now.  We really don’t know all that much about rules and strategy even now.  What we have learned is its more fun to watch kids play soccer than pros.  Its boring.  In fact, as Mike said “Its more of a game of who can cheat the most and get away with it”.  They would trip each other.  The guy that got tripped would always look like you tore off his leg.  Great acting skills if nothing else. 

Best part was an ad that they showed.  Guy goes into the toilet.  He’s sitting there and discovers there is no paper.  He searches his pockets.  He finds only a credit card and a lottery ticket/form.  Next shot shows him from a distance walking down the hallway in a very strange and awkward manner.  Then a close up of him examining the lottery ticket.  Its an add for the lottery!

The Elections

They had a political election June 19th and 20th.  Political parties can only campaign 30 days before the election.  Isn't that wonderful?!  Anyway the leader of one racist party said Romanies commit a crime just being born. Another of his memorable quotes was that not enough Germans died in the war.  Gee-guess what-he didn't get many votes!  They don't vote for the

person.  They vote for the political party.  The political party must get more than 5% of the vote to be represented in the government.  There are pros and cons to the whole thing.  Most governments in Europe are set up the same way including England and France, which is the two the Czech looked at the closest when they formed their government and constitution.  I’ll get into more of the government later as they just announce the cabinet-elect since the two majority parties did come to an agreement.  We need to read up on the consequences of all of the members elected.

Upstairs Dog

The last of my notes for June is about the dog (and sometimes dogs) upstairs.  Since the weather has gotten nice and we can leave windows open so has the Aunt upstairs.  This means the dog jumps up on something, puts its front feet on the window sill and barks at anyone and everyone.

It was a Monday and I had left to baby-sit Marek.  This means Jack walks the dog and then comes over around 11am.  Apparently the Aunt had gone away and left the window open.  We always know when she has left as the dog howls the entire time that she is gone.  When Jack left to come over to Mike and Hanka’s he tried to get the upstairs dog to JUMP OUT THE WINDOW!  The first words when he walked into the apartment were “Wouldn’t ya know the dog would have one brain cell that works”.

However, we have gotten a reprieve.  The aunt and uncle upstairs has gone every other weekend to, we assume, their summer cottage.  The aunt and the dog have stayed at the cottage since the 4th of July.  We keep thinking the good times are over every Sunday evening when they normally come back.  The uncle has left already (today is Friday).  I’m hoping that maybe, just maybe, he’ll take a week of vacation and we won’t have the dogs for another week.  Or, maybe she spends all of July at the cottage.  We’ll know Sunday night.

Enough for now.  I’ll finish up July’s notes