Czech Republic: The illegitimate love-child of Rhode Island and Iraq

Praha. Prag. Prague.

So I learned a few Czech words to add to my vocabulary (one of our tour guides said that it is VERY hard to learn the language, so I'm proud of myself!): Dekuji(thank you) and Cecetjke (or something similar= wait... or something similar). Praha was a wonderful city- I liked it a lot more than Vienna, but it was really hard because they don't speak a language that I do (luckily, in the touristy parts, they speak English and German). The Czech Republic does have a very central European feel to it, unlike Austria... (go figure).

Driving up to Praha, we started joking around, saying that it looked a lot like Rhode Island (it really didn't...) and then one of the guys joked that it actually kinda looked like Iraq... So we decided that it must have been a mixture of the two... an illegitimate love-child of them... that was later adopted by the EU. ;-) Also, as we were driving along the countryside, the boys in the back started singing Bohemian Rhapsody (since we were driving through BOHEMIA). It was rather amusing...

On Friday, we had the usual walking city tour, and then we had the afternoon to ourselves. We actually just went back to relax in the hotel until dinner because it was REALLY cold out... and we weren't quite properly dressed... But we had dinner at the hotel, which was pretty good. A lot of people decided to go on a pub crawl, but I stayed behind with some of the girls and we went out in search of a cafe where we could just hang out and have a fun time. We found this really wonderful little cafe right on the old town square that had a really fun athmosphere.

On Saturday, we got to explore the town by ourselves, so we wandered around & shopped along the main streets for most of the morning and then after grabbing a quick wurst off the street (they were HUGE... and CHEAP), we headed up the hill to the castle. We decided to go into the Cathedral, mostly because it was free... and then we went to the edge of the top of the hill & had a gorgeous view of Praha. On our way down from the castle, we stopped in some more shops & tried to go in a different church, but it cost money, so we just sat on the steps outside in a smaller square. It was really pretty. We met up with some other friends for a little while, and then headed back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner. We went to dinner at Cafe Louvre, which had traditional Czech food. I had the pork tenderloin marinated in rosemary and garlic with dumplings (stuffed with cubed ham) and boiled cabbage (guess what I didn't eat...???). After that, we headed back to the cafe that we went to on Friday night, except we had heard that there was a rooftop terrace... so we climbed up to the 4th floor (5th floor by American counting...) and had a WONDERFUL view of the main town square as well as of the castle!

On the way back to Salzburg, we stopped in a little town called Cesky Krumlov, where we took a city tour through part of the castle & all around their old town. The coolest part was probably when we walked past the area where they have pet... BEARS. Yes. Pet Bears. But they weren't out... probably because it is winter. But they have pet bears. It was really awesome. We got a long time after the tour to wander around the city on our own, so Katherine, Ja, and I walked along, checking out random little shops.

The weekend was quite a blast, but now I have 3 tests this week that I need to study for... :-p

:)

Pictures:
1- Main shopping street leading to the main square
2- The castle from the opposite side of the river
3- Drinks from Friday night
4- View from my hotel room
5- The main side of the river from the bridge while the sun was setting
6- Me in the old town square at Cesky Krumlov

Kristallnacht: The Night of Broken Glass (9 Nov)

by Ja Chaiyaphruk

Yesterday (9.11.08) Hillary, Kelley and I walked down on Linzergasse hunting for a good restaurant for dinner. We then spotted something usual on the street: A candle, a rose and a piece of paper. With curiosity we bent down and read.

"Kristallnacht"

This is the story:

Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) was a pogrom in Nazi Germany on November 9–10, 1938. On a single night, 92 Jews were murdered and 25,000–30,000 were arrested and deported to concentration camps (though most will be released in a few weeks) as a part of Führer Adolf Hitler's anti-Semitic policy.

