Robert Benton Quote

I really liked this quote from director Robert Benton in today's LA Times. He's just directed the film version of a book I loved by novelist Charles Baxter, The Feast of Love. Benton turns 75 this month, and with that, and the fact that he's directing a movie at that age, makes his words leap out even more to me.

"I used to agonize over things. I worry a lot less today. You realize that what shows up in the process, that might take you by surprise, is often better than what you'd planned for."

Last days in Prague...

Yesterday Rob had to work all day and I took the day off from being a tourist. I decided to go to the hotel jacuzzi which was, fortunately, unoccupied. I was there long enough to become somewhat prune-like, when the director of sales for the hotel came in and asked, "English?" which seems to mean, "Do you speak English?" not am I from England. I said yes, and he then ushered in an entire film crew and asked if I minded if they filmed in the gym. I said fine. Soon I climbed out of the jacuzzi and put clothes on over my wet bathing suit and was making my escape when they asked if they could film me pretending to come out of the elevator, walking to the spa sign, looking excited, and walking into the spa. I thought that if they were that desperate for actors, then I would oblige. My clothes were wet, my hair frizzed up from the jacuzzi, no makeup. Who wouldn't think I was the perfect candidate for the German wellness channel? We did it in one take, and then they had me sit in the hair salon pretending to read a magazine while the hairdresser pretended to style my hair. Later, the director of sales brought me a box of Belgian chocolates for helping to promote his hotel to Germany.





Next day, Rob had the day off again. We walked to St. Nicholas Church which was a wild baroque extravaganza. See photo above. Then we went to a restaurant by the river that had such a narrow stairway to get down to it, they had stair traffic lights.





We walked past the church that has the "Holy Infant of Prague" wax figurine that is said to have performed a record number of miracles. The resident Order of English Virgins looks out after him and changes his outfits. All the stores across the street had replicas of the fellow for sale.



Then we walked down by the river and then up the hill to the castle. Had lattes at our favorite cafe inside the castle and came home. Doesn't sound very exciting, but just walking around is so much fun in this city since every building is amazingly different from the next.

And, finally, here are Rob and me at the castle.... Goodbye Prague!

Rob has a day off!

Rob finally has a day off, so where else would we go but, yes, the Communist Museum. Rob loved seeing that it was upstairs from McDonalds (see posters for museum on left side of photo). We both ended up in tears at the end of the video about the Velvet Revolution and then we walked to Wenceslas Square so he could see where all the protests took place. We had just watched footage of Russian tanks moving down the square. And today we see it alive with zillions of people and businesses. Viva La Capitalism. And freedom.



In what proved to be a wonderful complementary activity (though not planned that way), we next went to the Jewish Quarter. We went to the Old/New Synagogue, which dates from the 1200's and is the oldest synagogue in all of Europe. Prague lost 80,000 to the Holocaust and each name is inscribed on the walls of the Pinkas Synagogue, next to the cemetery. The cemetery dates from the 1400's when it was the only place that Jews were allowed to bury their dead. So when they ran out of space, they buried on top of existing graves. There are thought to be 100,000 graves there, but only 12,000 grave stones are visible. They are packed tightly together, all leaning one way or another. Some leaning on each other. They looked to me like little people. Visitors put prayers on tiny slips of paper and put them on the grave stones with a small pebble on top, or sometimes just put a pebble on with no prayer. It makes the cemetery look alive - as if someone has reached out and acknowledged the individual, even though the markings have long been worn away.



We went to dinner at the Havarny Pavilion, which is high above the city. Rob had filmed there the day before and wanted to show me the view. Unfortunately, he chose the day that the "Winter Terrace" was being installed, so we had to dine inside. But for a long time, we had the charming pavilion (and piano player) all to ourselves. Later, a big group came in, and ended up singing "Habby Birzday do you..." I love that pronunciation...









Then we went to a Black Light Theater to see a typical Czech entertainment. It's a blackened stage, and some actors are in colorful outfits, some in total black so you can't see them - you can only see their props. It makes it look like things are suspended in air. The best part was a juggling sequence in slow motion. Very low tech and wonderful. Even had some nudity. "Something for everyone," as Pat would say.

The pianist at intermission played "Hello Dolly" which seemed like yet another sign from dad....

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....

From London

Claire and I are tagging along with Rob on his business trip to Europe. We're in London now, at Durley House, which, much to the dismay of every taxi driver, is not well-known. When we mention the address, each of them has said, "Oh, you must mean the Cadogan." "No," we say, "Durley House." "Don't know of any Dudley Hotel," they say. "No, it's DURLEY HOUSE." "No hotel there execept the Cadogan," they say. "Not the Cadogan. DURLEY," we plead. We'll show you. As we approach, they say, "See, I told you - the Cadogan! Never heard of the Dudley." They know so much about London that they can't possibly admit that there is something we'd want to go to that they don't know about. Anyway, it's a great place to stay and every morning the food comes up into a dumbwaiter just inside our room, followed by a knock on the door and two people come in to open the dumbwaiter door and bring the food to the table. It's so fun to watch.


We're right down the street from Prada, Chanel, Tod's, Gucci, Jimmy Choo's, etc. Which is good for our bank account since we don't wear Prada, Chanel, Tod's, Gucci, Jimmy Choo's, etc. However, we're a 10 minute walk from Harrod's where we really could do some serious damage, I fear. We've limited ourselves to the food court (fascinated by all the types of bacon) and Toy Kingdom so far. With a few extra trips up and down the Egyptian escalator, which is our favorite escalator in the world... so far... Claire likes the fish displays too....




































But the best part of all is seeing Jana Hunter, my writer's group friend who moved back to England, became a successful children's book author, and is now an editor. She's the most incredible storyteller I've ever met. And her funniest stories are about her family... isn't that always the case?!!!