Camino Musings

As mentioned in the last post, the city of Budapest is divided by the Danube River; Buda is the hilly portion on the west side and Pest is located on the flats of the east. The city center is located in Pest – that’s where the action is – restaurants, shopping, museums, the government offices.

After a hearty breakfast in the hotel ( scrambled and fried eggs, weird looking “bacon” that looked like chipped ham, funky little wiener sausages, baked beans for all those British tourists, and the usual sliced meat and cheese selection, mini- croissants, yogurt, and watermelon), we met our local guide Monika in the hotel lobby. We headed out, following her red polka dot umbrella. She pointed out the Hungarian version of the Statue of Liberty, a Communist statue celebrating the defeat of the Germans in WW2, high up on the hill in the Buda section across the river. Unlike most of the other statues erected in the Communist era which were taken down and relocated out of town (in Monument Park), this particular statue remains but the wording on it slightly altered to focus more on Hungary and less on the Communists. She also explained the early history of the country with the Magyars from Central Asia settling in the area in the year 896 and the eventual conversion of the country to Christianity in 1000 A.D. with the deal made between King István (Steven) and the pope. (So much for the separation of Church and State!!!😉) One of the pope’s archbishops was diverted from his pilgrimage to Jerusalem to assist Istvan. When Istvan died, Archbishop Gellart met an untimely end as he was placed in a barrel, long nails driven in, and the barrel rolled down the tall hill of Buda. Ouch!!!! Another important date is October 23, 1956, the date Hungarian students staged an uprising against the Communist regime. They marched to City Park, tore down the Stalin statue, and the following day Soviet troops descended upon the city. In the area near the Parliament, Hungarian and Soviet soldiers opened fire, killing at least 72 and injuring hundred. Bullet hole can still be seen on the second and third floor levels of buildings as the soldiers also targeted the innocent inhabitants of the buildings. The uprising lasted for another week and 2500 Hungarians were killed, 20,000 injured. It was not until the Velvet Revolution in 1989 that Hungary, along with the other countries behind the Iron Curtain, became independent from Russian control.

St. Istvan’s Cathedral, the second largest church in Hungary. It was built to celebrate the city’s survival after a flood with 50 types of marble, completed in 1868, and the dome promptly collapsed, and the architect died one week prior. It was eventually completed in 1906. The altar features St. Istvan, rather than Jesus. A brief break for coffee ( or for some of us some artfully created gelato cones) before proceeding to one of the main squares where a controversial monument to the Hungarians who died in WW2 was described. The monument to lives lost depicts an eagle (representing Germany) trying to suppress an angel (representing a Catholic Hungary), entirely ignoring the loss of Jewish, Roma, and other individuals. This elicited an angry response by the local population, with an unofficial remembrance consisting of notes, mementos and other symbols that commemorate lives list in the Holocaust.Because Hungary aligned itself with Germany in WW2, its citizens did not suffer the fate of the Poles and Czechs, at least until March 1944. Certainly there was no love for the Germans and in fact the Nazi soldiers used Hungarian military as human shields. Up until then, General Horte, the Hungarian overseer of the Nazis, was able to shield Hungarians, especially Budapest Jews, from the extermination camps. As such, there was no ghetto in Budapest. This uneasy marriage ended when the “cordial” arrangement between the General and Hitler ended. The result: Jews lined up along the banks of the Danube in their stocking feet, shot and killed. A monument of 23 pairs of shoes lined up along the bank memorializes this tragedy. After March 1944, Hungarians- Jews, gays, Roma, political enemies, were sent to join the millions of Poles, Czechs, French, Dutch, and other “undesirables” in the extermination camps.

Budapest has the world’s third oldest subway (New York and London are the first two). Line 1 is quite shallow, as horse drawn carriages were the vehicles used when the subway opened. Descending about 20 steps, you are in a well-lit ornate tunnel with hard wood ticket booths and immaculate tile-lined walls. We traveled 8 stops in a short amount of time to the City Park, location of the public baths (Hungary sits on a geothermal basin), a zoo, a circus, and a lake. We peeked into the Széchenyi public baths – the site of an outdoor pool, numerous heated pools, and saunas, and Monika described the procedure if we wanted to take advantage of this typical Hungarian experience. Other sites included the Parliament a discussion of the art nouveau architecture and the large screen TVs scattered throughout the city showing the World Cup.Of course, we also learned where to sample amazing pastries (at Szamos)and where to get great and authentic Hungarian strudel made with phyllo pastry.Back on the metro, we ended at the Great Market Hall, one of the largest in Europe, with its fruit and vegetable stands, placed to buy all versions of paprika, and souvenir stands with local goods such as embroidered table cloths in addition to the usual schlocky stuff.

