Frank Trnka's Czech Adventure

Organization and Contents of the Blog

2009-11-20T17:48:00.000-08:00

The blog has been reorganized so that the daily posts written during the trip are at the beginning in chronological order, followed by:

detailed information on South Bohemia,
including the visits to ancestral villages;
additional photos of Prague;
additional photos from the outings in August
while at Dobruška;
and finally the background information on family history.

The links below will take you directly to those pages, which are also accessible through the links on the left side of each blog page. Within the daily posts are links to any sections with additional photos or information about that location.

The Daily Posts Written While I Was Traveling, with a few pictures:

Prague and South Bohemia:

July 27, 2009 - Spelled right!
July 27, 2009 - Swimming in Languages
July 27, 2009 - Bagpipes and a family recipe?
July 28, 2009 - OLD pipe organ!!!
July 29, 2009 - Distant cousin confirmed
and "Strakonice Dudak"
July 31, 2009 - Under the South Bohemian Sun

Dobruška:

Week One:
August 1, 2009 - Festival Times
August 2, 2009 - To Be or Not To Be; Concert on the Square
August 3, 2009 - Rhythmic Counting in Czech
August 4, 2009 - Fruits, Vegetables, Colors and Folksongs
August 5, 2009 - Grandmother's Valley
August 6, 2009 - Bridge of the Generations?
August 7, 2009 - Czech TV stars and a weekend!

Week Two:
August 8, 2009 - Contrasts: Foam Party & Renaissance Castle
August 9, 2009 - Olympics and Castle performance
August 10, 2009 - Link to Czech TV appearance
August 10, 2009 - Tongue Twisters, Street Dancing
& an old movie
August 11, 2009 - Grammar Marathon
August 12, 2009 - Prague: Senate and shopping
August 13, 2009 - Polka, Mazurka, Song and Dance
August 14, 2009 - Night Language Games and Outdoor Disco

Week Three:
August 15, 2009 - Bunkers in the mountains
August 16, 2009 - Podbřezi: Brass Band and
Old Jewish Cemetery
August 17, 2009 - Czech Political System and
Dance Competition
August 18, 2009 - Military maps and fresh strawberries
August 19, 2009 - International Folklore Festival
August 20, 2009 - Firefighter Fantasy
August 21, 2009 - E-learning and Firefighters' Party

Week Four:
August 22, 2009 - Bethlehem Museum and Hradec Králové
August 23, 2009 - Upcoming performances and Opočno Castle
August 24, 2009 - Primator Brewery
August 25, 2009 - "Language Independence" Day
as well as North & South American "Evening of Nations"
August 26, 2009 - Final Classes, Final Party
August 27, 2009 - Last day events
August 28, 2009 - Final afternoon in Prague
August 29, 2009 - Back in Minneapolis

South Bohemia in more detail:

The Trnka and Malecha Villages
          (Great-Grandfather's Family)
Malecha Family Photos
          from Jitka (Nestávalová) Ševčíková
The Hanzl and Toman Villages
          (Great-Grandmother's Family)
České Budějovice
Strakonice - the town of bagpipes
Bagpipe Exhibit in Museum at Strakonice Castle
Blata Kroje (Folk costumes from Blata region)
Czech cabinetmaking

Prague in more detail (mostly photos):

Praha - Hradčany (The Castle District)
Pražský hrad (Prague Castle)
Katedrála Svatého Víta (Saint Vitus Cathedral)
Praha – Malá Strana (Lesser Town)
Valdštejnský palác (Wallenstein Palace),
now the Czech Senate building
Praha – Karlův most (Charles Bridge)
Praha – Staré Město (Old Town)
Praha – Nové Město (New Town)
Praha – Vyšehrad
Praha (Prague) – Miscellaneous Photos

Dobruška outings in more detail (mostly photos):

Aug. 1 - Deštné - glass blowing
Aug. 1 - Opočno Festival
Aug. 5 - Babiččině údolí (Grandmother's Valley)
Aug. 8 - Vamberk Bobbin Lace Museum
Aug. 8 - Litomyšl
Aug. 9 - Nové Město nad Metují
Aug. 14 - Night Language Games in Opočno
Aug. 15 - Eagle Mountains - Military Bunkers and Poland
Aug. 16 - Podbřezi: Brass Band and Old Jewish Cemetery
Aug. 18 - Military Cartography Center in Dobruška
Aug. 19 - Červeny Kostelec - International Folklore Festival
Aug. 20 - Dobruška Firefighters
Aug. 21 - Běstviny Firefighters' Party
Aug. 22 - Bethlehem Museum, Třebechovice
Aug, 22 - Hradec Králové
Aug. 23 - Opočno Castle
Aug. 24 - Nachod - Primator Brewery Tour
Aug. 25 - Language Independence Day
Aug. 26 - Final Party
Aug. 27 - Final Program
Misc. Dobruška:
Dobruška Class and Group Photos
From "Evenings of Nations" Presentations
Dobruška - the town
Czech Advertising

Background Information:

Old Family Photos
Family gravesites in St. Wenceslaus Cemetery,
New Prague, MN, 09.19.09
Family gravesites in Calvary Cemetery,
St. Paul, MN, Sept./Oct.09
Gathering the Background Materials

July 27, 2009 - Spelled right!

2009-11-20T17:47:00.001-08:00

How to express the deep feeling of homecoming when the person checking passports at the airport in Prague, who had just had a fluent conversation in English with a couple from Australia ahead of me, looked at my passport, gave me a big smile, said my name correctly out loud, and greeted me in Czech. This after a youth and young adulthood spent with people routinely questionning whether I, in fact, knew how to spell my name.

July 27, 2009 - Swimming in Languages

2009-11-20T17:47:00.000-08:00

The woman sitting next to me on the flight from Chicago to London was from Bangladesh. She had been visiting her daughter in Altanta. Her English made it clear that she only understood the most basic things I might say to her, but with smiles and nods we got along pretty well. She was writing a journal in an alphabet I had never seen before.

At dinner last night in Prague, two table groups who could communicate with each other were speaking a Germanic sounding language I couldn't identify - it wasn't German, Norwegian or Swedish - might have been Dutch or Danish? English was the language they used to communicate with the Czech waiter. I choose not to ask them what they were speaking.

I "passed" at breakfast this morning. A couple sitting at my table at breakfast included me in their German conversation as if I could understand everything. When they left, another family group sat down and again addressed me in German.

In the lobby after breakfast, a woman got off the elevator and addressed her friends waiting there with "Kali mera." It threw me for a bit, but I knew I "knew" was that phrase was. Finally it dawned on me that her group was Greek and she has said simply "Good morning."

The "common wisdom" that English was not known much outside of Prague became clear today on the train from Pague to Ceske Budejovice. I shared a compartment (like in Harry Potter) with an elderly man and a middle-aged woman and her teenaged son. After telling them in Czech that "I only speak a little Czech," I was hoping that the teenager would volunteer to translate for me. No luck - no response from any of them, though the woman did make an effort to make sure I knew which stop was mine.

Entering the pension reserved for me by the guide company I'd hired, there was a bit of panic until we figured out we could communicate with writing and some basic German. The place seems newly renovated, so I'm guessing there hasn't been time to learn the basic English phrases needed to check someone in!

At the internet cafe where I'm writing this, a customer and attendant are using a mixture of English, German and French to communicate! No wonder the Tower of Babel story got created!

It will be a relief to have a translator with me for the next two days. I'm building up a stock of helpful phrases that I wish I knew already in Czech!

July 27, 2009 - Bagpipes and a family recipe?

2009-11-20T17:46:00.001-08:00

Had the first of the seven "must try" Budvar beer varieties not available in the U.S. at dinner tonight - an incredibly smooth "yeast beer" - yummm! Had a traditional "pickled sausage" as an appetizer, followed by a really tender quarter duck with red cabbage and BOTH potato and bread dumplings! I had never seen potato dumplings outside of the recipe my father brought with him into his marriage to my mother, which we called simply "Trnka dumplings." This was another cultural bridge that brought back lots of memories. It appears I will be eating a lot of cabbage in the next weeks!

One big bummer tonight was that earlier I walked by the tourist office in České Budějovice at 6:45 and there was a sign out front saying that the Strakonice bagpipe band was performing in town at 6:00 at a location I couldn't identify. The tourist office was also closed! Strakonice is the "bagpipe town" where I will be staying in two nights. I was hoping to find a concert there, but was not expecting one might just fall in my lap in this town! But, not having had lunch today and with the language barrier, I decided to go have dinner (assuming the concert would be over before I found it) and wait until I have a guide to look more into bagpipe possibilities.

More on České Budějovice

July 28, 2009 - OLD pipe organ!!!

2009-11-20T17:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I should have brought some organ music along - one of the things I decided to skip to save luggage space! Today I had the opportunity to play the ancient pipe organ in the church where my great-great-grandparents were married in 1835 - flat pedal board and all. No one knows for sure exactly how old it is and I couldn't find a date anywhere on it.

Frank playing the organ in Veseli nad Luznici

Also met an 80+ year old woman who seems to be a distant relative on the Malecha side. I'm comparing documents with her son tomorrow morning to see if the lines interlink, but she and I a pretty sure that they do.

Marie (Malecha) Nestával, a Malecha relative

This is my second day in a row without lunch - though the elderly Malecha relative broke out a bottle of Becherovka liqueur - which I had only heard about but never tasted. I liked it, even on an empty stomach! Today was non-stop with the guide and the village chronicler from Sviny (the Trnka and Malecha village). The chronicler had been maintaining the village records for 45 years including having to submit everything he wanted to include to the communist censors before he could enter an item in the chronicle - basically a news and events record of the village.

It's now 8 p.m. and I decided to get my 400 photos transferred to CD before dinner tonight, so I don't have time for the whole day's story. Had a chance to go into the courtyard and outer buildings of the Trnka homestead which is being renovated by a young couple, but which right now is about like it was in 1850!

This was really an unbelievable day and tomorrow we'll be meeting with the son of the woman I met today, then on to the Hanzel villages (great-grandmother's side of the family) and to Strakonice for the night and the bagpipe museum!

July 29, 2009 - Distant cousin confirmed and "Strakonice Dudak"

2009-11-20T17:45:00.001-08:00

Today met with the son of the woman I met yesterday. We compared our genealogy information from the Trebon archives and confirmed that we are in fact related.