267 synagogues are desecrated and destroyed (almost all of the synagogues of Germany and Austria). Thousands of Jewish businesses and homes were ransacked. SS Security Service chief Reinhard Heydrich instructs security agencies to burn the synagogues unless German lives or property are endangered. Jewish businesses are looted and destroyed.

It marked the beginning of the systematic eradication of a people who could trace their ancestry in Germany to Ancient Rome and served as a prelude to the Holocaust that was to follow.

And there we were on Linzergasse... looking at the memorial. There were a few houses on the ally that belonged to jewish families that were arrested or murdered. I just thought about the shop with the broken glass at the entrance we walked pass earlier (I firstly thought it was some sort of vandalize which is odd of Salzburg... but think of it again it must be related to the event.) We found another memorial down the street. One rose per one life that was there... guitless and helpless.

"May we never forget what had happened," shined the black letters under the candle light.

Remember, remember the fifth of November...

First off, Happy Day After Election Day! Last night, I was awake when they announced both Ohio & New Mexico... around 3:30am my time. I slept quite peacefully after that! Of course, this morning when I woke up, my TV was still on... and the first thing that I saw was the MARGIN by which Obama won (in the electoral college...) which was pretty amazing. Then I got on my computer & looked at specific results for NM. And was extremely pleased when I figured out that the ENTIRE NM delegation (in DC) is going to be Democrat for this session! Wow. Way to go NM. I am proud! Hopefully that will be good.

Unfortunately, not everything went the way that I wished... CA voters were very disappointing in the vote on Prop 8, especially in comparison with the other issues that they voted on. I have to say, I am proud of all my friends & other supporters of NO on Prop 8 on an outstanding campaign. They worked tirelessly (I know from all the emails that I received) and truly deserve a lot of credit. I hope that sometime in MY lifetime, that can come up for another vote... and do much better.

On a slightly different note, tonight my friends and I watched V for Vendetta! It was a great movie to watch, especially after the election! It is a movie that you can both watch just for fun or to actually get something out of it! It really brings up the question as to WHAT IS a terrorist? The government considered V to be a terrorist, but in my eyes, he was just doing what he thought would be best for the country... and really, isn't that what we all do every day? I love that they point out that any terrorist group/organization stops being that group/organization and becomes an idea... and you can't KILL ideas... only people. It's such a powerful movie & I'm glad that I could watch it in such great company!

Now last night, I went with some other awesome people (actually, mostly the same people) to see Swan Lake (Schwannsee) as performed by the Russian National Ballet! It was a wonderful ballet- quite beautiful in fact! The only really disappointing thing was that there was no orchestra... it was just a recording. But it was still really awesome!

On Sunday, I went on a bikeride (by myself) down south of Salzburg. It was probably the most amazing thing that I have seen. I rode about 5 km down towards Hallein & in doing so, got pretty close to the real foothills of the Alps. It was really cool because it is TRULY fall here (unlike CA, which kinda skips fall & winter). All the leaves were changing and the trees are about half bare... making for a wonderful ride along the Salzach!

More exciting news: 1-my parents are coming to visit! I can't wait to show them around Salzburg, the city that I have come to love soooo much! and 2-I got a package with Kraft Mac & Cheese in it today! That was pretty much the best thing ever! I might have to make it for dinner tomorrow night! :) It was quite suprising because Mom said that they weren't going to send me a package. It was like Xmas or my Bday... except in November. Maybe a "November suprise" if you will... ;-)

I do believe that it is time for me to hit the hay... I didn't sleep very much last night (I place that blame with President Elect Barack Obama...) and I have had a loooong day... I love that I don't have class on Thursdays until 3:15, although tomorrow I do have a midterm... in German...

:)

Pictures:
1- Electoral Map 2008! (check out NM!)
2- Well, you can read, can't you...?
3- V.
4- Schwannsee
5- Kaiser Franz Josef Memorial Park/pond fountain thing in Fall.
6- Salzburg from one of those foot bridges
7- President (elect) Barack Obama! :)