BOHEMIAN PRAGUE-PRAHA

Beautiful Ice Cream

I wonder why we insist upon calling Praha as Prague!  Praha is how the Czech people pronounce the name of their capital city. Yes, Praha was our next stop after we left Germany. I learnt that Czech Republic was once called Bohemia. Oh! So this is the place which gave us the Bohemian Rhapsody, Bohemian crystal, Bohemian life style...! Bohemianism is generally associated with people who live unconventionally, are artistic, unorthodox, and sometimes also anti establishment!I was thrilled to be in erstwhile Bohemia!!  
The border between Germany and Czech republic was interesting, as there were buildings which would have some years back stopped people and checked so many documents.This was one of the major  iron curtain countries. The language is Czech, which is hard on the ears, and very difficult to understand.The easiest words I found were Ahoj, pronounced Ahoy, which is used for both Hi and bye informally

The quality of the roads deteriorated. The forests were more dense. The first rest area also seemed to show its distinctness. It became a little more austere than those of Germany.The major difference from other European countries is that they use their own currency,the Koruna. Almost every other man is named Vaslav! From a Prime Minister, to an entertainer with huge billboards and our own guide.

View from Hilltop

Prague has beautiful buildings. Our hotel was excellent and had a small mall attached to it. Everything appeared cheaper. The ice cream shop displayed the ice cream very artistically. The tubs were decorated with swirls and twirls and waves! It was quite fascinating and inviting.

Bridges by the dozen!

We went for a tour of Prague by night followed by a river cruise and dinner on the boat. By the time we reached the castle on the top of the hill, we had seen beautiful buildings, hundreds of towers,churches and the lovely river Vltava with its numerous bridges. There are about 31 bridges across the river,the oldest is the Charles Bridge. Charles is" Karlov" in Czech.This bridge stands there since the 14th century and connects the Old Town with the New Town.There are about 30 statues on the bridge, which were added in the 17th century.

The tower at Charles Bridge is beautiful.There is a Church,a Museum of Torture and lots of painters sit there as the place is full of tourists.One of us, Marilyn simply fell on the steps of the church!! Was it that amazing? Oh yes it was!!

Prague castle from the river and the city from the castle are sights not to be missed.The city is well spread out and has so many towers of different designs, that the silhouette is grand.

The Metronome

On top of the hill is the Prague castle and St. Vitus Cathedral,as well as the St. George's Basilica.During Russian occupation of Czechoslovakia, a huge statue of Stalin was placed on top of a hill, which was overlooking the whole city. That mammoth has been removed and a very modern metronome  is placed there.It reminded me of "Ozymandias"!! I guess most of you know, what I am talking of. Yet, let me repeat, that this was a poem by Shelley about a mighty  King and his statue. The poem is quite a short one but its philosophy is brilliant. It spoke of the complete decline of leaders and empires that they build, however mighty they may have been at their own time.TIME - it does take it's toll!!

The old city had an area where the Jews lived. Their houses are grand and the designs on the facade are eloquent. The house of the fisherman had adornment of fish on the building, the goldsmith had some design to profess his craft,and so on and so forth,as Vaclav, our guide would say. 

The Old New Synagogue built around 1270, is the oldest working synagogue in Europe and one of Prague's earliest Gothic buildings. The name is quite interesting, as once it was new and then newer ones came up, so it became the "Old new Synagogue". There is a clock tower with Hebrew figures where the  hands of the clock run backwards because Hebrew reads from right to left. 

St. Nicholas Church is also in the old town. Mozart played the organ in this Church.

The Astronomical clock

From the Jewish Quarters we moved towards the Market Square in the old town. The square is very big. There are a lot of good eating joints in the square. The most important object to see in this square is the Astronomical Clock. This clock was made in 1410. It has three dials. One dial shows the phases of the sun and moon, one is a calender dial with medallions, and one is a regular clock. Two small blue doors next to the dial open every hour and twelve apostles move around in circles.It is quite a fascinating sight, more so as it is so ancient . 

Another interesting thing about the clock is that around it are four statues, which represent four disliked vices .One of them is death, which is a skeleton who strikes time every hour. There is vanity, shown holding a mirror, a Jew holding a money bag representing greed,and an infidel Turk.

The modern side of Prague was also near by with an aptly named road 'Paris Street' where one finds big designer stores.

Not to be missed were the stores selling Bohemian crystal.The display was beautiful.

