Gateway to the Black Sea-#18: Returning and Final Reflections

Sun. June 21-Returning and Reflecting: Arising at 5:00 to have our bags in the hallway by 5:30am some doing but everything went without a hitch. The hotel gave us early risers a bag breakfast and put us on a shuttle to the airport. On the short flight from Prague to Amsterdam they surprised us with a sandwich and drinks. We flew on a 747 again out of Amsterdam which, with its personal entertainment screens, makes even a 7 hour flight seem shorter. They fed us a main meal and later a snack of ice cream and then a cinnamon roll. Back in the USA I was pulled out to have my luggage screened but then joined the others. The shuttle bus came in about 15 minutes and we boarded for the trip back to Valparaiso. On the way Pat ordered a pizza, which we picked up and ate before slowly making our way to bed. Ross was the first to go at 7:15 while the rest of us worked on computer stuff. We had been up for 21 hours straight by then but didn't want to go to bed too early for fear we would be up according to Prague time. It had been a great trip!

**It was interesting to get the different perspectives on the Soviet rule in various countries. Granted, they were individual opinions from the guides but the consensus was that their time was drab and unwanted by the people of each country. They ran the gamut from Romania and Bulgaria, where they said they joked and made fun of the Soviets and just waited them out, to Hungary, where we heard the most animosity. Several could name good things, like full employment, but more bad things, like gray buildings everywhere and it taking years to qualify to buy a car. In Slovenia and Czech Republic, particularly, they have painted the identical buildings in bright colors to differentiate and make them more attractive.

**Characters I will remember include Sim and Phyl, whom we really hope to see again; Harry, the still handsome but aging single man with blond hair and capped teeth who had an obvious “cruise fling" and then went on the extension without his new partner; Fred, who learned our names early and made us feel like we connected with him by using them; Irv and Shirley, from Jackson, MI; and the salty New Orleans mother named Honey, who travels with her daughter, Honey B, and Barry, a man they met in 1991 on a cruise and now accompanies them regularly. Honey announced that everyone agrees that, "If Mom goes down, grab her purse!"

**Spending time in cities that were established in the first century by the Romans, or the 8th century by the Habsburgs, takes my breath away. I marvel at the walls and churches that are still standing after more than 1000 years, and sometimes 2000 years.

**The smell of the Balkans for me will be the Linden Trees (also called Basswood or Lime) that were in full bloom everywhere we went. Their fragrance was heavenly and it’s easy to see why it is the National Tree of so many of the countries we visited.

**For historical interest, while we were there in June of 2015:

·        1 US Dollar=3.99 Romanian Ron

    1 Euro=4.43 Ron

·        1 US Dollar=1.75 Bulgarian Leva (LEV)

    1 Euro=1.95 LEV

·        1 US Dollar=106.07 Serbian Dinar (RSD)

    1 Euro=120.49 RSD

·        1 US Dollar=6.7 Croatian Kuna (HRK)

    1 Euro=7.5 HRK

·        1 US Dollar=277 Hungarian Forints (HUF)

    1 Euro=311 HUF

    1 US Dollar= Euro

Gateway to the Black Sea-#16: Final Day of Prague and of the Trip

Sat. June 20--Prague: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, KEN & JEN! We had a great final day. We crossed over the river to see the "Castle"—it’s more of a District, not one building. It was a guided walking tour with lots of history, beautiful buildings, courtyards, and churches/cathedrals. It started at the top of a hill and ended part way down the other side where the bus waited to take the group back to the hotel. 

Castle District on the hill from far below

Entrance to the North Gate

The elite guards stand without moving for one hour on duty--
except a wave of his hand when an Asian tourist tried to step into
 the iron circle to get her picture taken with him! 

Cathedral Roof and spires

One large courtyard within the District near the Cathedral

St. Vitus Cathedral

Stained glass in St. Vitus Cathedral

Rose Window in St. Vitus Cahedral

Dedicated to Miners (see his light?)

Overlooking Prague, the city of 100 spires

Royal living quarters/Royal court/chapel

Tiny living quarters set within the Castle District walls

Prague, looking west from partway down the hill

Instead the Macks and Dunns walked to a restaurant that our friend Kathy Bossen recommended to us called U Modre Kachnicky (The Blue Duck). It was small, and out of the way, but great food and a lovely time. 

We separated from Ross and Pat and went to a small music festival we could hear from a distance along the Vltava River that meanders through Prague.  The music was good and it was a very local affair. It was fun to be a part of it for a while. 