The afternoon was free to do whatever one chose. We just walked all over the town center and strolled along the Danube. As we were getting pretty tired of pork, cabbage, potatoes and goulash, dinner was at La Coppola, a Sicilian trattoria. Seafood risotto and pasta alla Norma (with eggplant) were welcome alternatives to the past week’s Slavic cuisine.

The evening activity was a boat cruise on the Danube. The hour long journey took us past many of the buildings we saw earlier in the day, now lit up against the evening sky, imparting an aura of enchantment. A quick stroll back to the hotel ended this busy day in Pest. We get to sleep in as we congregate at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s longtime editorial cartoonist just lost his job.
— Read on mobile.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/opinion/cartoonist-rob-rogers-trump-fired.html

Haven’t we learned the lessons from recent history? Rob Rogers was the editorial cartoonist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for over two decades. He was just fired by the paper’s new owner (a politically conservative Trump supporter) because he didn’t like the way the cartoons criticized Trump. This is an affront to our first amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. If you know anything about recent history, this is reminiscent of the tactics used by Hitler in the early 1930s- suppression of the press. As I am seeing the sequelae of the tragedy of fascism here in Eastern Europe, this is frightening.

Two choices: sleep in (after yesterday’s long day) or be ready by 9 a.m. for transport to Eger for some independent sight seeing. We chose the latter, since we are in Hungary probably for the first and only time, and we can relax later on in this tour.

We were dropped off at the Minaret and given directions to the main square (where we will meet the rest of the group at 11:45 a.m.) and an ATM machine where we can get a mix of bank notes instead of just 20,000 Florint bills. After withdrawing 75K (sounds impressive, no?), we headed to the Market. I love local markets- the selection of local produce, meats and cheeses makes this foodie envious of what is commonly found in Europe but so infrequently encountered on most US cities. Gooseberries and currants. fruits not commonly found in American farm markets, were being sold by elderly women who could have been living in the early 20th century.

Pickled veggies!

Cured meats!

We purchased apricots and a couple of peaches and then proceeded to explore this charming city center. We first visited the Church of the Cicercian order of monks and then proceeded to the Cathedral. As this was the last day of school in Hungary, there were groups of joyful students In the streets. A graduation ceremony was about to occur in the Cathedral as we witnessed a procession of high school students entering the church. The girls were all attired in a sailor-type blouse with black skirts (some quite short!) or pants and the boys dressed in dark suits, a religious lapel pin and a variety of neckties. bow ties. The cathedral’s exterior was reminiscent of a Greek temple, with columns at the front, and the interior was of a dark Baroque style.

We then proceeded to the Marzipan Museum – a variety of different things (Russian nesting dolls, Venetian masks. map of the EU, art reproductions like Van Gogh’s sunflowers painting constructed of sugar, egg whites and tempera paint. The intricacy of the handiwork was impressive. We strolled back to the main square, the site of the statue of Istvan Dobos, and enjoyed a cappuccino while watching a group of costumed high school students perform the Macarena.

Katka and the rest of our group joined us at 11:45 a.m. and we continued to a local elementary school where a small group of third graders impressed us with their knowledge of English.They sang songs (“Head, shoulders,knees and toes” and their version of the ABC song) and were eager to show off their knowledge of the English words for colors and fruits. Their teacher answered some questions about the educational system (teachers aren’t paid very well here either) and then several 7th graders joined us for some informal conversation in English. Their knowledge of our language is quite impressive. All elementary students start studying a second language ( usually English, but also German or French) in the third grade. They pick up another foreign language in high school. In fact, proficiency in a foreign language is required for a university degree.

When was the last time you had lunch in a school cafeteria? Unlike the USA, Hungarian students are provided with a hearty lunch (not microwaved and not fast food) – a stew, rice, juice and fresh fruit ( a peach). We queued up for a similar repast- chicken breast, rice, mixed veggies, a tomato type soup ( resembled Campbell’s), chocolate cake and espresso. No fresh fruit – but hey we’re pampered Americans!

After lunch, we boarded the bus for our visit to the Koharic wine cellar in Egerszalok. We were greeted by the owners, Istvan (Istvan is a common name in Hungary as St. Steven is the patron saint of Hungary) and Aggi, with a shot of Palinka, a grappa-like liqueur that is good for digestion. Seated at two long tables, we sampled (with generous pours) two white wines (Leanyka and Je t’aime) and three reds (Turan, Madame Menoire and Cabernet Sauvignon). There was musical accompaniment, Tony, a retired violinist from a very famous Gypsy band.