Czech beer is world famous.The original Pils Beer 'Pilsner Urquell' belongs here. So does Budvar or Budweiser.Besides the Bohemian lifestyle, Prague has also given us the famous dance "polka".
Skoda car belongs to Czech Republic and one saw a lot of them on the roads.

Franz Kafka, Bata, Sigmund Freud, Madeleine Albright, Martina Navratilova were born Czech.Tomas Bata gave us the famous Bata shoes, which once upon a time were standard shoes for all Indians.
Grand, majestic,city of bridges and towers, it was indeed delightful to have visited you and seen you in your glory. No amount of over powering neighbours could spoil your beauty! So old and yet so beautiful!!
Na Shledanou(nah-sled-dah-no),Good bye, fantastic, beautiful, gorgeous Praha. I will always remember you and your grandeur.

EUROPE PART 2-GERMANY-DEUTSCHLAND

From Brussels we moved eastwards to Germany. Germany,to me is the land of Hitler, the persecutor of Jews.The moment we crossed the border, I could think of nothing except to imagine lines of Jews being hounded out of their houses to be sent to concentration camps.However, I am glad that I did visit Germany, as the feeling of sorrow and horror that I always feel as soon as I think of Germany, vanished by the time my tour of Germany concluded.

The day we entered Germany was the day Germany beat England in the World Cup series. After a long drive we reached Wurzburg and were looking forward to reaching our hotel. Suddenly we saw that we had stopped moving and there was a huge traffic jam ahead. The huge wide road was choc a bloc full of cars. The colours yellow, red and black were visible all over the place. All the cars had delirious people, displaying the flag, and colours of the flag. It was like a huge sea of cars with flags. People with half their bodies out of the cars, dancing in the cars, on motor bikes, or whatever mode of transport they were on, was a mesmerising sight. There was almost no movement of traffic. It was at a standstill and jubilation could be heard miles away. People  wore garlands around their necks, head, arms in the colour of the flag. They were simply sharing their joy on the roads.It seemed as if all the people of the city had congregated there to celebrate.Some people even had replicas of the World cup in their hands.We were astonished to see their celebration. If this was their reaction to this win, what would they do if they actually won the World cup was the thought on the minds of all of us.

We had to take a diversion, as there was no intention of anyone to move and reach their destination.

We reached our hotel, had our dinner and decided to go out for a stroll. It was an impromptu decision and we had no guide.We started moving towards some monuments which were lit up. A young lady on a bike crossing the road was stopped by us to ask what that particular building was. She explained it to us and then insisted that she would take us to the olden bridge which was the pride of Wurzburg. She said it was only 5 minutes away. Trusting her and delighted to find an English speaking person, so proud of her city,we went with her. She showed us a lot of places and told the history too. It was a good 20 minute walk before we reached the bridge. Yes, the bridge was really a beautiful ancient bridge with statues of saints on it. The view of the lit up Fortress Marienberg from the bridge was breath taking.The old Main Bridge (Alte Mainbrücke) was built in 1473–1543 to replace the destroyed Romanesque bridge that existed since 1133. It had well-known statues of saints and famous persons. Kristina,our friendly guide, was justified to be so proud of her city.

In 1945, about 90% of the city was destroyed in World War II air raids. Almost none of the city's churches, cathedrals, and other monuments  survived. The city center, which dated from medieval times, was totally destroyed.The city has been rebuilt completely since then and has been restored to it's ancient glory.
Incidentally massacres of Jews was not new to this place as that had taken place earlier in 1147 and 1298 and, expulsions had taken place throughout the Middle Ages. In the period of Nazi rule, the entire Jewish and gypsy population of the city was nearly wiped out.

The next day we went to Nuremberg.I only knew about the "Nuremberg trials". I now learned that it was actually the cradle of the Nazis.The first Nazi conventions were held here. Hitler's first major rally was held here.These rallies were called "Nuremberg Rallies". Who has not heard of the 1935 "Nuremberg law" by which German citizenship of all Jews was revoked?

The market square at Nuremberg is very big and is called Hauptmarkt.The famous Gothic fountain "Schoner Brunnen" which means beautiful fountain is in this square. This was built in 1385."Schoner" or beautiful sounds so similar to the Indian words Soni,soniya or sona, which all mean golden or beautiful!!There is a beautiful church also located in this square. There were a lot of stalls in the square,which were selling local produce, and we had a field day just watching the lovely place.This place is the venue for the annual Christmas market,where one gets traditional spicy gingerbread,bakery goods and Christmas articles.The tinsel used for decoration also originated in Nuremberg.

