Oh it is so good to be back in Bohemia with Kafka and Kundera and Hrabel! I have missed Praha so much, but now I am back and it is COLD but lovely. I have met up with all my old Czech friends and am feeling so lucky to see everything and everyone with new eyes. I have walked across the Charles Bridge, gone to the Jewish Quarter, wandered in Mala Stratna beneath the Prague Castle and climbed Petrin Hill. The cafes smell just as lovely as ever and cappuccinos still warm my soul. I have just been taking it all in, as the snow covers this ancient city to when the sun beams down upon it making the colored buildings look like bright swipes of the brush on blank canvas. It is mesmorizing, and the Czech people! They are so welcoming to my fumbling Czech accent when I attempt to speak it, and they are so humble about their own Enlgish speaking. I feel so encouraged to say my entire limited knowlege of Czech to them!
I am realizing how much different two years has made in my traveling. This time around I am seaking out history and literature everywhere and literally am soaking myself in it. I just was not as interested before, or perhaps was too overwhelmed with schoolwork or social obligations to do more. I picked up a book by Vaclav Havel, the first Czech President after 89, and am so ennamored. The Czech people are heroic and have been through more hardship and oppression than I can ever fathom. Everything from the warm creamy Goulash with thick dumplings to the thousand year old buildings is contradicting the forecast and for that I am so grateful.
Christine loves the city too, though we have had some amazing side-trips as well. We have visited Czesky Krumlov, a small castle town, and Znojmo. Znojomo is a beauitful city right in the vineyards of the Czech Republic. We got to stay in above a cellar in the most adorable room and wander the cellar finidng delicious wine! I love California, but this wine was even better I think. We have also met some amazing people on this trip, some American girls that were kindred spirits as well as some very sweet Colombian and Chilean men who we salsa danced with. We are still waiting for our friend Sarah to arrive with Alexis and then our big last weekend will begin!
So, I will let myself devour the scenery and scribble away in my new journal as I try and digest the feast of beauty and creativity around me in this Bohemian Paradise, for in five days I will be back in Madrid and then on the Camino de Santiago up north for a while.
I will have a velky pivo, big beer, for you all!
Na Shledano!!!
P.S. Obama is in Praha and therefore the American Embassy is CLOSED and we can not get background checks........sweet.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Peninsulas and Rugby Players
Yes, you read correctly, rugby players. We met some of those specific athletes in a pub one night and danced the night away with them which was of course not entirely unpleasant! I was in Cork with Christine and her college friend Sarah who is studying in Grenada and we had a few drinks and decided to attack the adorable town of Cork! We had great fun there for three days and got a feel for the city center and University that was nearly too magical for words. Before Cork we attempted Dublin, which for anyone who wants to go just don´t. Yes, there is Trinity College and the Guiness Factory and all that jazz but seven Euro for a pint? Pain in me arse! We did manage to meet a group of guys out on a stag weekend (Bachelor party) and had some good memories there, one which ended in a very affectionate English lad for me ;-)
After Dublin and Cork we said goodbye to Sarah and Christine and I headed down to the Dingle Peninsula which is located on the Ring of Kerry. There we found ourselves in the outdoors and residing in a very cozy hostel that was nearly empty. Each evening the owner would light a fire and we read our books by the flames. We went on amazing hike that led us to a lake and over far too many barbed wire fences for sheep which, at moments, made me feel as though we were caged in so as to be hunted like The Most Dangerous Game. I am pleased to report that I suffered no injuries from the potruding wire but must admit my pride did suffer slightly when I ate in on a slipper rock while crossing a creek. As the Northern Irish would say, ¨SKUNDERED!¨ I realized that while I enjoy a fun night out and the overall ambiance of a noisy, smoky pub I really find greater joy from being in the vast outdoors and walking on grass and mud rather than cobblestone. So our souls were rejuvinated just in time to head back to Belfast and spend more time there.
As luck would have it Christine and I were taken in by an amazing older couple who own a RANCH outside the city and who insisted on taking us riding.....on the beach.....at sunset. Notice the dramatic pauses, they are intentional. I got to attempt riding English style and let me say, I much prefer the security of the Western saddle and the lovely, secure horn for the OH SHIT moments that often occur when riding such a fickle but loveable animal. I got to shovel horse poop too which to some may seem a punishment, but to those horse lovers out there you know how pleasant it is to even be around the distinctive aroma of them. I must say I would move to Ireland in an instant if I could be on such a secluded, magical ranch as the one we were delighted with. And we even were entertained with tales about the husband´s job, which was touring with Van Morrisson (he does all their sound). I always say that one does not really know a country until they see its more rural areas and frankly, that is where you find the Irish gems. The people are so stereotypical its painful as they stop to ask you how your day is while walking a shaggy canine. Old couples wander around waiting to give you a toothy grin and I for one have been completely enchanted with the whole green island, and have loved learning that there is a very big difference between the North and South, and yet really none at all. But hey, isn´t that always the way???