František Nestával, a Malecha relative

He added two earlier generations to the Malecha information I had (going back now to a generation before 1720) and I added many branches to the direct line he had been tracing. In their free time, he and his four sons are gradually restoring the ruins of the family homestead in Sviny retrieved from the Communists in an 11 year struggle after the Velvet Revolution. The Communists had given the barn on the property to the village to use as a fire hall, and the community was reluctant to give it back, but they finally sold it back to him for one crown (5 cents). I have a standing invitation to come back in 3 or 4 years after the renovation is completed to stay with his family on the family homestead, with anyone I choose to bring along. He and his parents were evicted from the property when he was 5 years old, and he has promised his 80+ year old mother that she can sleep there "one more time."
(P.S. Both he and his mother were thrilled to get albums of old family photos from Minnesota!)

More on the Trnka and Malecha Villages

Link to Malecha Family Photos from Jitka (Nestávalová) Ševčíková

My guide and I visited four more villages today after this meeting. Much more information and photos of locations in family history, but no new living relatives in the other lines.

More on the Hanzl and Toman Villages

Got to Strakonice at 5:30. Took a walk to orient myself to the town and find the bus station for tomorrow's trip back to Prague. This is the most immersed I've been yet in the Czech language. There are no accomodations for English or German speakers anywhere I've seen (except one restaurant menu at the musuem). Was glad to have checked out the lay of the land before doing this trip with all my luggage tomorrow. Called the woman with the newborn, who is a bagpipe player, and arranged to meet tomorrow morning at the castle museum on her way to a doctor's appointment.

Strakonice has its own brewery and my beer guidebook had some recommendations. The signature brew is called "Strakonice Dudak", named after the Czech word for bagpiper, so I for sure had to try that one. A page from another travel guide listed the best place to experience this local brew, a "rough and ready pub". I was wondering how difficult it would be to find and realized that it was actually the place I'm staying in!!! (All the Czech names start to look the same after a long day.) So, I figured this would be a handy place to have dinner. Sat down, ordered a "Dudak" and realized that not only had I forgotten to review my list of "bar food" I might order, but that no one else in the place had any food! It seemed I was destined to have a liquid, vegan diet (with no dumplings) for the first time since I've arrived. After the second of the three recommended varieties, it became clear that I had better not try the third one and that it was a good thing I only had to find my way back upstairs! Used my notepad to write "Kolik?" (Costs?) and the waiter wrote the amount of my tab, so we both completed the transaction happily.

The internet station in the pension was open after "dinner", and now that I know that I need to switch from a Czech to an English keyboard set up for my passwords to be recognized, was able to sign on and try my typing skills while happily buzzed.

More on Strakonice

The Bagpipe Exhibit in Strakonice

Blata Kroje (Folk costumes from Blata region)

Czech cabinetmaking

July 31, 2009 - Under the South Bohemian Sun

2009-11-20T17:45:00.000-08:00

In Zimutice, the village of my great-grandmother, which she left with her family when she was 4, the mayor's assistant who showed us around the village made it quite clear that I could be given some land and buildings by the village if I was willing to restore them. Many of the villages are having difficulty finding young people who are willing to live in the villages. So the possibility of experiencing "Under the Tuscan Sun" in the Czech Republic is quite possible right now. There is restoration going on everywhere. Even with free land, this, of course, would still be a very expensive endeavor, as the buildings are in need of much repair.

Building Available for Renovation

The Trnka homestead in Sviny does have a young couple restoring it, and the Malecha homestead in Sviny is being restored by the relatives I met.

Installed at Dobruska as of last night, we did our introductions to the group and questions and response in front of all the teachers and attendees to get placed in our classes - a bit like the "sorting hat" in Harry Potter. I did "Good evening, my name is Frank Trnka" in Czech and the rest in English, so I assume I will in fact be in the beginner class. There are 79 of us from 36 countries.

Will not be posting any more photos to this blog unless I can find something other than the computers available to us here, which are dial-up.

August 1, 2009 - Festival Times

2009-11-20T17:44:00.000-08:00

Since we don't start our official language classes (5 hours per day, except during special events) until tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m., this morning we went to a festival in Destne featuring wood-fired, hand-blown glass being made, and this afternoon to a festival in Opocno started by the Franciscan monks there in the late 1600s. It has evolved into a carnival, traditional craft fair, and community market - somewhat different than the original version, but perhaps not? Saw elaborate perniky (gingerbread cookies) being decorated and had a traditional pastry of the region I'd never heard of before (Trdelnek), which was a tube of dough rolled around a metal tube and roasted on a rotissery-like machine over an open fire - very tasty, and not something you could do at home!

More on Deštné - wood-fired, hand-blown glass

Festival in Opocno

Perniky

Trdelnik

Trdelnik

More on Opočno Festival

August 2, 2009 - To Be or Not To Be; Concert on the Square

2009-11-20T17:43:00.001-08:00

This morning was the first day of our 4 hour daily language lessons which covered the vowel and consonant sounds and the forms of the verb "to be" - positive and negative. This is already a huge help in my language skills, as I had been trying to function without verbs!

The Yellow Class (explanations in English)

This afternoon we had a tour of the town of Dobruska and an official welcome by the town mayor before the beginning of the weekly Sunday summer concerts on the village square.

An official welcome at the concert in the square

The music group was very good. Half the pieces were in Czech and the other half in English, including many that I knew from another context! Frank Sinatra's "I did it my way;" Abba's "Dancing Queen;" and "Hallelujah! It's Raining Men!" Very fun!

For dinner we got to use our meal voucher tickets at a local restaurant. I had a whole "spicy" trout, which was very tasty and I didn't choke on any bones.

More on Dobruška - the town

August 3, 2009 - Rhythmic Counting in Czech

2009-11-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

The most unusual thing that happened today was taking an optional aerobics class this afternoon taught by my Czech teacher, Vladka. She's very intense and energetic, so I wasn't surprised that the class was quite demanding, especially since regular workouts haven't been part of my regime for some time now. The most characteristic comment near the end of class was her saying, "Lots of teachers like to play quiet music for relaxing to cool down at the end. I don't do that!" Checking the time after class, we had been at it for 90 minutes! Will probably do it again if she offers the opportunity, but may be a bit stiff tomorrow morning. A side benefit was hearing the numbers in Czech over and over, so they may stick with me finally!

August 4, 2009 - Fruits, Vegetables, Colors and Folksongs

2009-11-20T17:42:00.001-08:00

Morning AND afternoon Czech classes today. We were introduced to all the fruits and vegetables, as well as the colors, then combined with another class to learn some Czech folksongs. Of course one of them was the song we dance to as the "Barbarov Polka" in our Czech dance group in St. Paul - the first time I had seen the words or knew what the song was about (distant lovers in South Bohemia.)

This afternoon found an internet shop with 3 higher speed computers, but it closes at 5 p.m., so may not be that helpful. Also took a camera memory card in to a photo shop to have made into a CD so those photos will be backed up. The photo shop also closes at 5 p.m. Imagine going back to the days when people did not work around the clock and you planned ahead and did not expect to be able to shop whenever you felt moved to! This is what the small town I grew up in was like 45 years ago.

August 5, 2009 - Grandmother's Valley

2009-11-20T17:42:00.000-08:00

This afternoon was one of the field trips I was most looking forward to - Ratiborice castle, Ryzmbursky and Babička Udoli (Grandmother’s Valley) - the childhood home of Božena Němcová, who in 1855 published her autobiographical novel, The Grandmother (Babička), about life in the small village where she and her siblings were raised by their grandmother. It's required reading for all Czech students and is a bit like a Czech Tom Sawyer. Since it was written around the time my ancestors were leaving the country for America, it's one of the best glimpses into village life at that time, as well as being an interesting story about an elderly woman's life which has been full of many challenges, giving her great wisdom and well-earned respect. Most of the places mentioned in the novel are still viewable in the valley today. [If you are tempted to read the novel in English, interlibrary loan is probably your best source, as the book is out of print and highly sought after by collectors.]

More on Grandmother's Valley

August 6, 2009 - Bridge of the Generations?

2009-11-20T17:41:00.001-08:00

There has been a marked division between the older generation of attenders here who tend to be very earnest, serious about their Czech and go to bed early. By default, I have been part of this group. There is also a younger group of attenders who may still be serious about their Czech, but tend to stay up very late with rather rowdy parties, somewhat to the "tolerant" annoyance of the older attenders, who are sometimes awakened in the night by the noise. Yesterday during our outing I was approached and befriended by one of the rowdy set and later that evening invited to stop by his room (after I had finished my homework of course!) This turned out to be a group of about 15, and my rite of passage was downing a glass of homemade Serbian Slivovice with many cautionary warnings about how strong it was. [Apparently I look a bit of an innocent to these youngins.] Having only had the variety available in stores in the US before, this was a rare treat that I wasn't expecting to be able to have on this trip. I had heard about the superiority of most home-brewed Slivovice. The Serbian student's family only makes this for their personal consumption, not to sell, and it was very pleasant indeed! The welcome I received was warm and surprising to me, as though the young people were waiting for someone older who would be interested in them.

I left after about an hour and a half, but was not the first to leave. Apparently the party continued until about 4 or 5 a.m., but I was not expected to stay that long, and in class this morning, I was included in the group who had reason to be tired during class! Not sure where this will all lead, but I do know I can't stay up late every night.

August 7, 2009 - Czech TV stars and a weekend!

2009-11-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

There was a flurry of activity this morning, as we found out after we got to class that the Czech TV news would be coming to film our class in 10 minutes. This is an annual occurance, but apparently much sooner in the month than usual. They are most interested in the beginning and advanced classes, so after 5 days of Czech lessons we had to perform in front of a close-up camera! Later today we will have a chance to see what clips they used on the national news.

Lunch time today meant the start of a break from official language classes until Monday, the first long break from them we've had. I'm torn between taking a nap and trying to catch up on vocabulary! Tonight we will be watching a 1940s television version of "Babička" without subtitles. I'm hoping that having read the novel, I will still be able to follow the story. Then at 10 p.m. our Czech (and aerobics) teacher will be taking us to a disco in town. Tomorrow we have an all day trip to Litomyšl (9 a.m. to 8 p.m.) Sunday morning will be Olympic Games with another field trip in the afternoon. Before we know it, Monday's Czech class will be upon us again. Surprisingly, I am finding I know more what to do in situations in town, in spite of feeling like I haven't been learning all the vocabulary each day.