Nuremberg too was almost fully destroyed in the II World War. This place too has been rebuilt to its fabulous glory.This is what resilience is all about. The courage to put the past behind, rebuild and move on in life.

I could not see any vestige, remnant or sign that there was ever anything Nazi here. 

The German language sounds very hard. The people seldom smile, but the beauty of the toys made here are outstanding.The neatness, the beauty of the streets, the layout of the houses and lanes was absolutely beautiful.Germany was really very very beautiful. As I could not get the feelings of sorrow out of my mind thinking about the brutality of humankind and the systematic hounding and killing of entire masses of people, I could not love the place.

We then went on a Rhine river cruise. There are hills on both sides of the river, and on top of the hills are beautiful castles. How can one forget Grimms Fairy tales? Heidi? My childhood memories of fairy tales came true here. I could see Heidi running down the hills. I could visualise the monsters of the castles and the damsels in distress locked up in the castles. They were all there!!  

There are beautiful neat villages on the banks of the river,each village has  a church. Words fail me in describing the amazement I felt. The castle owners collected revenue from the boats that passed by the river. They had lovely toll stations at the base of the hills. On these hills are two castles known as Burg Cat and Burg Mouse. There are two castles of two brothers(picture on left) facing each other on two hills with a wall in between. Both the brothers loved one girl, who ultimately ended up in a nunnery at the base of the hills.

The town from which we went on the cruise was Boppard. It is almost 2000 years old and a UNESCO World heritage site. The little shops on the way, stocked Birkenstock,the famous comfortable sandals, the cuckoo clock, which incidentally has its origins in Germany, and lots of Hummel toys. The day we reached Boppard, was the day when vehicles were not allowed on the roads.It was a field day for cyclists,and we saw all the roads full of cyclists and also lots of people on skates, or skateboards. They were going in tandem or simply having lots of fun. 
Boppard has dramatic, Gothic architecture.  Just north of Boppard is the largest bend in the entire river where one finds a statue of Lorelei, a girl with long hair,  who would entice sailors and cause ship wrecks.The river Rhine is vast and is used to transport goods and also ferry people.Grapes grow along the steep hillsides, and a variety of wines, mainly from the Riesling grape are made here.

Germany, glorious, beautiful,rebuilt! Land of beautiful cars. The Mercedes, BMW,Audi, Volkswagen,Opel, Porsche, all are from here.German goods were once very famous. Man, Siemens, Bayer, the Ritter chocolate and Haribo are German,so is Lidl the Grocery chain.

This country which I felt was very inhuman has given us  amazing musicians. Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Handel, Strauss, Stockhausen, Wagner were all German composers! Could one Hitler(incidentally,I share his birth date) spoil all the glory of Germany? Nicht, nicht, nicht,no way!!

I will remember Germany for its beauty, music, cars, autobahns, the lovely meandering Rhine, the castles and Grimms fairy tales.

Autobahns reminds me of Raststatte or Rest stations by the Autobahns. These rest areas have restaurants serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.They are the best that I have seen.One of these has a dancing toilet. Yes indeed, there is a lever which when pressed,will make the seat actually dance. Most of us took videos of the dancing toilet as it is available only in the ladies toilet!! Innovative!!What will they think of next??

Aufwiedersehen Germany,I will surely see you again.