We crossed the river using the famous Charles Bridge...

...and made our way to Wenceslas Square (The same King Wenceslas as in the Christmas Carol). This is where the people of Czechoslovakia demonstrated against their government on 1989, and forced the communist government to step down. They now refer to it as the "Velvet Revolution" for its non-violence. It was fun to be there and think of the energy and excitement that were there 26 years ago. 

The Boulevard through the "Square" is many blocks long with
gardens and food vendors in the wide median.

Approaching the Museum at the top of the Square

King Wenceslas

Finally we walked back to the hotel. We dropped things off and took one last trip to the Republic Square, right down the street, for a beer and people watching and then began packing. There was a dinner for everyone on the trip and afterwards we had to pack and prepare to get everything ready so we could get up and out by 6am tomorrow.

Square along our walk back to the hotel

A final visit to Republic Square

Gateway to the Black Sea-#15: Prague Jewish Quarter and Terezin

Fri. June 19--Prague: The morning began with a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter and its synagogues and the Jewish Cemetery. The oldest synagogue was built in the tenth century and is the only one still used for services; the others are now museums. Prague had a Jewish population of 120,000 before the war and their systematic extermination. Now there are about 1800 and the small, old synagogue is plenty of room for them. In the Pinkas Synagogue we saw the walls full of tiny hand printed lists of the names and dates for the many who died. 

Jewish Quarter in Prague

Interesting clock on the City Hall in Jewish Quarter

Pinkas Synagogue

Name after name after name....

...on every wall for room after room after room.

Then we went through the cemetery where bodies have been buried for several centuries so people are stacked 12 deep and the old stones are piled together. It was very sobering. 

We strolled down the Street of Paris, the most expensive part of Prague with its beautiful Art Nouveau apartment buildings that were built around the turn of last century and visited the Spanish Synagogue (so named for its interior decorations, not for its nationality). The Old Town Square was a short walk away but the group got smaller and smaller as we made our way there because it was lunchtime. 

Pařížská (Paris) Street connecting the Jewish quarter to Old Town

Beautiful Spanish Synagogue is now a museum

Tyne Church on Old Town Square 

Streets of Old Town

St. Nicholas Church on Old Town Square

Astronomical Clock 

Buildings on Old Town Square

Enjoying a Trdelnik: Dough wrapped on a fat metal rod and cooked over a fire,
 then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar from the stand in the background

Ross, Pat, Marv and I stayed for the whole tour and then hustled back to the hotel. We picked up the lunches we had packed and met our Gray Line Bus for a trip we had lined up ahead of time to Terezin, about an hour away. Terezin was built as a military post in 1789, to stand between the Prussian and Habsburg empires. It consists of the big and the small fortifications. The smaller was used as a prison and the larger was barracks and homes for troops. Both are well fortified and surrounded by walls and moats. During WWII the Nazis put political prisoners in the prison far exceeding its capacity and known for its inhumane conditions. Jews from all over were brought or death marched to the larger fortification which became a village sized ghetto. A propaganda film was made there promoting it as a Jewish sanctuary where it was self-governed and a generally happy place to stay. After it was made every actor was taken to Auschwitz and immediately gassed. Terezin became a sort of way-station where Jews were gathered and registered and then sent on to Concentration Camps. Many died in Terezin as sickness and lack of sanitation and supplies overwhelmed the growing masses. Dissidents were sent to the prison, where conditions were even worse. It was very chilling and not exactly enjoyable, but it was an important trip to make. 

Building we saw from the bus as we rode to Terezin

Castle District on the hill as we left Prague for Terezin

Countryside driving to Terezin

Cemetery/Memorial outside the gates of the smaller fortification

Large and small fortifications of Terezin with photos from the area

Work shall make you free

Bunks in one building of the prison

Sinks installed to impress the Red Cross inspectors but never plumbed with water

There are many yards of passageway within the wall of the
fortification of the prison. We followed this one for a long way.

Memorial Statue

The streets of the larger, village-like fortification of Terezin

Wall of pictures in the stairway of the village Museum

Cemetery/Memorial at the Crematorium in Terezin

Crematorium maintained as a Memorial 

Back at the hotel we rested and cleaned up and then walked over to the Czech restaurant across the street for a traditional dinner of duck, sausage, two kinds of cabbage, and dumplings. It was yummy and filling. When it got dark Marv and I again ventured out, this time walking all the way back to Old Town Square to mingle with the boisterous and energetic crowds of people. 

          Na zdraví !

Czech Good Eatin'!!