Žižkov is my neighborhood

Katie is visiting. We saw a blind hussite on his horse, and the TV tower, with David Černy's babies crawling up the sides.

The Czech Union of Chimney Climbers

Boxing day had us accompanying two official members of the Czech Union of Chimney Climbers (number of members:700) to Najdek, where a chimney of 70 meters awaited their ascent. Some of the rules for the club: only chimneys over 15 meters count, you can only climb one chimney per day (the purpose is for the beauty of the view not the quantity of chimneys), no alcohol while climbing, and you must log all your climbs on the official website, which lists all chimneys in the country, their height, gps location and a picture of each. Number of deaths in the chimney climbing club: 1.

Dobrá Čaj

Hey Burlington Vermonters: This tea shop is in your town too!




Prague, Czech Republic

A hike to the top

This hotel on top of Mount Klinovec was where Michal and his eighth grade spent a ski weekend, and where one of Michal's bunk-mates forgot about a whole roasted chicken that his mom had cooked for him. After four days, when the boys smelled something "like old socks", they discovered the chicken, all wrapped in tinfoil, and decided (naturally) to throw it out the window, where it was presently discovered by a pack of local dogs who howled and fought over the chicken all night.
Now, the hotel is a ghost, covered by early snow.

Film Photos from Greece.

I finally got these developed from August on Aegina island. Makes November in Central Europe a rather dark place...

Shots of New Hampshire

I spent quite a bit of time in between New Hampshire and Vermont this past May and June, crossing the Connecticut river. I parked in the middle of a Savings Bank BBQ to take the picture of the river on this day. Other shots include: Souvenir shop near the Kancamagus Highway, and Tibetan Prayer Flags from an intern's room at my father's farm.

Velvet Revolution 2009

Tuesday, November 17th marked the 20th Anniversary of the fall of communism in the CR. We followed the original protest path from 1989, passing a few Austrian-German Banks, American fast-food chains, and British super stores. It has been 20 years, after all.
Radio Free Europe reports

Fish Haul Clip

See the fish get pulled in by nets! Hear my annoying voice! Got to love video.

Sweet Soy Log

Parsley is merely a serving suggestion

Mmm, who doesn't love a hunk of sweet soy? Next to the Milka chocolate, the wafer bars and the Orbitz gum, you can still find the old fashioned Sójové řezy bar in the Czech Out Aisle. The name roughly translates to "soya cuts," and the filling treasure costs 50 American cents. Apparantly, Sójové řezy has remained popular enough that Nestle bought up the name and recipe. The packaging however, remains the same as pre-Revolution era.
As for taste, Soya Cuts is sort of like a fatty, cookie dough with traces of coconut and almond extract. My roommate swears there is also a trace of permanent marker.

Here are the ingredients, thanks to Google Translate. All words are verbatim:
Sugar, soy flakes, glucose-fructose syrup, Plant fat, dried milk, wheat flour wafer, aromas, museums containing traces of peanuts and almonds.

Two Students of Mine.

Martin loves Lenka, but does Lenka love Martin? These two play footsie beneath the table while I teach, but are also subject to lovers quarrels. Are they just friends? Dating? The subtleties are in Czech--I'll probably never know.

Saturday Fish Haul, Manetin

First they drain the pond, then they catch all the fish-- mostly the bottom feeding carp-- in nets. All the while, people are drinking beer and grog and milling about the pond banks, watching. Also caught: two snapping turtles, and three giant catfish. Then people line up to buy. You can have it alive, or bonked on the head, gutted and put into a flowery plastic bag. Carp lunch ensues.

Canteens: learn your vocabularly first

Foreigners must classically meet their demise at the Czech canteen. This home-cooked, fast-food eating facility offers cheap, filling meals, and a menu unintelligible to the layman's eye. Attendants don't speak English, (as if! imagine the withering look)and only some of the food can be seen steaming from beneath sterling silver buffet trays. The lunch-hour mood is busy and terse, with an impatient clientele not thrilled about indecisive anglos ahead of them in line.

I found myself in one such situation the other day, though I was doggedly ready to take the punches and succeed. Or so I thought.
First upset: they were out of chicken (kuřecí).
Second upset: I didn't understand anything else on the menu but rice and potatoes.
Third upset: I ordered rice and játra, thinking the brown gravy and meat chunks was a strange, but possibly palatable goulash.
Third upset continued: játra, it turns out, is liver. And this was pork liver, big healthy chunks of it. After one mouthful of the dense, rich-like-blood morsel, I felt ill.

Above is a picture of my friend Jen, eating her innocuous plate of risotto. You can see my plate too. Needless to say, I felt jealous of her at that moment.

The Czech Out Aisle number 5

When I lived with my Slovak friend Zita this summer, she introduced me to many culinary delites (creamy pork and pasta for one). Sleďový závitky was another surprise: pickled carrots, cabbage and peas wrapped in an equally pickled herring, packed below a solid, you-gotta-work-for-the-calories gelatin top.



Though not as ghastly fishy tasting as I had anticipated, the rolled fish snack tasted most strongly of vinegar. Zita wanted me to go back for more: "Don't worry, there's so much of it. Have some!" she said. I feigned being full. And then my camera caught Zita looking none too sure about the situation either.

Tuesday at 5pm

Central Europe switches to daylight savings time

Bogusha making Snitzel

Photo Natalie Conn

My story about the Polish Deli is up again, along with a portrait of the chain smoking whirl-wind Bogusha herself. Natalie Conn and Peter Smith run a must see sound/story site out of Portland, Maine. Check it out at: The Sunday Best.

The Tall Lady of Poverty

Near Old Town Square, Prague.

Michal's Grandparents

Marie cooks constantly. Vaclav has Parkinsons disease, but he also speaks German and a little bit of English. "Welcome," he says gesturing with a wobbly hand to their home. "Oh, yes." Marie serves us pork steaks, vegetables and rice, followed by apples, kolac, chocolate. Their dog, Bara, is fat as a tick after too much blood sucking. Marie reports that Bara has eaten three whole chickens over the course of two weeks.
Vaclav tells us about traveling to China with Prague's orchestra in the 1950's. He played the bassoon. "It was terrible, being married to a musician," Marie says. "He was a good looking man, and there were too many women around." Vaclav chuckles happily. "Oh, yes."