He treated us to familiar tunes (Moon River, theme to The Godfather, If I Were a Rich Man), as well as more traditional Hungarian favorites. After a couple of tastings, the strains of “If I Were A Rich Man” were an enticing invitation to attempt dancing the hora! We were taught a traditional Hungarian circle dance ( “two steps to the right, two steps to the left”), and Tony even played “Country Roads” for this group of John Denver fans. After the wine tasting, we were invited for a brief tour of the wine cellars. They are massive, a veritable maze of tunnels contains wine in barrels and stacks of cobweb covered bottles.

A little inebriated, we all stumbled back to the bus for our two-hour trip to Budapest. The road traverses fields of wheat and sunflowers. We soon entered the four-lane highway and unfortunately encountered a traffic jam.

Budapest, a city of two million, is referred to as the “Paris of Eastern Europe” and , with its broad boulevards and architecture reminiscent of Haussmann’s Napoleonic era redesign of Paris truly does resemble the “City of Lights”. We are staying at the Hotel Erzsebet, conveniently located in Pest ( the city is divided into two parts, Buda and Pest, by the Danube River). We are just steps away from one of the main boulevards and the Great Market Hall, the city’s largest and most expansive market that not only sells fruits and vegetables but also embroidered goods and the famous Hungarian paprika.

Dinner was at Gerloczy Café- in the style of a Parisian cafe/ bistro. We actually had a veggie extravaganza for dinner- salad with goat cheese as a starter and either salmon with a Kalamata olive topping and roasted eggplant, pepper, zucchini and onions or roast pork with potatoes Anna (pommes Anna) or vegetarian quiche and chocolate mousse for dessert. We had musical entertainment with a piano player performing throughout the meal. We all joined in a verse of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” near the end of the evening. A short walk brought us back to the hotel where we will rest up for our tour of Pest tomorrow morning.

Breakfast started early- 6:30 a.m. – because we have a long day with an extended bus ride. We will be in three countries in these fourteen hours – Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. The Hotel Francuski had its usual buffet of Polish delicacies – I also noticed pickles, radishes, and creamed herring in addition to the smoked sausages, ham, cheeses, hard boiled eggs, cucumber slices topped with assorted salad spreads, assortment of breads, croissants, a chocolate covered donut, fresh and canned fruits (including watermelon and fresh cherries), a not very sweet cake with cherries, a bundt style cake and LARD!

We rolled our luggage several blocks to meet our bus and we were off well before 7:30 a.m. On the way to our visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau, Katka reminded us of the tragic history surrounding these sites of mass extermination of 1.1 million individuals, mostly Jews but also Poles, Czechs, Roma ( “gypsies”), Jehovah’s witnessed, gays, political prisoners, Soviet POWs, as well as citizens from France. Italy, Belgium , Netherlands and other Slavic countries.

(Auschwitz )

(Entry gate to Birkenau – was seen in movie Schindler’s List)

It is difficult, nay almost impossible, to understand the cruelty and inhumanity of the Nazis – with mass killing of innocents in their quest to create a pure Aryan race and eliminate “undesirables”, not only based on religion but on sexual preference, disabilities, political beliefs, and ethnic status.

It is frightening to see the parallels between Nazi Germany and what is happening in the USA as well as in many countries in Europe – the rise of “nationalism”, the fear of immigrants, the rise in hate crimes against religious sects, the intolerance and ignorance of other points of view, the use of propaganda under the guise of news (Fox News, Breitbart) to mislead an uneducated/ undereducated/ apathetic and politically unaware population, the suppression of the free press, the instillation of fear of a “deep State”. It was exactly these things – fear, intolerance, and lies- that were used as tools by the Nazis to overtake the German government in the early 1930s. Even though Hitler was supported by only about 30% of the Germans, he and his minions were successful in hanging the course of world history in such a tragic way, with the needless loss of so many millions of people. It was the apathy of the German majority, and perhaps also fear of retribution that led to the rise of Fascism. Walking through the Schindler Factory yesterday and visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau today, it is so evident that the fate of our democracy is at such a crucial point. The actions and words of Trump and his followers are frighteningly similar to those of Hitler, Mussolini and the other far right authoritarian political leaders. Holocaust deniers should be forced to visit a concentration camp and walk in the steps of those doomed to the gas chambers. Our society is losing the virtues of empathy and civility. It is so important to understand history so the mistakes of past decades are not repeated.

It was a sobering morning, and it was fitting that the day was overcast with threatening skies. Back on the bus, Katka gave us time to try to assimilate what we had experienced.