August 8, 2009 - Contrasts: Foam Party & Renaissance Castle

2009-11-20T17:40:00.000-08:00

The last 24 hours spanned a range of Czech cultural experiences. Last night almost my whole Czech class (7 of 10) and about 25 others went to the local disco with our teacher at 11:00 p.m. for dancing. We basically filled the place, though there were a few locals. It turned out to be "foam party" night which left me wondering about what would be involved. It was more innocent than I expected - basically a small snow making machine that blew "snowflakes" all over the dancers - kind of refreshing with the feverish dancing. Maybe this would be a solution for the CSPS Hall until we get air conditioning? Our first stop this morning on our all day trip was to a bobbin lace museum in Vamberk, a small town where handmade lace was an important product, then after lace making machines were invented, the skill almost died out. In the late 1800s, a school was established in Vamberk to teach the skill of making the handmade bobbin lace. The school still continues. Some pretty amazing things were on display in the museum.
More on the Vamberk Lace Museum

Litomyšl Castle

Litomyšl has a renaissance castle covered in Scraffiti - individually made figured tiles (about 11,000 with no duplicates), a collection of old keyboard instruments, and a Smetana museum in the former home of the Czech composer, Bedřich Smetana. The castle tour included the private theater and a chain of decorated period rooms. The third floor of the castle had the keyboard museum and another Dobruska student from Mexico and I had the opportunity to play on an 1846 pianoforte! This wasn't the most interesting instrument there, but the one they were willing to have people play. 1846 Pianoforte

Playing the 1846 Pianoforte

Link to Paula Eliska’s video of part of this improvisation

There were claviers, clavichords, etc. as well as a quarter-tone piano that had three keyboards like an organ with three manuals, but with the middle keyboard pitched half-way between each half-step on the other two keyboards, something that never really caught on, as the pitch difference is not noticable to most listeners. Quarter-tone Piano

Frank Trnka en el Museo de Pianos del Castillo de Litomyšl

More on Litomyšl

August 9, 2009 - Olympics and Castle performance

2009-11-20T17:39:00.001-08:00

Our Olympic Team

This morning we had our olympic games, which turned out to be lots of fun and a chance to meet some people from the other classes. We had 10 teams of 5 or 6 people selected by drawing colors out of a hat. Chance did not do well with age distribution and I was one of the youngest on my team. By contrast, some of the teams lacked elders. My group was 3 Americans, a Hungarian, a Venezuelan, and a Ukrainian who was our team captain. The Ukrainian only spoke Russian and Czech. The rest of us had English as a common language. Fortunately one of the Americans was good enough in Czech she could translate from English to Czech for him. The ten events were a variety of sport skills and Czech language knowledge trials. There were some standard things like a 3 legged race, a spoon/egg race, and a soccer slalom course, but there were some unusual ones, like having 2 people run to retrieve 20 halves of Czech proverbs while the other 4 attempted to match the halves into complete Czech proverbs. Having some advanced Czech students on our team for that one was very helpful. The results haven't been posted yet, but I'm guessing our team did reasonable well.
The Soccer Slalom Course

Nové Město nad Metují
This afternoon was a visit to the castle at Nové Město nad Metují, a town fairly close to Dobruška. It was a Renaissance building again with various owners and renovations over the centuries. What was different about this one is that it was privately owned until the communist era and given back to the family after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. So the family is currently living there with the interior still open for tours. Various rooms are furnished in Renaissance, Baroque, Empire, Louis XIV, and Art Deco. Picture taking was not allowed, so I planned to buy a book about the place, as the rooms were amazing, but the souvenir shop was closed by the time our tour was done! One large room with great accoustics had a Steinway piano in it and is used for concerts. My Czech teacher surprised me by having the guide ask me to play for the group. At the Steinway

Link to Paula Eliska’s video of part of this improvisation

Most people had not been at the museum yesterday when I played, and my teacher wanted the rest to hear. So I did some improvisation which was very well received. If I keep doing this every day, maybe my skills will come back, as I have been only marginally pleased with what has come out. It seems to work for the people listening, but I can tell I'm out of practice. We had dinner at a restaurant in Nové Město nad Metují, which had the best chicken I've had here, plus I ordered dessert - Palačinka s jahodovým - a strawberry crepe with ice cream and whipped cream! - a nice reward for having to stretch myself at the olympic games this morning! Palačinka s jahodovým

Frank Trnka en el Castillo de Nové Město nad Metují (very large video file)

More on Nové Město nad Metují

August 10, 2009 - Link to Czech TV appearance

2009-11-20T17:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a video clip of my class' appearance on Czech TV (small screen):

Below is the link for the online archive of my class' Czech TV appearance. Not sure how long the link will be active:

Part way down the page, this on-line article has a video clip of only the news segment about our classes.

This link is for the whole 30 minute Czech TV news show. http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ivysilani/209411000100809-udalosti/

Today a photographer was there from the national newspaper and our beginning class was the only one visited.

Dnes Lead-in 11 Aug 09

Dnes Article 11 Aug 09

Fortunately, I'm mostly obscured by the orange ball!

August 10, 2009 - Tongue Twisters, Street Dancing & an old movie

2009-11-20T17:38:00.001-08:00

Today in Czech class, as if this was really necessary, our teacher gave us some favorite Czech tongue twisters. Here's an example: "Strč prst skrz krk" which means "Put your finger through your neck." You'll notice there are no vowels in that sentence, so no more complaints about saying "Trnka" please. I'll spare you the Czech for "333 silver syringes"!

Our athletic activity this afternoon was a lesson in "Street Dancing" which turned out to be a bit like Hip Hop aerobics, not something I was expecting to be part of the program. Tomorrow there is a belly dance lesson which I think I really will skip, in spite of my blossoming reputation for being willing to try almost anything.

F. L. Věk Restaurant on the Square in Dobruška

This evening was the first 2 hours of a biographical TV movie from 1970 about F. L. Věk, a local Dobruška hero who led the struggle to preserve and make available books in Czech during a period in the 1700s when an intense effort was being made to replace Czech with German in the schools and in all official business, so only the peasants were keeping the language alive.

August 11, 2009 - Grammar Marathon

2009-11-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

Since we will be spending the whole day in Prague tomorrow, today we had Czech all morning and again in the afternoon for another hour and a half (and we'll have the same schedule again on Thursday). In addition, it was necessary to get all of the homework for Thursday done today, as we will have no time to study tomorrow. I was fortunate to get it finished with a little time to spare before the second "Evening of Nations" tonight - presentations by mainly the non-Slavic European nations.

If possible, the music teacher's English is worse than my Czech and we need to communicate with each other! I have been asked to play piano at the graduation ceremony at the end of the course - in the local theater with government officials present - something I would prefer to prepare for a little, rather than just sitting down at an unfamiliar electric keyboard to begin a public improvisation. From what I could understand of our talk today, he has a full keyboard at home that he will bring to the ceremony, since the school only has a small one in a classroom. Whether he understood that I'd like to practice on it beforehand or not is not clear to me! I may have to ask my Czech teacher to translate for us to get this worked out.

August 12, 2009 - Prague: Senate and shopping

2009-11-20T17:37:00.001-08:00

Left at 8:00 a.m. this morning for Prague and just got back at 8:30 p.m. Very glad I got my homework done yesterday.

In the Senate

Our whole group was invited to tour the Senate building and meet with the chair and vice-chair of the Senate committee on compatriot relations, which is responsible for the program at Dobruška. This involved bringing our passports and going through a metal detector security clearance. The building is 400 years old and for once we were welcome to take pictures, so I made up for the castles I wasn't able to photograph before.

Part of 400-year-old Senate Building

More on the Czech Senate building

Then we had several hours of free time which I used to work on needed shopping, trying to avoid having to fit all my Prague shopping into the last afternoon before my return trip to the US. Was somewhat successful, but finding very specific older things in an unfamiliar city was expectedly a little frustrating. My quest for older CDs of folk music and films that may or may not have been transferred to DVD by now was not productive. I may need to try on-line shopping or seeing if some of the stores in Dobruška can order things and get them to me in the next couple of weeks. I did find the really good Czech English dictionary for half the price it would be in the US, but of course this adds about 10 pounds to my return luggage!

Wenceslaus Square

P.S. Judy, I did find the first Harry Potter book and DVD in Czech for you.

More on Pražský hrad (Prague Castle)

More on Malá Strana (Lesser Town)

More on Karlův most (Charles Bridge)

More on Staré Město (Old Town)

More on Nové Město (New Town)

August 13, 2009 - Polka, Mazurka, Song and Dance

2009-11-20T17:37:00.000-08:00

This evening we used two of the folk songs we've learned as the basis for doing/learning the polka and mazurka. "Kdyby Byl Bavorov" was the polka and "Červený šátečku, kolem se toč" was the mazurka. Most everyone was there, making for a large group, and there was a wide variety of dance experience, so learning the two pieces was fairly chaotic, but we managed and had a lot of fun. Now off to finish the last of my homework for tomorrow!

August 14, 2009 - Night Language Games and Outdoor Disco

2009-11-20T17:36:00.001-08:00

Besides Czech classes today, this afternoon we also had a film and tour at the Dobruška town museum about the history of the longstanding Jewish community in Dobruška. Of the four Jewish residents who survived the Holocaust, only one returned to the town. There is a Holocaust memorial and statue on the outskirts of town, which we have driven by in the bus.

Dobruška Holocaust Memorial

This evening we went to nearby Opočno for dinner and a language test by candlelight with various stages along a walk through the village where at each stop we had to solve language tests to get a clue to the final puzzle.

Night Language Games

At the end, as we solved the final puzzle, we were allowed to cross over into the park where a live band played music for dancing and there was food and beer available.

Party After

Some people were raving about the klobása sausage, so I had one too. It was very good. I took the "early" bus home, as it was not clear what time the "late" bus was returning. This gives me a chance to go to bed at 11 p.m. to be ready for our all day trip tomorrow.

More on the Night Language Games in Opočno

August 15, 2009 - Bunkers in the mountains

2009-11-20T17:36:00.000-08:00

Our day hiking in the mountains turned out differently than I had expected. We did hike a total of about 10 km, but what we explored were two of the 9,000 military bunkers built between 1933 and 1938 to protect the northeastern border between Germany and what was then Czechoslovakia.