GLORIOUS,MAJESTIC EUROPE-PART ONE.JOURNEY BEGINS

Although I have traversed the length and breadth of England umpteen times, strangely I had never visited Europe.
This time I was determined to visit Europe, so before leaving India I got my Schengan visa and also booked my trip to Europe with Cosmos Tours. Everyone laughed at me and said that I was going on an old people's tour!! Only old people go on conducted bus tours,was the common refrain. Anyway, I had the last laugh, as firstly, I do fit into the bracket of  "Old", and secondly the tour was fabulous. There were a lot of young people on the tour,and there were old people too. The  oldest in our group was 77 and the youngest was just turning 12!
Europe took me by surprise. I had always heard that Europe was very beautiful, but the degree of beauty was much beyond my expectations.
It was a long sojourn, where I went to six countries, and saw nine cities . This will therefore take some time to describe, as there is so much to write about. I will therefore write about each city separately.
Crossing the Channel from England, on a gloriously beautiful day of June was exciting. The White cliffs of Dover were behind me and the lovely port of Calais was in front of me, and a vast expanse of water was all around. I could not get Charles Dickens out of my mind. "A Tale of two Cities" and the Channel crossing was uppermost on my mind. Could I forget the feelings of Sydney Carton and Charles Darney? As it is I live in the past and love to visualise how things would  have been in the times gone by. I loved the Channel crossing. I also thought of Arati Saha and Mihir Sen who had swum across the Channel, Arati did not cross from Dover to Calais, still I did remember her. She was the first Indian woman to have swum across the Channel.
We entered Calais and went Eastwards to our first stop at Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Strangely, there was no checking of passports! Calais, then the entry point into Belgium went past smoothly. No stopping, no checking!
The journey through France was beautiful. The French countryside was very pretty. It had beautiful small clusters of cottages,with red sloping roofs, strewn all over the undulating plains. Try to visualise the green of the plains and meadows, the white cottages with red roofs, clear blue sky on top, and it will be clear how breath taking it was. There were no smoke spewing chimneys, no factory sites,nothing to spoil the picture perfect setting of the place. After sometime came up some wind mills, these were very modern windmills, not like the ones that one has seen in the pictures of Holland. They were huge, sleek and meant to harness wind energy.
Belgium arrived with a simple sign on the road, welcoming us. No borders at all. Europe is amazing!There are no borders,no passport check, no Visa check, no long lines at immigration!!
I was surprised and delighted to see this peaceful co existence. Perhaps too many wars, loss of human life, and the resultant suffering has made them realise that borders and wars are meaningless.
The scenery changed gradually. The houses now also had black roof tiles. There were a lot of solar energy panels on a lot of houses. Farms started coming up. There were a lot of fields with crops, looked like wheat to me. We also saw a lot of farms with the Brussels sprouts and lots of other vegetable fields. There were a lot of cows and cattle grazing in the meadows.
Belgium is a monarchy.The main languages spoken here are  Dutch and French.Most people are Roman Catholics. There are a lot of atheists also. Brussels serves as capital of the European Union, hosting the major political institutions of the Union. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) also have their main institutions in the city, along with many other international organisations such as the Western European Union, World Customs Organization and Eurocontrol.  The presence of the EU and the other international bodies has led to there being more ambassadors and journalists in Brussels than in Washington D.C.  Bayer,the pharmaceutical company also has a large presence here.
Brussels, the city is very beautiful. There are a lot of areas which are office complexes and therefore in the evenings they become deserted, as nobody lives here.Some  beautiful buildings and places worth seeing are Cinquantenaire park with its triumphal arch, (like the French Arc de Triumph), the Basilica of the Sacred Heart where Royalty gets married, Brussels Stock Exchange, the Palace of Justice and the buildings of EU institutions in the European Quarter.
Going towards the old city, one comes upon the Square, called "The Grand'Place" or Grote Markt or Market Square. All the buildings in the Square are very old and historical.This square is one of the most beautiful squares that I have seen.There are beautiful Guild houses,as well as the Town hall, and the King's house, in the Square.Some of them date back to the 15th century. There is a building called  The Swan  which is now a renowned restaurant "La maison du Cygne (house of the swan),  where Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels stayed in 1847. Under the arcade of this building is a statue of Everard 't Serclaes, a medieval Brussels hero. Legend has it that striking the arm of the statue brings luck.The statue is therefore shining as everyone rubs it for luck.
The evening that we spent at the Market Square was  a memorable evening. There were a lot of roadside cafes near the square, which were full of happy people. There was a lot of group singing going on. People looked very happy indeed. There were a few people like jesters or pranksters moving around who were playing practical jokes. They would move from table to table, exchanging jokes and would also draw  people out  to dance. The happy scene of bon homie, group singing, thumping music and simply the joy of being together was quite contagious.It was a pleasure to watch their joie de vivre, and share the same with them.The food as expected, was delicious. The joy was delectable and the evening at Brussels was etched in my memory forever as a happy time!!

 Manneken Pis, is a famous bronze statue of a small boy relieving himself. There are a lot of stories which are circulated justifying it's existence. I only thought that the statue looked like a work of art, and was good. Brussels is famous for beer, I tried Cherry beer, which was delicious. There were beautiful pubs all around Manneken pis.The three things one must not miss in Brussels are Beer, waffles and fries. Mussels are also a delicacy which is a hot favourite here. The story goes around that, what we know as french fries are actually Belgian fries, as they originated in Belgium, when it was occupied by the French.