As we proceeded on to Slovakia, she brought out a couple of bottles of a Polish vodka, Zubrowka (bison grass) that has a blade of grass in the bottle. One had a choice of apple juice as a mixer, but straight up one could get the sense of a grassy essence. A bag lunch from a deli (Chimera) from Krakow was distributed – two sandwiches, bag of fresh veggies ( celery, pepper, tomato) an apple, and a piece of rhubarb crumble/crisp- was enjoyed on board the bus. We passed through rural Poland- rolling fields of wheat and potatoes, small towns, homes scattered throughout the countryside with their red tile roofs or red metal roofs on the newer homes. The houses have three stories, one for each generation, as multigenerational homes are common. The bus drove through Wadowice, the home town of Karol Woytyla, the future pope. A traffic accident in the mountainous area of southern Poland delayed us for about an hour, and construction delays were frequent, but people read or snoozed or played a card game or worked on a blog😉. It has started to rain – perfect for a travel day. There hasn’t been much sun on the past four days, with rain on and off or scattered thunderstorms earlier in the week.

As we leave Poland, we are passing through ski resorts in the Tatra Mountains, with peaks of 10 000 feet. These resorts are quite popular with residents of Kraków as it only takes 1- 1/2 hours by public transportation. Buses go from the villages to the ski slopes. Average slope ticket costs $80 for a week. We bypassed Zakopane, the town frequented by Pope John Paul II before he became the vicar of the Catholic Church. He was quite the avid skier and hiker.

Nowy Targa was our last stop in Poland – bathroom break and an opportunity to spend our Polish zlotys (coins). The Tatra Mountains are named after the Tartars who invaded this area in the 8th and 9th centuries from the Gobi desert/Turkey. Wild mushroom harvesting is quite popular in these forests. The two lane road now becomes quite tortuous with switchbacks as we cross the mountains into Slovakia.

The villages appear much less prosperous as we descend into the valley. We passed by a Roma community near the village of Poprad. The Roma (gypsies) make up about 10% of the Slovakian population. They live in ramshackle settlements, have large families and discourage education for their children as they fear that it will encourage their offspring to abandon the community. As we proceed we are now constantly climbing up a mountain road on our route to Hungary. With a truck hauling logs ahead of us, our driver deftly maneuvers the bus down the narrow and windy road.

The last rest stop of the day was in Texas……errr, I mean Slovakia, with the ambience of the Old West. As we bellied up to the bar, Katka treated us to a drink – beer, wine or maybe even Kofola! It looks like Guinness and is even found on tap. A group of children were playing soccer outside with a very talented dog that was quite adept at “heading” the ball. Back on the bus after our 30 minute break, the road wound down the mountain with amazing vistas.

We finally arrived around 9 p.m. in Eger, a town of 50,000, about two hours from Budapest. This is a wine producing area with many wine cellars. We are staying at the Codman Hotel, a little outside of town. After bringing our luggage up to the room, we went to dinner at a restaurant/wine cellar across the street- goulash (a soup with meat and potatoes), stuffed cabbage rolls, a spaetzle type pasta with a meat sauce and sour cream, pickled veggies, strudel, and a blintz-like crepe. Wine was included. We all sat at one table. Much laughter accompanied this hearty traditional Hungarian meal. What a treat after this long and emotional day!

An overcast cool morning with light, but constant, precipitation greeted us as we stepped out of the hotel following a unique (at least from the American perspective) Polish breakfast – an assortment of savory and pickled foods (pickled herring, smoked salmon, cucumber slices topped with an egg salad or a salmon spread, an assortment of smoked sausages, and lard) in addition to the usual breads, rolls, fruit, and cereal. After filling up on several of these delicacies ( but not the lard), we weren’t aware that we could have ordered eggs, omelets, or pancakes in addition!

We met our guide Ania in the hotel lobby and we then proceeded to the main square where she pointed out the Old Cloth Market, where fabrics were sold beginning in the 13th and 14th centuries (now filled with vendors selling locally produced souvenirs such as amber jewelry, wooden gifts, embroidered clothing, and little tshotskes). The legend of the trumpeter in the clock tower of St. Mary’s Church was explained ( every hour, 24/7, at the top of the hour, for the past 600 years a trumpet is played to warn the townspeople of impending attack by the Mongols). Crowds of school children of all ages have descended on the city for their end of year field trips, so we were trying to get to the Wawel Cathedral before an enormous line formed. On the way, we walked through one of the oldest universities in Europe- the Jagellonian University founded in 1364. We were also told of the professors arrested by the Nazis in November 1939 because the continued to hold classes and exams without the permission of the Nazi occupiers.

