Slow to blog....

Well, the best of intentions to blog all along this trip flew out the window due to internet conflicts and exhaustion. But, I have a couple of days left and since Rob is still working (9:30 PM), I thought I could tap out a few words about my day. I'll try to fill in the inbetween days later.

First of all, Rob and I are in Prague. He's here for a test of the Dalsa camera and today was climbing onto railroad trestles with a mostly Czech crew in order to get a shot of a steam train going past. The day was gorgeous and I can't wait to see the footage. They also shot some of the castle. Yesterday they shot the Municipal House.

Here's a photo of Rob inside the Royal Palace Hall at Prague Castle. They used to have jousting tournaments in this room "for the amusement of the ladies" they said.



I went out early to try to locate the Christian Science Society here. It meets only on the first and third Sundays so I was glad that the timing of our trip allowed me to go to a service. I was looking for an address in Old Town, near the square - Tynska 17. I found it, but it was a door leading into a building with no signage indicating I had the correct address. I still had a half hour before the service started so I went to the square for a latte and thought that maybe it would be clearer (i.e. a sign) when I returned. Not so. I tried the door and it opened and I saw a dark alley. I walked through and came to a courtyard. Still no sign. Went through the only door I could see and asked the lady there if she spoke English. She leaped up, crying "No, no, no!" and ran from the room. (Not a good sign.) Fortunately, another lady came and greeted me. She was from the society, and showed me into the small room. The service was all in Czech and I followed along with my full-text version. The Czech was beautiful to listen to and I even tried to sing along with the Czech hymnal. We had a nice talk afterwards.



Above is Wenceslas Square. Nearby was the Museum of Communism. I had tried to find it the day before but it wasn't where the map said it was. Those tricky communists, I thought. I looked on their website and for directions it says, "If you found the McDonalds, you've found the museum." I remembered that McDonalds indeed, so I vowed to try again. I love the idea of the museum renting space from McDonalds. Poetic justice, I think. (I'm just glad it was easier to find than the Christian Science Society...)



Found the museum, and loved it. Quite a journey the country has taken. There were many pieces of memorabilia from that era (not so long ago...) and an incredible video about the Velvet Revolution. My respect for Vaclav Havel and what he did to bring about the revolution is immense. I ended up in tears watching the riot scenes, especially since I had just visited Wenceslas Square where they took place.

The museum has created some funny advertising for themselves. They take old communist poster images and put new slogans on them like, "You couldn't get laundry detergent but you could get your BRAINWASHED!" or "Cash, Credit Cards, and blatant back handed bribes accepted at our gift shop." or "We're above McDonalds, across from Bennetton. Viva La Imperialism!" The picture below was actually from a photo exhibit inside Prague Castle showing photos from the castle during Communist times. I'm sitting in one of the actual chairs that were in the photo!



Then I walked (and walked and walked) to the Dvorak museum. Dad loved the New World Symphony so much, I knew I just had to make the pilgrimage. They had a lot of Dvorak's personal things - his writing table and chair, his pen and ink set, his portrait of Beethoven that hung above his desk, his piano and violin, etc. Amazing what he created at that desk with that pen under that portrait....



Finished the day at the Municipal House cafe listening to a jazz band playing "Hello Dolly." Perfect. Here's a photo of the front entrance. Art Nouveau in all its glory....