Hradčany

This is the main delight, the tourist destination extraordinaire of Prague, Prague Castle. Well, it is a church inside a castle, which has a killer moat. Jake is visiting from Budapest. "It looks like a giant pine cone," he said, when he saw the church. He was right. Then we watched the workers clean the courtyard in the late afternoon.

Makový Koláč

This was a breakfast item recently, and I have to admit, I have fallen in love with the koláč, (say "kolach") a traditional Czech pastry filled with sweet quark, jam and poppy seeds (mak). The word koláč simply means cake, and it can also be a savory snack, but usually the packaged rolls in the carb aisle come looking a little like a round, culinary flag, like the cukrářský koláč (fancy cakes) above.

Business Line newspaper claims that the Czech Republic produced 59,000 tons of poppy seeds in 2008, Turkey being their only real competitor in the poppy seed market. Below you can see a field of white poppy pods (next to miles of sugar beets) in the distance near Solany, Czech Republic, waiting to be harvested this past June.

Last Week

1. One cherub beating up another cherub in the Vrtbovska Garden, Prague.
2. Another cherub, same garden.
3. Face, Dresden, Germany.
4. Above the gelato stand, Flora Mall, Prague.

Pâté Centrum

This will certainly be an ethnocentric grocery entry, because I first saw the aisle of paštika and pomazánka (pâté and meat spread) and thought it was cat food. The tins are little and cute, with peel back covers and unintelligible (to me, the Anglo) ingredients. I peered at them, expecting to find a kitty licking its furry lips a la Fancy Feast. Ne ne, the spreads are for humans instead, and many of the pâtés have the Eiffle Tower on them, adding a little je ne sais quoi to their potential deliciousness. While scrutinizing brands at the Hypernova, My boyfriend assured me that Májka is a classic Czech pâté--indeed, no France reference in sight--though the original comes in a proper tin can. Made from pork liver and spices, it is usually eaten with rohlík (see Czech Out Aisle 2. Official definition is "pointed roll") as a snack.

As a rule I limit my liver consumption to less than once a month, and recently I ate a fried rabbit version for Sunday lunch. So I sampled the pikantni pomazánka (spicy tomato and pork spread) instead of the pâté.
(Note: Wikipedia says that Pâté "is a mixture of ground meat and fat minced into a spreadable paste", and liver is an optional addition)
The liverless variety tasted inexplicably like Prego tomato meat sauce, sort of spicy tomato-y with a strong sensation of animal, though it didn't seem to matter which one. Very salty, and definitely preservative tasting (I can't say I've actually sampled Fancy Feast, but...) pikantni pomazánka most resembles a lighter Spam, and perhaps if the '50's had been a little spicier, the U.S. might sell something similar to this, which is labeled Pro Labužníky (for the gourmand).

At less than 12 crown per tin, the gourmand here can save his cash for a sausage or two, and go home happy. I just hope he doesn't put his pâtés on the same shelf as Fluffy's food, though perhaps it would be no great mix-up.

Zita and her promotional video

This is my friend Zita who went to Madrid recently to seek her fortune. She made a video for TEFL Worldwide where we all studied to teach english in Prague, and you can see it here: TEFL Video

The Roses on Petrin Hill

Not pictured: pear trees laden with fruit, wedding parties (at least 2) and German tourists, eating ice cream.

Dresden Tram Stop

Cool windows, made better by being broken:

Dresden, as the day goes on

For reasons that are beyond my capacity to understand, if you are a foreigner applying for a visa in the Czech Republic, you need to leave the Czech Republic in order to formally apply for your visa. Many people choose the lovely and conveniently close to Prague (2 hours by bus or train) Dresden, Germany, as their visa host town, and I am one of these. The cheapest tickets always seem to be in the middle of the night though, so for the second time, I found myself in Dresden, completely delirious and awaiting my bus's return, ten hours later.
1. Train station sweets and coffee shop, 5am.
2. Banhaft as the sun appears
3. Reconstruction along the Elbe River 3. Reconstructed Historic Inner City 4. Scene Scape 5. 11:00 am lunch at Subway (not a cheap or delicious option. shouldn't i already know that?)

Kutná Hora

The town of Kutná Hora , an hour east of Prague, has become synonomous with bones, not because of the huge sandstone cathedral or the history of silver mines, but because of a small ossuary on the other side of town. The ossuary is flanked by a city cemetary, and the story goes that when everyone started dying of the Bubonic Plague, the cemetary expanded tremendously. But there were too many bones, and during the town's reconstruction, a lot of them were dug up and placed inside the small chapel. Well, "placed" is not really the right verb. We'll say "stacked", "arranged" and/or "displayed." Huge pyramids of skulls, various Caldor-esque mobiles, and a proper chandelier (and let's not forget the recreation of one important familie's coat of arms) are all made out of bones in this dark basement. There are supposed to be 40,000 people stacked up in there. Tourists flock here by the thousands, and for the 50kc entrance fee, I suppose it's worth the look. Though you do leave feeling a little bizarre.