We walked through part of the Planty Park, a greenway surround the old town in the place of the old city wall. The hike up the hill to the Wawel Cathedral and Castle grounds in the rain was a bit slick and the aforementioned crowds of students were joined by the hordes of tourists from all over the world. We were lucky that the line for the cathedral was short. This is the home church for the bishop of Kraków and was the church of Karol Woytyla – later to be Pope (and now Saint) John Paul II. Although he is buried in the Vatican, there were many other important Poles entombed there- kings and queens as well as important clergy. The church exhibits many styles, including baroque and Romanesque. We strolled the grounds and enjoyed the view of the Vistula River. Our next destination was St.Mary’s Church in the Old Town Square. It has the largest altar carved out of wood ( predominantly linden wood) and instead of the usual triptych seen in Renaissance churches, this altar has 5 panels.

Our official tour ended and for our free afternoon, we walked past the Jewish ghetto (Kacmiersze) to visit the Schindler Factory Museum. It was a 40 minute stroll outside of the tourist area. We treated ourselves to some delicious ice cream (lody) at a small shop that makes their own ( it was mentioned in the Rick Steves guide) located on the Main Street heading towards the museum.

The Schindler museum focuses on the Nazi occupation of Krakow starting on September 1, 1939. Using multimedia in addition to displays of artifacts it was a chilling representation of war and the oppression and attempted extermination of innocent people. The museum is reminiscent of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, although much smaller and more limited in scope. There is only a minor mention of Oskar Schindler’s successful attempt to save the lives of many Jews.

We then proceeded to the Kacmiersce, the Old Jewish Ghetto, that now has a hipster/ trendy ambience. There are many restaurants, bistros, bars and a few shops as well as a food truck area. The choice includes Kosher, traditional Polish, an Irish pub and Argentinian food. We ate at Starka, a traditional Polish restaurant. We had pierogies ( filled with potatoes, with fried onions and sour cream), beet soup, duck breast with red cabbage, stuffed cabbage and apple cake – of course all beautifully presented. Of course there was beer and plum flavored vodka as a finisher.

The stroll back was lovely – the rain had stopped hours ago and the evening was cool. The old town was filled with people enjoying meals and drinks in outdoor cafes. We have an early morning wake up as we leave to see Auschwitz and head through Slovakia to Eger, Hungary.

I’m a bit sleep- deprived due to a combination of sore legs ( we walked 10 miles yesterday) and thunderstorms throughout the night. The espresso after dinner last night didn’t help either. We had an early breakfast (I’m going to miss the treacherous spiral staircase to the breakfast room) and were packed and ready to leave the hotel at 8 a.m. Since we were in the Old Quarter with its narrow 12th century streets, this necessitated a 15 minute walk ( in a light rain) to our bus, rolling our suitcases over the wet and slippery cobblestones to the place where large busses can wait. The bus driver, Peter, is from Slovenia and he spent yesterday driving to Prague from his home in Ljublana. The bus is quite spacious as our group had 26 and there are 50 seats, and we can spread out over two seats. There are drinks available for 1 Euro – water, Coke, and beer (a Slovenian brand)!

Leaving Prague, we were stuck for a while in rush hour traffic. The main highway goes through the city, as there were so few cars in the Communist era when it was built and there was no need for a bypass highway. Katka told us one could leave Berlin and the road ends right in front of St.Wenceslas Square. The outskirts of the city are the headquarters of many international companies – such as Hewlett-Packard, KPMG, IBM. We are headed initially to Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, before our lunch stop in Stramberk.

The very bumpy highway (lots of road reconstruction to improve Communist era built roads) passes through rolling green fields and stands of mixed evergreen and deciduous trees. Our first rest stop was at a McDonald’s, of all places. Bathrooms are free there, unlike at most rest stops or cafes where one needs a 10 Czech crown coin (about 50 cents). Most Czechs can’t afford to eat at McDs as a meal tends to cost about 200 Czech crowns (about $10) whereas a meal in a local restaurant offers meal specials for half the price! The McDonald café has fancy desserts displayed in glass cases in addition to espresso, lattes, and cappuccinos.

Katka gave us a taste of Communist era soft drink – Kofola – with a citrus and licorice essence and very little sugar, that was the substitute for Coca-Cola. She then spoke of life under Communist rule – the monotony of a State-dictated job, the fear that ones neighbor was a police informant, the inability to purchase Western goods, like Levi 501 jeans! She recounted tales of her father smuggling leather jacket from Poland, paying off the border agent with cigarettes.

For the lunch break, we stopped in the small village of Stramberk, in the Carpathian Mountains. It is a quaint spot with several small restaurants and two tiny hotels surrounding a small park.