Military Bunker

The land across the border is now part of Poland, but was German territory at the time of Hilter's ascent to power. There was felt to be no need to protect the southern border, as it was assumed that Austria would remain neutral and be a buffer there, which didn't turn out to be the case. The bunkers were built at great expense in materials and labor, but in 1938, without Czech consent, the Munich Agreement gave the Czech land with the bunkers to Germany as an attempt to appease Hitler and avoid conflict, so the German army was able to use them for target practice to test out their new weapons to see if any of them could penetrate the 3.5 meter steel and concrete roofs and walls. The first bunker we visited is now private property being renovated as a museum by weekend volunteers.

The other much larger one in Hanička u Rokytnice v Orličky hořach is a government owned museum where our tour took us down a stairway 36 meters underground and we followed a series of tunnels to explore the 1.5 kilometer underground area, which was much like a submarine with only slightly more headspace. This tour did give us a very visual representation of an important part of Czech history, but was not my idea of a day hiking in the mountains.

In addition, the mountain roads were a challenge for our buses. The road was about one and a half lanes wide with no shoulders, so if we met a car, the car had to pull halfway off the road to let us by. This is a popular biking, hiking and skiing area, so we also met several tour buses towing extra trailers for bike transport. At one point the other bus was stopped and we slowly passed them, getting closer and closer. When we were about 2 inches apart, I thought we were already set to make it past, but at the last moment our bus made contact with the end of the bike trailer. A little unnerving, but our driver didn't feel a need to stop.

Another challenge for the Americans in the group is that this is the second day we have had bag lunches on whole day trips that included unrefrigerated chicken - on the Prague day a breaded chicken patty sandwich and today a quarter fried chicken. The chicken started out at room temperature and there was no way any of us were going to eat it four or five hours later. On both occasions it does not appear that any of the rest of the group became ill with food poisoning, so it's a bit puzzling, but our ingrained training about food poisoning is strong enough that we were willing to survive the day on a banana and water, rather than take the risk. I am having way too much fun to risk losing a day to food poisoning.

Border into Poland

On the way back from the trip, we stopped at a border crossing into Poland and were able to walk across the bridge into Poland for a bit. There is no staff at the border and no attempt to monitor foot or motor traffic across the border - quite a contrast to what is now in place between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico!

More on the Eagle Mountains - Military Bunkers and Poland

August 16, 2009 - Podbřezi: Brass Band and Old Jewish Cemetery

2009-11-20T17:35:00.001-08:00

Opočenka Band

This afternoon we went to the nearby town of Podbřezi for a concert by an Opočenka band. This is a traditional Czech brass band with roots in the late 1800s. This one included 3 clarinets and 3 vocalists with the brass. Probably about 400 mostly elderly people were in the audience.

The Audience

Most of them would have lived through both WWII and the communist years, and their faces were full of character. For once there were no songs in English. The concert was in a park by the river with a castle on the cliffs above. The atmosphere became rather magical towards the end when the band played some favorites that everyone knew and suddenly we were surrounded by people quietly singing these old songs.

Jewish Cemetery

After the concert we followed a forest trail along the river through the woods to the old Jewish cemetery for the town - again a magical place - the sound of the running river, shade from the high evergreens, and the late afternoon sun filtering through onto these very old, moss-covered gravestones with Hebrew inscriptions. Even the ones that had so much moss that none of the writing was visible still had stones of remembrance balanced on the top. The local Catholic priest and some village residents came along on our cemetery walk. The remembrance continues.

More on Podbřezi: Brass Band and Old Jewish Cemetery

August 17, 2009 - Czech Political System and Dance Competition

2009-11-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

Our afternoon class today was a presentation on the structure of the Czech government. I felt very provincial in knowing almost nothing about a parlimentary model with a prime minister and president. After the presentation and asking some basic questions, I do feel that I have some understanding of the differences. There are some similarities with the U.S. in the checks and balances of power, but the possibility of congress taking a vote of "no confidence" in the president and the cabinet officials is something that surely would have come in handy numerous times during the past decade.

This evening the dance class included some interesting competitions, one of which was holding an apple between your and your partner's foreheads and seeing who could dance the longest without the apple falling on the floor. This was a contest where having a sweaty forehead was a distinct disadvantage!

August 18, 2009 - Military maps and fresh strawberries

2009-11-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

This morning we had what was originally going to be an optional outing to the military cartography and meteorology center in Dobruška. Not very many people wanted to go, so it became a manditory outing lasting two hours. While much of the presentation was not very interesting, they have an archive of 750,000 ariel photos, mostly of the Czech Republic from 1935 to the present. Several were set out for us, which were particularly interesting. One was of a village and surrounding farmland before communism, showing all the many small farm plots and then the same village thirty years later, when there were only several huge collective farms with giant fields. The other set of three was of the village of Lidice, remembered as one of the two villages that were liquidated (all men, women and children) and razed by Hitler in relatiation for the Czech resistance fighters fatally wounding the man he had installed as his leader of occupied Czechoslovakia. There was an ariel photo of the village before the occupation; the barren spot after it had been erradicated; and then thirty years later when rebuilding had begun again. Almost living history!

Lidice 1938

Lidice 1946

Lidice 1989

This afternoon I stumbled on the Tuesday farmers' market in the village square where for $1.50 I got a quart of very ripe strawberries grown for flavor, not for their ability to travel cross country. This brought back memories of my grandmother's strawberries fresh from her garden. I shared some, but before I knew it they had all been devoured. Can't wait until next Tuesday!

More on the Military Cartography Center in Dobruška

August 19, 2009 - International Folklore Festival

2009-11-20T17:33:00.001-08:00

This evening was one of the outings I was most looking forward to, the 55th Mezinárodni folklorní festival in Červeny Kostelec - performances by international dance and singing groups, folk crafts, etc. Between 6 and 10 p.m. ten groups performed - from Italy, Poland, Turkey, Moravia, the Basque region of Spain, Cape Verde, Greece, Sicily, Croatia and Slovakia. Some were more dramatic than others, some had better costumes, but the main difference between the performers here and in the U.S. was that each group had their own live band and did their own singing. There was no taped music the entire evening! The highlights were the groups from Croatia and Slovakia - very energetic with elaborate, well-rehearsed choreography.

Croatian Dancers

Slovak Dancers

More on the Červeny Kostelec - International Folklore Festival

August 20, 2009 - Firefighter Fantasy

2009-11-20T17:33:00.000-08:00

After another full day of grammar classes, this afternoon we had a voluntary excursion to the local firefighter station. Firefighters being right up there with park rangers in my fantasy life, I figured this would be worth the effort just to see what some Czech firefighters were like. A group of about 20 of us went, including my Czech teacher as a translator for the 2 of us attending from her class. Almost before I knew it, I had been volunteered for them to demonstrate some of their equipment, including a neck brace and an arm and shoulder brace. They then pulled out some sort of pump device, the use of which was not clear to me initially. Fortunately, it turned out to be what they used to inflate the arm/shoulder brace.

Full Restraints

Am I Having Fun?

Then my Czech teacher was strapped down onto an inflatable transport mat and that was pumped up.

The Stretcher

Next one of the firefighters brought over a jacket and helmet for me to try on and model. This started another round of picture taking, including sitting in one of the fire trucks in uniform.

On the Job

Feeling a little entitled by what had already happened, I went over to one of the pump trucks and detached a little of the hose. This led to another volunteer round, as they turned on the hose and let me shoot water at an old bus they use for extinguishing practice. At first the hose was quite managable, but then they turned up the pressure and I actually had to brace myself to keep the hose from throwing me over backwards. After I was done, they let other people try the hose.

The Hose

The Hose, continued

They had a 3 story wooden tower they use to practice ladder climbing from floor to floor, an event for which there are time trial competitions among the Czech firefighters, and one of the four men on duty is the national champion in this event. He "modestly" agreed to show us his skills, which involved running 30 meters with the ladder, using it to ascend a floor, pulling the ladder up to the next floor, climbing another floor and doing the same thing to get to the third floor - a rather amazing event to watch.

The Tower

A few people who were better about heights than me (and not wearing sandals) climbed the ladder to the first floor.

The Group

There were a few group photos taken and some more time for mingling. I also tried something like a balance beam which had a ramp like those going into a chicken house and a beam about 6 inches wide, 20 feet across, and four feet from the ground.

Not a good idea in sandals!

Once I got up there and most of the way across, I was regretting trying it with sandals, but did manage to get down the down ramp without needing the neck brace for real!

It turns out that the men thought that my teacher and I were such fun that they invited us to come back with the rest of our class for another private session during their shift this Sunday! They would like me to teach them American slang. (I will certainly be there if this works out!) The local firefighters also put on a party for the whole Dobruška group which is tomorrow evening and involves grilling, unlimited beer, music, dancing and general rowdiness - the mind reels!

More on the Dobruška Firefighters

August 21, 2009 - E-learning and Firefighters' Party

2009-11-20T17:32:00.001-08:00

This afternoon we had a presentation on the e-learning possibilities available if we want to continue our Czech studies. The classes are available free of charge to compatriots who register through their Czech embassy. The classes include lots of grammar, vocab, and listening, so would be helpful for everything but actually speaking and getting the tongue twisted. Will be something to consider as I try to keep building on what I've learned so far.

The evening turned out to be hosted by a small town close to Dobruška - Běstviny, which has 71 residents in 31 houses. Basically all the households are part of the volunteer firefighter system and the firefighters have been building the park and buildings where we spent the evening. The downside of this for me was that I didn't get to reconnect with the firefighters from yesterday from Dobruška.

Běstviny Party

When I showed some interest in the old firefighting equipment they had on display, one of the oldest volunteers went into a detailed discussion (fortunately including hand gestures) on how they both worked. I understood some of what he said, but was not able to respond with more than nods and "I understand" in Czech. Later the volunteers demonstrated the equipment and again let people try shooting water from the hoses. The non-motorized one took six people, three on each side, doing a sort of seesaw pumping to make it work. We also had a chance to ride (about 12 at a time) Keystone-Cops-style in the open vehicle used to transport the firefighters to a fire. There were no seatbelts, and the sobriety of the driver was questionable. It was rather thrilling, but no one fell out! (Czechs have a zero tolerance alcohol level for drivers, so generally people have nothing if they are going to be driving.)