After Dublin and Cork we said goodbye to Sarah and Christine and I headed down to the Dingle Peninsula which is located on the Ring of Kerry. There we found ourselves in the outdoors and residing in a very cozy hostel that was nearly empty. Each evening the owner would light a fire and we read our books by the flames. We went on amazing hike that led us to a lake and over far too many barbed wire fences for sheep which, at moments, made me feel as though we were caged in so as to be hunted like The Most Dangerous Game. I am pleased to report that I suffered no injuries from the potruding wire but must admit my pride did suffer slightly when I ate in on a slipper rock while crossing a creek. As the Northern Irish would say, ¨SKUNDERED!¨ I realized that while I enjoy a fun night out and the overall ambiance of a noisy, smoky pub I really find greater joy from being in the vast outdoors and walking on grass and mud rather than cobblestone. So our souls were rejuvinated just in time to head back to Belfast and spend more time there.
As luck would have it Christine and I were taken in by an amazing older couple who own a RANCH outside the city and who insisted on taking us riding.....on the beach.....at sunset. Notice the dramatic pauses, they are intentional. I got to attempt riding English style and let me say, I much prefer the security of the Western saddle and the lovely, secure horn for the OH SHIT moments that often occur when riding such a fickle but loveable animal. I got to shovel horse poop too which to some may seem a punishment, but to those horse lovers out there you know how pleasant it is to even be around the distinctive aroma of them. I must say I would move to Ireland in an instant if I could be on such a secluded, magical ranch as the one we were delighted with. And we even were entertained with tales about the husband´s job, which was touring with Van Morrisson (he does all their sound). I always say that one does not really know a country until they see its more rural areas and frankly, that is where you find the Irish gems. The people are so stereotypical its painful as they stop to ask you how your day is while walking a shaggy canine. Old couples wander around waiting to give you a toothy grin and I for one have been completely enchanted with the whole green island, and have loved learning that there is a very big difference between the North and South, and yet really none at all. But hey, isn´t that always the way???
Monday, March 2, 2009
Green Isle to Spanish Sunshine
Hola amigas!
I have not written in a VERY long time, which I think is a good way of gadging my level of interest in where I am? Or, perhaps I was just lazy. I am currently in Madrid, Spain but don´t want to talk about that until I discuss Ireland.
I have been so very lucky to meet some wonderful people in Belfast, Northern Ireland, all of which are within Christine´s lovely community. They graciously took us in, fed us, and drove us all over. We also had Beth and Craig visit, which is when we decided to visit the Giant´s Causeway and northern coast. There are no words for the round stones that decorated the sea, they were mythical stepping stones that can only be found in that sacred spot and then right over the sea in Scotland. They say a giant built this causeway in order to cross over to his Scottish love! We had lovely sunny weather too, something I am realizing is very rare in Ireland!
Christine and I became immersed in her old community and had fun helping out with some projects and going to pubs and youth groups with all her friends.
Belfast is one of the most interesting cities I have ever been to in that it is segregated. Church and State are so intertwined that one forgets where one begins and the other ends. There is a peace wall down the middle that seperates the Protestants from the Catholics, and thus Belfast is torn between two religions. The important thing I learned is that it is not JUST about religion, but is more a question of their very identity. If you are Protestant, you are loyal to the Queen and thus view yourself as British. The Catholics of course consider themselves Irish. Christine and I mostly were around people that are working with the Belfast youth in attempt so bring together Protestant and Catholic kids and stop the rift that has so troubled their small but proud country.
More on Ireland in a bit....I am heading back to the apartment here in Madrid :-)
I have not written in a VERY long time, which I think is a good way of gadging my level of interest in where I am? Or, perhaps I was just lazy. I am currently in Madrid, Spain but don´t want to talk about that until I discuss Ireland.
I have been so very lucky to meet some wonderful people in Belfast, Northern Ireland, all of which are within Christine´s lovely community. They graciously took us in, fed us, and drove us all over. We also had Beth and Craig visit, which is when we decided to visit the Giant´s Causeway and northern coast. There are no words for the round stones that decorated the sea, they were mythical stepping stones that can only be found in that sacred spot and then right over the sea in Scotland. They say a giant built this causeway in order to cross over to his Scottish love! We had lovely sunny weather too, something I am realizing is very rare in Ireland!
Christine and I became immersed in her old community and had fun helping out with some projects and going to pubs and youth groups with all her friends.
Belfast is one of the most interesting cities I have ever been to in that it is segregated. Church and State are so intertwined that one forgets where one begins and the other ends. There is a peace wall down the middle that seperates the Protestants from the Catholics, and thus Belfast is torn between two religions. The important thing I learned is that it is not JUST about religion, but is more a question of their very identity. If you are Protestant, you are loyal to the Queen and thus view yourself as British. The Catholics of course consider themselves Irish. Christine and I mostly were around people that are working with the Belfast youth in attempt so bring together Protestant and Catholic kids and stop the rift that has so troubled their small but proud country.
More on Ireland in a bit....I am heading back to the apartment here in Madrid :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