The local specialty is a type of gingerbread shaped into a cone called “usci” or ears – it refers to the ears cut off by the Mongols who terrorized this area over a thousand years ago. These “cones” are usually filled with fruit and cream. Since we are leaving the Czech Republic, any leftover Czech crowns would be of no use so we were encouraged to at least get rid of our coins.

We had lunch in the local brewery- the owner gave us some of the homemade beer brandy as an aperitif. It tasted a bit like grappa. The usual stuff was on the menu – goulash, roasted pork, pork knuckle, bread dumplings. Tony had a garlic soup and sauerkraut with his roasted pork ribs. I had salad (iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes with mustard vinaigrette topped by a savory spiced and grilled chicken breast. We hiked up to the top of the town to see the tower and the amazing views. As our group reconnected Katka had us toast farewell to the Czech Republic with Slivovice, the traditional plum brandy. Back on the bus, Katka informed us about the region, part of the Sudetenland (“land of the wild boars”) – the Nazis evicted the Czechs from their homes in the lands bordering Germany and Austria under the pretense that the Czechs were mistreating the Germans living there. Rather they desired the rich natural resources, coal and steel mills to strengthen their military prowess. In the little hamlet we just visited, 70% of the inhabitants had two weeks to evacuate, most moving to Prague with the meager possessions they could transport with them. After the war, the Germans were evicted and sent back to East Germany.

We passed into Poland, the birthplace of my father, without a notice – no more border checks. The only difference I can see are road signs in Polish and the red and white roadside markers. The skies have cleared and we are seeing the first sunshine of the day.

We had a rest stop at a KFC of all places! They are everywhere in Prague and apparently in Poland, too. The chicken tastes much better than in the USA according to one of our group.

We arrived in Kraków around 6:45 pm. The Hotel Francuski is at the edge of the old town. It is a grand old style building, but it only has “natural” AC, i.e. open the windows! The old cloth market at the center of the square is now a collection of vendors selling handicrafts.

St.Mary’s Church is known for being the parish of Karol Wotyla (otherwise known as John Paul II) and every hour on the hour a trumpeter plays a song out of the four sides of one of the towers.

The Square is lined by cafes and is bustling with strolling tourists and buskers.

We enjoyed a traditional Polish meal- potato leek soup, pierogies, trout, cheesecake, along with a taste of cherry vodka at a restaurant on the Square- Wesele- a popular place for wedding celebrations. A wonderful end to a long day!

We started our day with a tram ride across the Vltava River and up the hill to the Castle Quarter where we met our local guide, Tereza, at the largest castle complex in Europe. It contains the country’s largest church, St. Vitus, the royal palace, several museums and the St. George Basilica, as well as formal gardens.

A diminutive red-head, Tereza was informative with a typically Czech caustic sense of humor. She efficiently led our group through the stifling crowds in the most visited site in Prague. We had to maneuver around tour groups from all over the globe, especially from Asian countries.

We first visited St.Vitus, a gothic structure built over six centuries. Half the cathedral was built in the 14th century whereas the back half was completed in the 1920s. It is filled with glorious stained glass windows and contains the tombs of Czech rulers (for a long time the Catholic Hapsburgs) as well as the remains of Saints Vitus, John of Nepomuk and Wenceslas.

Above is St. John’s tomb, over one ton of silver. The confessor to the queen, he was killed in the 11th century because he would not reveal to the king if she had a lover. Notice the image of a tongue on the shield to which the angel is pointing. The saint’s relic of a tongue ( how ironic for the priest who would not talk) was found to actually be brain tissue upon further research by anthropologists.

Above is the tomb of King Wenceslas, famous in Britain and the United States because of the Christmas carol, he lived in the early 10th century and brought Christianity to the region. He is the patron saint of the Czech Republic, the most unreligious country in the world (20% Catholic, 80% atheist/agnostic)!

St. Vitus is a popular site for wedding photos for Asians who come to Prague to be married. We saw three couples on photo shoots in the brief span of one hour.

We then entered the old Royal Palace with its oversized Vladislav Hall, the site of jousting competitions, markets, and inaugurations of Czech presidents. In 1618, Czech Protestants threw two Catholic governors out of a window (called defenestration). They landed in a pile of horse manure, survived, and this event ignited the Thirty Years War.

After a brief bathroom and refreshment break, we continued to the formal gardens for the panoramic view of Prague.

Our official touring for the day was over. We continued up the hill with three of our tour mates (Chris and Angela, Frank) to a monastery that has a brewery (surprise!) as it was approaching lunchtime. We caught the changing of the guard en route.

Lunch was the usual – meat, cheese and beer. I couldn’t find anything with chlorophyll or fiber on the menu. I had a potato soup (in a bread bowl that I did not eat), Tony had the Czech version of goulash, a beefy stew with bread dumplings, and we shared a cheese plate.