Open Transport Vehicle

Besides the unlimited beer, we had sausages we cooked over an open wood fire and several gigantic pork roasts which were also cooked over an open fire.

Sausages

Pork Roasts

The band was a Czech country western band, which seems little weird to me, but they were energetic and got people dancing. Took the early bus back, so was home before 11 p.m., but will miss the farewell disco party for the Swedish guy in my class who is leaving tomorrow morning before the course is completed. I really don't need to be up until 1 or 2 a.m. tonight for that, as the youngins are already well intoxicated before the disco even starts!

More on the Běstviny Firefighters' Party

August 22, 2009 - Bethlehem Museum and Hradec Králové

2009-11-20T17:32:00.000-08:00

Today's outings included the Bethlehem Museum in Třebechovice. Wasn't sure what to expect. The main display was the world's largest animated wooden creche scene - about 12 feet wide and 7 feet high and deep with 7 levels of hand carved figures that did various things like chopping wood, weaving, a full brass band playing, etc.

Left side of large creche scene

The rest of the museum was about some of the technology involved in creating scenes like this with views behind and underneath, and some smaller examples, including one that had a farmer knocking out a cow with a sledge hammer - not one of the things I would associate with a creche scene.

More on the Bethlehem Museum, Třebechovice

The afternoon was spent in Hradec Králové, a medium sized town with a branch of Charles University. We had a couple of hours at a large shopping mall, where I was able to complete some of my delayed shopping.

There were some near mishaps before the shopping was completed. The first was buying two DVDs from a remainder bin at Tesco with were supposed to be about five dollars each. When I paid my bill and was looking at the receipt, one had rung up as sixty dollars and the other about fifteen. Since I had only purchased them because they were cheap, I had to go through the return process to get a refund. Then, at the Czech version of Best Buy, I found the DVD I was looking for, but wasn't sure if it was a rental or purchase item. They had to track down a manager who spoke English to clarify that it was available for purchase for forty dollars. When I got my receipt, it turned out to be a Blue-Ray disc, but fortunately they also had the DVD, which was only fifteen dollars. So disaster was averted and I ended up with what I wanted after all.

Statue in Hradec Králové Museum

Hradec Králové Museum entrance with mini statue on right side

Then we toured the city museum which had some neat Art Deco displays and later took a walking tour of the very beautiful old city center, and climbed the White Tower which had 240 steps and a great view of the old city.

The White Tower

View of the Square from the White Tower

About halfway back down, one of my knees started hurting, but that went away soon after reaching the ground. I was also glad that the gigantic bell in the tower was not being used for the quarter hour town bell ringing, as it would have been very stunning to be on the stairs in the tower when the bell rang!

More on Hradec Králové

August 23, 2009 - Upcoming performances and Opočno Castle

2009-11-20T17:31:00.001-08:00

This morning we had make-up grammar classes again because our teacher is leaving early and won't be with us after Monday. We also began to prepare our presentation for the final event that the classes put on for the community and officials on Thursday afternoon. My class will be doing 3 short poems in Czech and singing two songs with one of the other classes. Right before class this morning, the music teacher took me to the classroom with the piano and had me play for him - I think so that he could see for himself if I was worthy to play at the Thursday event, since he hadn't heard me before. I now will have the chance to perform on his five octave keyboard, hopefully with a little time to get used to it. This is 28 keys less than a full piano, so I may be going off the ends accidentally if I don't get much time to prepare!

After lunch I wrote an e-mail to a CD and DVD store in Prague that seemed to have a large collection of traditional music and older videos, and gave them a list of what I have been looking for. I hope to hear back from them and pick up what I can when I'm in Prague on Friday afternoon, then have whatever else they can find for me later mailed back to the US after I'm gone. My goal is not to have lots of frantic shopping to do Friday in Prague, so I'm hoping this store has some answers on the things that everyone seems to know about, but not know how to find.

Opočno Castle

Our Group on the Garden Steps

This afternoon we toured the Renaissance castle in nearby Opočno - another elaborately decorated place with large collections of hunting trophies from Africa and North and South America, as well as weapons and armor from many places and time periods. We had a chance again to have the local ice cream, which is very good and tasted great after the long walking tour. There was also a stand selling and giving out samples of various flavors of honey wine and honey liquor, also called mead - a name I remember from old English literature.

More on Opočno Castle

I stopped by the concert in the square in Dobruška for awhile after we got back, but didn't locate any of the firefighters that we had meet earlier in the week.

August 24, 2009 - Primator Brewery

2009-11-20T17:31:00.000-08:00

This afternoon we spent touring and tasting at the Primator Pivorar in Nachod, a middle-sized brewery in a medium sized town near here.

Primator Pivorar

This is one of the excursions where it is expected that the students will return intoxicated - a different way of viewing education than in the U.S. The tour was very interesting, as we got to visit the various stages of the brewing process, including giant open vats where the fermentation process was underway.

A large vat of young beer

Apparently the yeast cells get to enjoy the brewing process and wait expectantly for the new batch to arrive in their vat. After the third batch they are no longer good for anything and must be replaced. The tour ended with the opportunity to taste the 12 varieties of beer they produce. Their beer in kegs is totally natural and keeps for only 3 months. The beer they bottle for export is pasturized and lasts longer, but with some loss of flavor. Their beer is one of many Czech beers that are simply not available in the U.S.

Because of the tour, I got to understand what the percent listings mean that are usually used in identifying the various varieties of a certain brand of Czech beer - it refers not to the percent of alcohol, but the percent of sugar used in brewing. Generally the alcohol percent is more or less half the percent listed - 24% is 11% alcohol, 16% is about 9%, etc. So these are significantly stronger that typical beer in the U.S.

Fortunately some other people were willing to share with me and I did not have to have a whole glass of each beer I wanted to try! I had a chance to taste their Exlusiv 16%, Double 24%, Premium Dark, English Pale Ale and Stout. The first 4 were bottled and the Stout was tappped. The Double 24% was the most interesting and unusual, so it is the one I purchased to try to bring back in my luggage.

More on Nachod - Primator Brewery Tour

August 25, 2009 - "Language Independence" Day as well as North & South American "Evening of Nations"

2009-11-20T17:30:00.000-08:00

This morning three of us from my Czech class went off on our own to find and explore a nearby village by bus. The trip got off on the wrong foot as we waited on the wrong side of the road and missed the first bus we could have taken. I'm not sure why that side had the departure information for the bus we wanted and the correct side had the arrival information - made it very confusing! The next bus took about three times as long to get the 20 kilometers, as it zigzagged through and stopped at all the small villages on the way. We met a classmate who lived near the village when we got there and he gave us a tour of the town. I was able to add a couple more Pernicky cookie cutters to the ones I've found so far, but still not the larger Christmas figures I was hoping to find.

Our Village - Rychnov nad Kněžnou

Outside the church

More on Language Independence Day

The trip back went much faster, as we did not stop as often. Made it back in time for lunch and some free time before the preparation session for our evening presentation on the U.S. tonight. Had a detailed e-mail response from the CD and DVD store in Prague saying that none of the things I was hoping to find are currently available. They did let me know things they carried that I might want, so will have to look at them more closely and make some decisions.

Rehearsal went smoothly this afternoon, thanks to the help I had gotten from my Czech teacher before she left. Others were having multiple corrections made, but the coach thought I spoke clearly (even if I wasn't totaly sure what I was saying!) and the wording was acceptable:

Já jsem Frank Trnka z Minnesoty, z USA.

Bydlim blizko řeky Mississippi v Minneapolis.

Mám pro vás malou sladkost. Je vyrobena z javorového sirupu. Je od domorodých Američanů - Indiánů ze severni Minnesoty.

Moje video vám ukáže některá zajimavá a krásná mista podél řeky Mississippi v Minnesotě, v Minneapolis, ale také mnohem dále z jihu.

The presentation went well, in spite of the director's laptop dying right before we were to start and needing to set up another computer and get the sound going on that one. I think I've had the only presentation of slides synchronized to music. It went quickly and was over before people got tired of it. The U.S. group went first, which was very nice for us, as there were at least 8 South American groups and the program went on for over 3 hours. But the end people were comatose. I have now forgotten more about hydroelectric power in Paraguay than I ever cared to hear! Not sure why the speaker thought we would be interested in the facts and figures about that - perhaps she was a hydroelectric engineer and thought others would want to know? The maple candy I brought also went over well and is now gone so I don't need to bring any back in my luggage. The Tequila from Mexico and Caipirinha cocktails from Brazil were the hits of the evening, however. Off to bed for another long day tomorrow.

More on "Evenings of Nations" Presentations

August 26, 2009 - Final Classes, Final Party

2009-11-20T17:28:00.000-08:00

This morning we had our final classes - history, drama and music. This afternoon we had time to prepare our presentations on the villages we visited yesterday. The presentations will be given tomorrow morning. I was also able to find an inexpensive suitcase (which will hopefully survive the trip back) and finished the rest of my shopping, except for the CD store in Prague.

Our farewell party was at the soccer field - about a 20 minute walk from our building.

Whole Hog

It featured a whole roast pig, which was exciting, but the tradition here is to only slice off the very outside layer, then baste it again and roast that part for at least a half an hour, then repeat the process over and over. What this means for a large group is standing in line for a long time for a taste of meat, or standing in line for a long time and having them stop serving before you get anything, so you have to wait another 45 minutes.

Line waiting for pork

We also had forced rehearsals for our class performances at the concluding ceremonies, which pulled people out of line waiting for dinner and dampened any festive atmosphere.

Local talent performs for us

The music was by the music teacher singing off key (as usual) over canned backgrounds on his keyboard. This is the keyboard on which I'm to perform tomorrow, so I could see that more than the bottom and top octaves were indeed missing (cutting off ranges I'm used to using when I improvise); the touch was not weighted to feel like a piano; there was no sustain pedal; and the stool was much lower in relation to the keyboard - all things that make sitting down cold turkey to play very difficult.

The van that was bringing people back to the dorm had made several trips when I decided to try one more time for a meal-sized serving of the pork before returning, and ended up getting trapped there for several extra hours, as there was not another van load that wanted to leave when I did. It was difficult to escape the noxious music and I finally asked the director about the next bus, which he said would be leaving in 10 minutes. Thiry minutes later I found that a police car had been summoned to bring me back - unusual, but it worked. This could have been another uniform fantasy moment, but I was just glad to get back!