Brussels is also home to Tintin and a lot of other comic strips. They even have a museum to display the cartoons. Throughout the city, walls are painted with large motifs of comic book characters, and the interiors of some Metro stations are designed by artists. 

Some famous people born in Brussels are Audrey Hepburn, Liz Claiborn, Jean Claude van Damme, Hermes. Some people who worked here or completed books here are Alexander Dumas,Engels, Victor Hugo, Karl Marx. The fictional character Hercule Poirot was also Belgian.

Belgian glass,mirrors and hand made lace are also very famous. How can one forget the famous Belgian chocolates, the pralines, which are filled chocolates. It is said that a Doctor used to give bitter medicines wrapped in chocolates to his patients. The popularity of this style made him experiment with other fillings and today we have the praline chocolate. Brussels is full of chocolate shops with chocolate fountains. Imagine the aroma of the chocolates.Hmmmm, I guess I better stop here and take a chocolate break!!

AMERICA- WHAT I SAW - PART two

The network of roads in USA is the lifeline of the nation. The network is amazing. Roads stretch from one end of the country to another and travelling by road is the main mode of transportation. Roads are wide, straight and in excellent condition. Traffic moves very fast and there are traffic cops all over the place. If any car is signaled by the traffic Marshall to stop, there is total obedience and the car stops and waits for the cop to come and take action. People are law abiding and therefore life of a common person is usually bereft of small tensions. This does not mean that crime is absent.

Weekends are always for the family.It is nice to see the togetherness of families. Father's are often at the park playing with little babies and toddlers. It is not always the responsibility of the mother to look after all the needs of the children.

Most of the children join 'after school classes' to develop either their hobbies or games or skills.In fact most grown ups too pursue some hobby or other, and have a life of their own. People are generally followers of one game or another. Baseball, rugby, basketball are very popular games. Americans have excelled in sports and, in almost every Olympics, USA wins the maximum number of medals. Most people are fans of some league or the other.

The food portions in restaurants are gargantuan. "Please box it" is a sentence used almost always after a dine out. Another interesting thing I noticed was the way orders are taken by the person taking orders. Each person is expected to state what they want to eat as well as drink. It is not a generalised order given by one person, as is usual in India.

The system of electricity connections too is different from the system followed in the rest of the world. Whereas the world has 220 volts for its electric appliances, in America it is 110. It is surely in the interest of the consumer to have equipment with lesser voltage, as it is safer.

Almost everywhere in the world, when a light switch is turned upwards it means the switch is off,and when it is turned down,the switch is on. In USA it is the reverse. The reason for this is, that it is possible for the switch to fall down accidentally, whereas switching on would always be deliberate. Again in the interest of the general public.

Mail delivery is always in a mail box which is located usually on the road. The postman does not have to trudge up and down the drive of every house to drop the mail. Mail can be dropped easily on the same straight route. Besides this, mail is delivered from the Postman's van. This is the only vehicle which has the driver's seat on the right side, so that the postman does not have to step out of the vehicle, but can simply stretch out and drop the letters. Every letter box also has a flag which is upturned when mail is dropped, so that the receiver of mail does not have to walk up to check the mail in vain They can see the signal and collect the mail. This kind of system shows that almost everything is planned, keeping the convenience of the people in mind.

Washington the capital of the country, has about 19 museums and the entry to the museums is free.Obviously what belongs to the nation, must be available to it's citizens free of cost.

There is no nobility, no hierarchical social structure, therefore everyone is equal.

These are a few random things that came to my mind, which shows how the system gives so much importance to human beings, and watches the interest of the people.

I thought the people were very humane,and friendly.The place is very clean and neat. Lawns are beautifully maintained. Flags are displayed very extensively, and patriotism is very evident. Seasonal festivals are very colourful. St. Patrick's day in March makes the whole place go green.  Fall has the glowing colours of red, orange, rust, yellow in abundance,with a whole lot of orange pumpkins on display. At Halloween time all the children dress up in amazing weird costumes and go around with lanterns for "Trick or Treat". Houses are decorated with lanterns made out of hollowed out or nicely cut out pumpkins.  Christmas has a lot of red and white.On 4th of July all that one can see in abundance is blue, red and white. 

USA is a beautiful country where people belonging to different cultures, regions, and languages have all come together to present a homogeneous picture of humanity who love their new homeland, perhaps as intensely as the one that they left behind.
It is the place where dreams come true. A wonderland where opportunities are galore. A brand new world waiting with open arms welcoming people!!