(Typical bread dumplings)

We had a fun time talking with our new friends. Chris is an electrical engineer from Illinois who married an Italian (Angela). He entertained us with stories of his gaffes with the Italian language and culture. Frank is the photographer of the group.

We did not visit the monastery library and the church was locked. We then walked down the hill eventually reaching the Charles Bridge. On our way, we passed a vineyard just below the monastery.

Back at the hotel after almost 6 miles of walking for the day, it was time for a little rest before an evening stroll and dinner.

We headed out to Wenceslas Square, a pedestrian avenue that was the site of the 1968 rebellion against the communist regime. Three hundred thousand people gathered to protest for the right to own a small business, have freedom to travel, have freedom of the press. The result was an invasion of troops from Russia, Hungary, and Bulgaria and an increased Soviet presence until 1989. With the collapse of the USSR, Czechoslovakia finally became a free nation. Now it is a gathering place for shoppers, partiers, and tourists as it is lined by shops, bars and restaurants. I finally was able to photograph the statue of St. Wenceslas as my efforts were thwarted the past two days because of rain.

We then strolled the streets of the old town and dined outside. We finally found a salad!

Then we took our last stroll over the Charles Bridge. We leave early tomorrow morning for Kraków, Poland.

We were up at 6 and got to breakfast at 7:30. The hotel’s breakfast room is actually across the street in an Italian restaurant (Vabene), down a long spiral staircase into the bowels of a gothic cellar from the 13th century. It was the usual European hotel breakfast- yogurt, bread, sliced cheese and meats, fruit, jam, coffee, juice, with the addition of scrambled eggs and sausages.

After breakfast, we met our private guide, Pavla, for a private tour of the Jewish Quarter. Jews first came to Prague in the 10th century and they coexisted with Christmas until the 12th century, when the pope declared that Jews must live separately. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Prague had one of the biggest ghettos in Europe. In 1881, Emperor Josef I eased restrictions on Jews and in 1848 the walls of the ghetto (called Josefov in honor of the emperor) were torn down.Unlike in the rest of Europe, Jews were not forced to live separately in a ghetto and could assimilate. In 1897, the wooden buildings of the neighborhood were razed because they were in such poor shape. They were replaced by Art Nouveau buildings. Before the Nazi takeover the Jewish Quarter was thriving. Of the 55,000 living in Prague at that tome, only 10,000 survived the Holocaust. But because Prague was selected by the Nazis to be the site of a memorial to an “extinct population”, all the artifacts were retained and the synagogues were not demolished as in the rest of Europe. We visited the Maisel Synagogue, now the site of a Museum, the Pinkas Synagogue, now a memorial with the handwritten names of the more than 77,000 Czech Jews who perished in the concentration camps, the Old Jewish Cemetery from 1439, the Old New Synagogue which is the oldest synagogue still in use in Europe, and the Spanish Synagogue with its Moorish design.

(Jewish Cemetery above)

After the tour, we had a light lunch (beer, of course, and sausages and pretzel with pickled cheese), before resting up before meeting up with our Rick Steves tour group later that afternoon.

Our group has 26, mostly couples, two solo men and one solo woman travelers, a 3-person family, and two women traveling together- age range 19 to probably mid-70s with most in the 50s – 60s age. Our guide, Katerina Svobodova, has been leading RS tours since 2005. A native Czech, she and her husband own a travel agency specializing in tours of Prague and the Czech countryside. She is very personable and has already imparted quite a bit of information about the life in a Communist bloc country. After introductions, we started out on a walking tour of the Old, New and Jewish parts of the city – just as the threatening clouds broke open with torrents of rain ( deja vu of a yesterday). We ducked into a closed Metro station, under awnings, and into shopping galleries to avoid getting totally drenched. We probably walked about two miles before the rain finally stopped and the sun appeared. Then we walked over the pedestrian-only Charles Bridge over the Vlitava River to see the John Lennon wall (covered in graffiti/messages) that was the unsanctioned (by the government) people’s response to his death, honoring his vision of world peace, and to our final destination, Konirna Restaurant, for a typical Czech wedding party dinner- ham with pickled veggies, beef ( sort of like a pot roast) with bread dumplings and a puréed brown gravy, and instead of a wedding cake raspberry sorbet. Nothing green in the meal except for a mint leaf decorating the sorbet! Veggies and especially salads are not part of traditional Czech cuisine. Of course, we had beer again! After dinner, we were treated to an impromptu concert by 2 of the 4 members of the Prague Castle orchestra – the flautist and accordion player ( the same guys in the Rick Steves Prague CD video).