More on Final Party

I realize this is more negative than usual. Perhaps I'm transitioning to making the return trip, but mostly I find the music program here has been disappointing, especially after two hours of off-key music this morning and then again all evening. I also resent the expectation that I should be able to create some new music with no access to practice time or the instrument I'm going to use. I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring.

August 27, 2009 - Last day events

2009-11-20T17:27:00.000-08:00

Had a little meltdown at breakfast this morning in anticipation of this afternoon's public piano improvisation. Talked with the music teacher from Mexico who had also been asked to play, and she was having similar feelings - that it was insulting to be asked to play on a "rhythm machine" with no chance to practice or get used to it. So some translation intervention happened after breakfast, and we made it clear we would decide whether we were performing after we had tried the keyboard.

The whole group had a two hour rehearsal of all the class presentations, as well as the individual performers, which include a vocal solo and vocal duet. We were able to adjust the tone and volume of the keyboard so it wasn't unpleasantly shrill, and I think things will be okay. It was very hot today, so the thought of spending the afternoon in formal attire was not inviting.

After rehearsal we had the presentations on our village visits. Our group did a slideshow saying basically "This is..." for each picture and got it done with. After our final school cafeteria lunch, took a second shower and got dressed for the performance. There seemed to be a little air conditioning, so it wasn't extremely unpleasant. The program came off pretty well.

"On ne vit pas sans se dire adieu," duet in French and Czech by Sonja and Pepo (the music teacher)

The highlight for me was a drag parody of Cinderella, which included a very tall, striking male athlete from Australia as Cinderella (with very limp wrists) and a short stocky man from Israel as a gay priest who won the hand of Cinderella, even though the slippers were about 8 sizes too small.

There was also another play that included a character who snorted repeatedly (ala Lily Tomlin), which was much funnier than the Czech script which I could not understand!

I did not come to love the keyboard, but was able to play something that sounded intentional and was well received, so I don't think I caused embarrassment to the United States contingent.
Here's a video of a segment of the improvisation:

The three videos above were done by Otto Villatoro. Thanks!

Our class presentation of 2 songs and 3 poems was rather ragged, but we got through it and it's over. Yellow and Red Classes' Presentation

More on Final Program

Dobruška Class and Group Photos

Got most of my packing done this afternoon, then a festive final restaurant dinner tonight with Kathy and Margaret from the US bunch on our own. One final unusual sighting on our walk to dinner - a small truck came down the street looking much like an ice cream truck in the U.S. playing a blaring song which we recognized as the "Chicken Dance." Older folks came out of their buildings, not to buy ice cream, but fresh eggs! If I play the Chicken Dance song will you buy eggs from me?

August 28, 2009 - Final afternoon in Prague

2009-11-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

We all headed out from Dobruška this morning at 9:30 and got to Prague about noon. Margaret called taxis for herself, Kathy and me, as she knew a reputable company - AAA. This turned out great, as I had two large suitcases and two carry-on bags. Got to Leon Hotel in 10 minutes for 140 crowns or about seven US dollars. Was able to navigate my way around Prague this afternoon without maps! Fourth time was the charm. Got to the CD store on Loretto Square and on the advice of Kathy toured the Loretto Church, which was spectacular.

Loretto Church

More on Praha - Hradčany (The Castle District)

Got to hear the bells play at 3 p.m. too. These bells were what one of the poems we recited for the concluding program was about, so that was a fun connection. Then went to St. Vitus Cathedral near the main castle, which we had not been able to get into on our Dobruška day in Prague because there were hundreds of people in line around noon when we had a chance to go. At 3:30 there was no line at all and the afternoon light was perfect for pictures inside - and it was free!

St. Vitus Cathedral

The Alphonse Mucha Window

More on Katedrála Svatého Víta (Saint Vitus Cathedral)

Then took the tram and metro to Vysherad - the ancient castle site south of town and was able to explore there - views of Prague and the river, the old ruins and church, and especially the cemetery.

Vysherad

Found the graves of Božena Nemcova and Dvořak, but was not able to find Smetana.

Dvořak's Grave

As I was leaving, found a location list and map of the famous people buried there and did then locate Smetana's grave. There were also two Trnka family burial plots so I photographed the information for later study.

One of the Trnka Gravesites

More on Vyšehrad

Then went back to the hotel, made my list for customs tomorrow, and had dinner at the Mexican restaurant near the hotel. Kathy and I had gone there for ice cream the night before Dobruška, so it was fun to find that I could now order in Czech! Quite a difference from a month ago, even if I cannot do a regular conversation yet.

Now off to bed for hopefully a little sleep before my 4:30 a.m. wake-up call.

Praha (Prague) – Miscellaneous Photos

Czech Advertising

August 29, 2009 - Back in Minneapolis

2009-11-20T17:25:00.000-08:00

Had a long day today, but am safely back in Minneapolis with no damage to any baggage and nothing confiscated at the airport.
Was up at 4:30 a.m. to be ready for a cab to the airport at 5:15. Flights from Prague to London, on to Chicago (and customs), then to Minneapolis by 8:00 p.m. (3:00 a.m. Prague time!)

The Trnka and Malecha Villages (Great-Grandfather's Family)

2009-11-20T17:24:00.003-08:00

The first day, July 28, 2009, my guide, Zuzana, and I drove from České Budějovice and visited Sviny and Veselí nad Lužnicí.

Trnkas, the Czech name for the wild plums (blackthorn, sloe, "prunus spinosa") used to make Slivovitz (plum liqueur) and also Sloe Gin. Was not able to find any growing wild when I was in south Bohemia, but did find this picture later and also a nursery in Oregon offering the plants for sale!

The Story of Sviny 21, built of stone sometime in the 1600s and the Malecha farmstead since at least the early 1700s:

Sviny #21

Josef Malecha, born 1901, his wife, Marie David, born 1905, their daughter, Marie Ludmila Malecha, born 1928, her husband, František Nestával, born 1921, and their son František, were living on the farmstead when the collectivization process started. Though the communists had been pressuring them to leave and wanted to evict them since 1952, the Nestával family did not leave until 1955. The elders were forced to “gift” the farm to the communists. By “giving” the farm away, they were allowed to remain in one room of the farmstead with no land, animals, or means of support for themselves. They were physically not able to maintain the farm on their own and it fell into disrepair. Josef died there in 1976 and his wife in 1984.

Marie (Malecha) Nestával

The Nestával family with 5-year-old František left in 1955 and went to Veselí nad Lužnicí, a middle sized village about 5km away. As a married woman from a wealthy family (a kulak) and a churchgoer, Marie had two black marks against her. She had been a nurse, but was forced to work in the same factory as her husband, while still caring for her children, and eventually her grandchildren. Her daughter Jitka was born in 1956, after the family left.

Link to Malecha Family Photos from Jitka (Nestávalová) Ševčíková

The former fire hall (and the village mayor)

After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, it took 11 years for her son, František, to get the farm back. One of the buildings on the farm had been given to the village for use as a fire hall (požárni zbrojnice) in 1967, and the village was reluctant to give it back. It took a lot of convincing, but eventually the village sold it to him for 1 Kč (20 cents!) What he got back were the ruins.

František Nestával

He and his children have been slowly rebuilding the place from the rubble, and he has promised his mother that she can sleep there “one more time” before she dies.

Rebuilding underway (with the village chronicler)

Josef’s older brother, Karel Malecha, born in 1886, was educated as an engineer and an artist (painter). At one point a mural he had painted of the Virgin Mary was on the barn of the farmstead. Unmarried, he was cared for by the priest in nearby Veselí nad Lužnici during a fatal illness. He died in 1918 at the age of 32 and is buried in a Novak family site in the cemetery of the church in Veselí nad Lužnici.
Novak tombstone with Karel Malecha
Ing. (Engineer) Karel Malecha buried with "the Novak Family from Sviny"

Sviny Numbers 8 and 48: The Trnka Farmstead

#48 with part of #8 on the left
#8 with part of #48 on the right

While the archival documents from the early 1800s state that Trnka births and marriages happened in #8, the Village Chronicler said that his mother remembered when there were Trnkas living in #48, the larger farmstead next door, and that this is currently the house that is considered „U Trnků“ by the village. A young couple has bought #48 and the place next door, and they are renovating it and raising horses there. I met the woman of the couple who spoke good English and was very welcoming.

This drawing is a mirror image of the Trnka farmstead and many of the buildings are being put to similar uses as they had in the past.
Blata Farmstead Layout From Komárov: A Czech Farming Village, by Salzmann and Scheufler, 1974, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, page 29.

The current owner, the chronicler, the mayor, and my guide Zuzana (left to right)

The Living Quarters

Horsehead in the grotto

The barn, now a stable

Out the back to the pasture

The side opposite the living quaters

The sun had come out

#48 viewed through the trees

The village pond with #48 behind the trees

The Village Chapel

Seating for about 20 - too small for weddings or funerals, but mass is occasionally celebrated here.

The Chronicler

These are the village chronicles begun in 1924. Records older than that would have been kept by the church.
The current chronicler in his home, with my guide, Zuzana. He took over the chronicles in 1964, and has been keeping them ever since. Before the Velvet Revolution in 1989, he had to submit everything he wanted to write down to the censors and only what they allowed could be written in the chronicles.

Veselí nad Lužnicí

This is the main town for the nearby villages, and weddings, funerals and burials for the people of Sviny happened in the church here.
STARÁ RADNICE (OLD TOWN HALL)

At the train station

KOSTEL POVÝŠENÍ SV. KŘÍŽE (Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross)

where my great-great-grandparents, Matej Trnka and Rosalia Malecha were married Jan. 27, 1835.
The new reception hall "for Christians only." There seemed to be a lot of pride in the renovations that had happened in the church here following the Velvet Revolution after the 40 years of communism when being a church goer was a mark against you. I was told the Czech government had been offering restitution money to the churches in the past 20 years.

"Be doers of the word and not hearers" James 1:22

The oldest part of the church from 1658

An old painting likely to have been in the church in 1835.

The Baptismal Font

The parish priests from 1635-1900.

View of the organ from below

The view from the balcony

Two old graves

"Family Malecha and Nestával"

Karel Malecha

Other graves

Memorial to those fallen in WWI

BLATSKÉ MUZEUM WEISŮV DŮM (Blata Museum in the Weisův House)

An elaborate musical disk player

A musical chair!

See also the postings on Czech cabinetmaking and Blata Kroje for more exhibits from this museum.

Background Information on the treatment of "Kulaks" (middle-class farmers) during the collective farming years:

The excerpts below are from an anthropological study published in 1974, co-authored by a professor from Prague and one from Stanford. These two excerpts set the context for the pictures and narrative from my visit. The communists were still in control in the Czech Republic during this time, so the authors could only make veiled criticism of the collective farming system then in place. Komárov is 4 miles from Sviny, my Trnka/Malecha ancestral village, and the descriptions in these excepts give more detail to the stories I heard from both the village chronicler and my surviving relative, who had been a "kulak" and removed with her family from her home as described below.

From Komárov: A Czech Farming Village by Salzmann and Scheufler, 1974, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, page 51:

By 1975, 80 percent of the assessed value of livestock and machinery, subject to the financial ability of the cooperative, is to be repaid to those farmers whose original landholdings were below 10 hectares (ca. 25 acres). Strictly speaking, the land owned by the farmers has remained their property, but all decisions concerning its use are made by the cooperative. Forestland belonging to the village came under the state forest administration. Living quarters remained in the personal possession of those who owned and occupied them, as did utility buildings for which the cooperative had no urgent use.

At the very beginning of the transition to cooperative management the three largest Komárov farmers were evicted from their farmsteads without compensation and branded as kulaks --members of the rural bourgeoisie bent on exploiting the landless or the small farmers. Prosperous though these peasants were, the rest of the villagers had never considered them anything but wealthier members of the community, and the official wrath directed against them was largely due to their reluctance to cooperate with the efforts to collectivize. All three farmers, together with their families, were moved from the village, resettled, and then given menial work assignments. Their Komárov farmsteads have remained uninhabited but are utilized by the cooperative. One farm houses a clubroom for the government-sponsored cultural youth organization in a portion of the former living quarters, and about thirty head of cattle are kept in the utility buildings. The second farmstead has been converted into offices for the cooperative, with the service area used as a pig-feeding station, and the third has served as a place for keeping brood sows and storing their feed.

The consequences of standing in the way of collectivization were not lost upon the other villagers, and only two farming cottagers, each with about 2 hectares (5 acres) of land, waited until the early 1960s to join. All in all, the Komárov Unified Agricultural Cooperative was set up with no special difficulties, but with even less enthusiasm on the part of the peasants. The economic prospects for the villagers under the new agricultural regime appeared to be bleak.

From Komárov: A Czech Farming Village by Salzmann and Scheufler, 1974, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, page 121:

The attitude toward historical and dialectical materialism as the ideology of socialism is somewhat controversial. The harsh pressure on the villagers after 1948 to join the cooperative system, as a result of which the three largest farmers in Komárov were turned out of the community as kulaks (prosperous peasants who refused to cooperate with the efforts to collectivize) and their property expropriated, and the uninformed farm policies handed down by those ignorant of local conditions and usages could scarcely generate enthusiasm or acceptance.

Sympathy for the expelled kulaks did not grow out of any particular affection on the part of the other villagers but came about because the community had lost valuable workers and storage areas, and because their farm buildings, unused and unattended, began to deteriorate; to date many of these have not been put to regular use.

But there is no question that compassion played its part, too, aided by the memory of Nazi persecution and the indirect remembrances of the serfdom and the labor obligation of the distant past. Some of the external features of contemporary socialist management have been seen as but a variant of feudal legal norms.

Among these similarities are the difficulties encountered when one wishes to resettle, change employment, emigrate abroad, or enroll for university study; the periodic screenings of individuals and groups for attitude and loyalty toward the government; the cult of personality; the more or less compulsory work brigades; and the practical impossibility of securing redress of the decision of party and state organs.

From the peasant's point of view, the philosophical system underlying the socialist form of government itself appears to be completely irrelevant. None of the local political functionaries managed to go beyond the superficial understanding of socialism acquired from popular brochures, short-term courses, and working meetings called to discuss and solve concrete problems. The villagers realized very quickly that these officials were often more concerned with deriving personal advantages and prestige -- the power to be able to "rule," to manipulate others -- than with the establishment of true socialism and its ideological foundation.

On the other hand, the villagers were equally quick to appreciate the rapid electrification of communities and the establishment of telecommunications, improvement and construction of roads, and the advantages brought about by the transition to cooperatives. Among these benefits were health and pension insurance, child allowances, fixed working schedules (even though this was largely in theory since a labor shortage forced most agricultural workers to work overtime, for which they received additional compensation), the right to paid vacation time (taken for granted in other sectors of the economy), group excursions to theaters and other cultural events as well as to places of special interest, and help provided by work teams of students and military personnel during harvest.

Members of the older generations -- those born prior to 1918 -- are of the opinion that the present system uprooted the old order without replacing it with something more valuable.

Malecha Family Photos

2009-11-20T17:24:00.002-08:00

Family and Historical Photos from Jitka Ševčíková [daughter of Marie (Malechová) Nestávalová] with Jitka's comments on the photos.

To je foceno rok 1894, v rusku ale nevím, bylo tam jenom pozdrav od Malechy, nevím který to je Malecha.

This is a shot in 1894, in Russia, but I don't know if this was just a greeting from a Malecha. I do not know who is a Malecha (in the photo).

Jan Malecha (born 1858) and Veronika (Vandová) Malechová (born 1869), married 1889.
Foceno ve Svinech (Shot in Sviny)

[Note from Frank: Jan's father Tomaš Malecha (born 1817) and my great-great-grandmother Rosalia Malecha (born 1820) were brother and sister. Seven of Rosalia's children, including my great-grandfather, Jan (John) Trnka, ended up settling in New Prague, Minnesota.]

Karel Malecha (born 1886 to Jan's first wife, Marie Haveldová; 1918 zemřel na španělskou chřipku, [died in 1918 from the Spanish influenza]), Jan Malecha (born 1858) and Veronika (Vandová) Malechová (born 1869), Josef Malecha, (born 1901)

Josef Malecha, (born 1901).
Foceno ve Svinech (Shot in Sviny)

Marie (Davidová) Malechová (born 1905) and Josef Malecha, (born 1901), married in 1926.

1930 photo: Josef Malecha, (born 1927) and Marie Malechová (born 1928, vdaná Nestávalová).

Marie Nestávalová's children are František (born 1950) and Jitka (born 1956).

Marie Malechová (born 1928) v blatském kroji u školy ve Svinech (in Blata costume at a school in Sviny, ~1938?)

Josef Malecha, (born 1901) and Marie (Davidová) Malechová (born 1905).
Foceno ve Svinech (Shot in Sviny)

Left to right:
1. Josef Malecha, (born 1901)
2. František Nestával (born 1950)
3. Václav Kulhánek (born 1930) - přítel rodiny, kněz (a friend of the family and priest)
4. Jeho synovec Jan (Václav Kulhánek’s nephew, Jan)
5. Marie (Davidová) Malechová (born 1905)
6. Marie (Malechová) Nestávalová (born 1928)
7. Josef and Vera's son, Josef (They also had 2 daughters, Vera and Hana, not pictured)
8. Josef Malecha, (born 1927)
9. Josef's wife Vera who died when she was 36 (jeho manželka Veřa umrěla v 36 letech)

Sviny - Stavení 21 - 1989, Vráceno v takovém stavu.
Sviny - Building 21 - 1989, Returned in this condition

Takto chodí křeštanská mládež o velikonocích, blatské kroje si půjčují ve Veselí nad Lužnicí u kostela.

Thus the Christian youth, to attend Easter, borrow Blata costumes in Veselí nad Lužnicí at the church. [Jitka Ševčíková, second from right; Olga Ševčíková, 5th from right]

Jitka (Nestávalová) Ševčíková, Marie (Malechová) Nestávalová, and František Nestával

To jsem já a dcery: Jitka (Nestávalová) Ševčíková and her daughters (left to right) Olga, Marta and Jitka

František Nestával's sons: Marcel (1981), Vojta (1985), František (1977), and Marek (1975) Nestával

Pozdrav ze Svinů (Greetings from Sviny); nevím rok (I don't know year).
upper right: obchod vedle č. 21 (shop next to No. 21)
upper left: škola (school)

The Hanzl and Toman Villages (Great-Grandmother's family)

2009-11-20T17:24:00.000-08:00

The second day, July 29, 2009, my guide, Zuzana, and I went to Žimutice and Hrušov, but also Dolní Kněžeklady and Dubové Mlýny.

Žimutice

The main thing that happened in Žimutice was getting to photograph the inside of the church. A representative of the mayor’s office was with us and also showed us #16, which had been the rectory and likely also the poorhouse, as they had no record of where #15 had been or what became of it.

kostel sv. Martina

Memorial to one of the village soldiers from WWI

Here rests Corporal Jan Ambrose from Dobšice, 30 May 1917, aged 32 years. Rest in peace, dear father.

No. 16 - the old rectory, not No. 15 - the Hrach(Rocha) home

Part of the complex of buildings near the church available for renovation
Part of the complex
Part of the complex

One of many houses and buildings described to me as "40 years of communism"

Hrušov

In Hrušov I got to see #4 and meet Stanislav Kubicek, who gave us a full tour of his house and outbuildings.

Dolní Kněžeklady

Aerial view of Dolní Kněžeklady

In Dolní Kněžeklady, the mayor and his wife accompanied us. They also gave me a copy of a DVD the neighboring villages had produced for a celebration inviting all the people who had once lived in the villages to come back for a visit. The DVD is a tour of all the homes, with house numbers and names attached. #3 had been torn down and only a bus stop is on the site now. They were not sure why it had been torn down. We also went to the site of the current #3 to see if that owner there knew any history about the older site, but there was no further information available there.

Site of old #3

New #3
New #3

We then went to #7 which had been the site of a Hanzla-Vesele wedding in 1773. It is the custom in South Bohemia for houses to carry a family name even after a different family has moved into the property. The Šimon family was living there now and had records showing the property had been in the Šimon family since the early 1700s. They had no idea how a Vesele wedding had happened there and assumed it was a mistake in the archival records. I did notice when I got back to the US and watched the village DVD that #7 was „U Veselků“, meaning that at some time it had been in the Vesele family, but the specifics remain a mystery to me.

#7 Šimonů, U Veselků
>#7 Šimonů, U Veselků

Praised be Jesus Christ

Paní Šimon
The Mayor, me, Mrs. Šimon, her son, and the Mayor's wife

Blata Farmstead Layout From Komárov: A Czech Farming Village, by Salzmann and Scheufler, 1974, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, page 29.