Then a stroll back to the hotel in the now pleasantly cool and dry evening! Tomorrow we have an early start to see the Prague Castle so it’s off to bed!

Well, I guess the odds of a cancelled flight two days in a row would be pretty rare but I started to worry when the flight departure was delayed 30 minutes. That’s how yesterday’s cancellation started. Being paranoid we arrived at the airport super early and got to enjoy the ambience of Terminal 2F for three hours on our second day. When we arrived, our prearranged car transfer to the hotel was waiting and we were quickly whisked into the center of the Old Town through narrow cobblestone streets. Our room at the Hotel Metamorphis is huge, appearing even more so because last night’s accommodations were the size of a shoebox with the bathroom door hitting the toilet. We actually have a triple, and we’re using the twin bed to hold our luggage. The room is in an annex overlooking a quiet back street, which is great because Prague is a”hopping town” that apparently is a prime destination for stag parties of young drunk males from all over Europe, especially Great Britain.

We quickly dumped off our stuff and rushed over to Wenceslas Square to meet up with our beer tour group. About half way there, the threatening skies opened up and sheets of rain fell. We ducked into a bookstore that thankfully sold umbrellas. We are now the proud owners of an expensive flimsy Prague souvenir “umbrella”, but it offered at least some basic protection from the waves of torrential precipitation that continued for the next five hours. Our group of ten was led by Pietr, a charming young computer programmer who works for the tour purveyor Urban Adventures. Traveling by subway and tram, we visited four pubs/ breweries outside the tourist areas. At each site, we had our choice of local beers (half liter!) and a selection of traditional Czech “tapas” (obviously this is not a Czech word- too many vowels!). Most of these little culinary delights were meat-based as the Czech diet is predominantly carnivorous. We had lamb sausage, a head cheese-type charcuterie, picked cabbage, a cheese spread, and lots of onions (Czechs apparently love raw onion). We also feasted on roast duck with cabbage and potatoes at the Basta pub – best roast duck in Prague.All the pubs visited were outside the tourist area and were frequented by the locals. We spent over five hours traveling between the pubs, drinking beer, eating meat, and even venturing into a little political discussion.

Honestly, by the second beer I was pretty much done. But I did at least taste four different brews ( I opted out of trying a fifth beer.)

We also tried a traditional dessert, a pancake-like dessert with sour cream and plum jam.

At that point we were 5 and 1/2 hours in, and ready to pack it in! The rain finally stopped and we walked back to our hotel, although I must admit we had a little trouble finding it. Tomorrow morning we have a private tour of the Jewish Quarter and then meet up with our Rick Steves tour.

The flight to Paris was uneventful. We left on time, arrived on schedule, no line in Security or Passport Control, arrived at the departure gate for our flight to Prague with loads of time to spare. The terminal was packed with travelers and the humidity was oppressive on this dreary foggy day. There was ample opportunity for a snooze.

As the clock ticked towards our scheduled 1 p.m. departure, we were anxious to get to the Hotel Metamorphis, take a shower, put on some clean clothes and explore Prague. Something seemed a little fishy when it was 12:45 and boarding had not commenced. Oh, a half hour delay for a “verification on the aircraft”……which stretched to 90 minutes, two hours, and – you guessed it- le vol annule’. So we high-tailed it to the customer service desk where we were directed to exit the terminal and re-enter in the departures terminal, where there was absolutely NO ONE at the Air France desks. Post haste about 150 disgruntled and frustrated would be passengers showed up. Eventually three Air France customer service people appeared, and after about 15 minutes of talking amongst themselves (probably clueless on how to handle re-booking all those unhappy souls), they stationed themselves at the Sky Priority desks, ready to handle the dozen or so frequent flyers while totally ignoring the huddled masses snaking along behind the ropes. After another 15 minutes, one more Air France representative showed up. We were lucky to be near the head of the line, so we were booked on the next available flight….TOMORROW! So we are spending the night in the Ibis Styles Hotel, courtesy of Air France. It’s sort of like a Holiday Inn Express with a tiny bathroom, very firm beds, and no bidet! Hey, aren’t we in France?

We briefly entertained the idea of taking a taxi into Paris, but we are pooped after 18 hours in transit. So we will be dining at the exclusive hotel restaurant tonight. Of course breakfast is included and Air France gave us lunch vouchers.

So, hopefully tomorrow’s 1 p.m. flight does not meet the same fate as today’s (I was assured by the Air France guy that this never happens🤯).

We are missing a private city tour tomorrow morning. Hopefully we make it to Prague for the 5 pm beer tour.🍺