We also went to No. 19, as this farmstead was „U Trnků“, even though I didn’t have information on any Trnka relatives who had lived here. The woman of the couple who live there currently was a Barto before marriage, and the house was also associated with that name, but she talked about when she was a girl people called her Trnkova, not Bartova, and she was confused by that, not realizing that was her „house name“.

No. 19
NO. 19

From Komárov: A Czech Farming Village, by Salzmann and Scheufler, 1974, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, page 69:
To identify individual villagers, it was the custom to give the family name and the house number, or a distinguishing nickname derived from the person’s residence if there were several people of the same name in the community. Thus, one might speak of “Honsa from (number) twenty-nine,” or one might make reference to his house, which is known as u Kundrátů (at the Kundrats),” even though the Honsa family has lived there for several generations. Besides his or her given name, every villager thus had two names – the official family name as well as a name po chalupĕ, that is, “after (his, her) cottage.” To refer to a farmhouse, one used the house number or the family name frequently with a specific topographical designation such as “across from the smithy,” “at the end of the village toward the forester's house,” “(number) fifteen, on the road to Klečaty,” and so on.

Dubové Mlýny

I assumed Hrušov was going to be the smallest village we visited, but Dubové Mlýny turned out to be only 3 houses and the access to it involved turning down a road that entered a field and went on through the woods. – very remote. #3 here had been the Toman home. The owner of the neighboring place took us all through the current #3, as he was caretaking the place for the current owner who is Swiss. He also told us that the #3 of the 1800s was no longer standing.

New #3

The original 3 farmsteads had been wood and were gone. He showed us where they had been located.

Open area, site of old wooden farmsteads, including No. 3

He also had information that in 1713 Lukaš Toman and 2 other families moved into the abandoned wooden houses here, so that would likely be the start of Toman relatives living there. He also had a placque from the Toman family from 1915 (see photo).

Praised be the Lord Jesus Christ. Honor and praise to God are given by the Toman family of Dubové in 1915

He knew the location of a Toman gravesite, but said the marker only had the Toman name and no additional names or information, so it seemed at the time a good choice in a very full day to leave that unvisited. Now that I’m back here, I’m wishing I’d gone to see it, but the 8 hour guide day ended up being 10 hours long as it was, so there really wasn’t time. I do wonder though, the next time someone goes to look for it, if there will be anyone around who knows where it is?

The pond at Dubové Mlýny

An aerial view of Dubové Mlýny showing part of "new #3" on the left and a good view of an enclosed farmstead in the bottom right

The highlight of this day was the Žimutice church where the wedding of Jan Hanzl and Anna Rocha (my great-great-great-grandparents) likely had taken place in 1799, as well as the marriages and baptisms of the generations on either side of them.

České Budějovice

2009-11-20T17:22:00.000-08:00

Countryside on train from Prague

Tábor train station

An old train

A sunny afternoon on the Otakar II Square (Náměstí Přemysla Otakara II) in České Budějovice

Samson’s Fountain constructed in 1721-1726 to supply the town with water from the river Vltava

Baroque Town Hall, built in 1727-1730

Vcela Palace, constructed in 1896

An overcast morning on the square

In the background is the Black Tower (černá věž), constructed in 1550-1577

Budvarka Malý Pivovar (Budweis Small Brewpub)

České Budějovice (Budweis in German) is the home of the original Budweiser beer (Budvar in Czech). Not only is the American version nothing like the original, but like most breweries in the Czech Republic, Budvar makes more than one kind of beer. The Budvarka Malý Pivovar run by the brewery, was supposed to be the best place to try the various local options not readily available elsewhere. Unfortunately, it was closed for renovation during the time I was in České Budějovice.

Masné Kramý (Butcher’s shop) restaurant, used to be the main bread and meat shop in the old town, established here in 1364

This left me with the other best option, the Masné Kramý, where both nights I was in České Budějovice I had wonderful traditional meals and a chance to try three of the Budvar options.

Kroužkový Ležák z Tanku

The first night, just by chance, happened to be when they were offering the yeast beer from a tank (Kroužkový Ležák z Tanku), meaning it had never been bottled or stored in kegs, but was delivered directly by tanker truck (like a big milk truck) to a big tank at the restaurant with minimal processing, still very much "alive." When I came back the second night, this special event was over, so I tried two other Budvar varieties that night, Tmavý Ležák (dark lager) and Světlý Ležák (light lager). As someone who previously considered himself more of a wine person than a beer person, these were all very good introductions to Czech beer and I knew I was going to have to set aside my prejudices based on experiences with American beers and let myself see what the Czech Republic had to offer.

Construction on the street in front of my pension

Penzion "U Vlka" (At the Wolf) where I stayed for 2 nights

A few blocks off the square

Strakonice - the town of bagpipes

2009-11-20T17:21:00.001-08:00

Hotel Švanda Dudák (Švanda the [Legendary] Bagpiper)

The Castle Compound

The front of the castle

The castle courtyard where some of the bagpipe festival concerts are held

The Tower (which had to be climbed)

See the separate posting on the Bagpipe Exhibit on display at the Museum in the Castle

On the town square

Bagpiper image - bottom center (above)

Penzion a restaurace "NA ZBOROVĚ", the "rough and ready pub" where I stayed and, as dinner, had two locally brewed beers, "Strakonický Dudák", named after the Czech word for bagpiper, and "Strakonický Nectar." My room was on the third floor with one of the gabled windows.

Bagpipe Exhibit in Museum at Strakonice Castle

2009-11-20T17:21:00.000-08:00

Blata Kroje (Folk costumes from Blata region)

2009-11-20T17:20:00.000-08:00

Postcards of three photos from 1890:

Two Blata women, 1890
Blata bride from back, 1890
Blata bride and groom, 1890

Displays from the museum in Veselí nad Lužnicí:

Photos from brochures and newspapers of current versions of Blata Kroje:

Shop in Nové Město nad Metují offering custom kroj work:

Czech cabinetmaking

2009-11-20T17:17:00.000-08:00

Displayed at the museum in Veselí nad Lužnicí:

From the Jewish Quarter in Prague:

On display at the city museum in Litomyšl

Art Deco Exhibit at the Museum in Hradec Králové

On display at the Museum in Hradec Králové

Student Work on display at the Museum in Hradec Králové

Praha - Hradčany (The Castle District)

2009-11-20T17:16:00.001-08:00

Strahov monastery gate

Strahovský klášter (Strahov monastery)

Loretánské náměstí (Loreto Square)

Door of the Černínský Palác across the square from Loreto Church, Sídlo Ministerstva zahraničních věcí České republiky (Location of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic)

Loreta (Loreto Church)

Loretánská ulice (Loreto street) towards the castle

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

Petřín Hill

Petřínská rozhledna, Petrin Tower

Schwarzenberský palác (Schwarzenberg palace), built by an Italian architect for a Czech nobleman, and thus a perfect example of the “Czech Renaissance.”

Hotel Pyramida, first night's stay

Pražský hrad (Prague Castle)

2009-11-20T17:16:00.000-08:00

Hradčanské náměstí (castle square) with Pražský hrad (Prague castle)

Castle main gate

Main entrance

Baroque fountain created by stone-mason Francesco de Torre and sculptor Jeroným Kohl in 1686

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850 – 1937), first president of Czechoslovakia, 1920-1935, statue in front of castle

Nový královský palác na Pražském hradě, sídlo prezidentské kanceláře (New Royal Palace at Prague Castle, seat of the presidency)

socha sv. Václava (Statue of St. Wenceslaus)

Bazilika Svatého Jiří (Basilica of St. George)

Entrance to the Royal Gardens

The Royal Gardens

Daliborka, named after the legendary Knight Dalibor of Kozojedy, who was imprisoned there at the end of the 15th century

Katedrála Svatého Víta (Saint Vitus Cathedral)

2009-11-20T17:15:00.001-08:00

The Windows: clockwise left to right from the west entrance

First two by František Kysela (1881 - 1941)

St. Cyril and Methodius, by Alphonse Mucha

"They who sow in tears shall reap in joy." Psalm 126:5
PRVNÍ ČESKÁ VZÁJEMNÁ POJIŠTOVNA NA PAMĚT STOLETÉHO JUBILEA SVÉHO ZALOŽENÍ
(First Czech Mutual Insurance Company in memory of the hundredth anniversary of its foundation)

Also by František Kysela

The silver tomb of St. John of Nepomuk

Praha – Malá Strana (Lesser Town)

2009-11-20T17:15:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1257.

Valdštejnský palác (Wallenstein Palace), now the Czech Senate building

2009-11-20T17:14:00.001-08:00

One of the few castle interiors where picture taking was allowed, so I made up here for all the other ones. The building is 400 years old.

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Czech Republic's entry into NATO

Arabic on sleeve!

What had been the stables, now the meeting chamber of the Czech Senate

The Chair of the Senate Committee on Compatriot Issues, our host and sponsor of the program at Dobruska. (With our Spanish and English translators)

Praha – Karlův most (Charles Bridge)

2009-11-20T17:14:00.000-08:00

Its construction was commissioned by Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and began in 1357.

Malostranské mostecké věže, Lesser Town Bridge Tower

Statue of St. John of Nepomuk

Staroměstská mostecká věž, Old Town Bridge Tower

Praha – Staré Město (Old Town)

2009-11-20T17:13:00.001-08:00

Chartered in 1234

Staroměstské náměstí, Old Town Square

Orloj - Staromětská radnice, Astronomical Clock - Old Town Hall

pomník Jana Husa, The statue of Jan Hus

chrám Panny Marie před Týnem, Church of Our Lady before Tyn

kostelem sv. Mikuláše, the Church of St. Nicholas

Starý židovský hřbitov, Old Jewish Cemetery

Praha – Nové Město (New Town)

2009-11-20T17:13:00.000-08:00

Founded by Charles IV in 1348

Václavské náměstí, Wenceslas Square

Socha sv. Václava, St. Wenceslas statue,

Národní muzeum, National Museum behind St. Wenceslas statue

Pivovar U Fleků, the famed brewery and beer hall, founded 1499

Tančící dům, the Dancing House, project by Frank Gehry in cooperation with Vlado Milunic on the corner at the Jiraskuv Bridge