Prague Gardens

The gardens in Prague are part of its glory, in my humble opinion. Additionally, in the past few weeks, I've heard more than one non-Czech, East European say that the gardens in Prague are wonderful. So, since spring sprung about 2 months ago, I've been enjoying the variety of gardens we have here.
Formal gardens
I have always liked the Prague Castle gardens, enjoying the views of the city.

I've always loved this tree, which reminds me of the wisteria we have at home.

More recently I've discovered the Wallenstein or Wallenštejn gardens in Malá Strana. I had seen it from the Castle for years but never knew how to get there, until Kari showed me on Easter :)

There are peacocks!

I'm still finding other formal gardens hidden around the city.

Other gardens
Then there are those that are not formal so much but definite green space, like Petřín hill, where we went for a picnic on Easter Monday. I've spent hours walking around that hill finding surprises around corners like this door that leads to another garden...


...or wandering around on a snowy day...One of my favorite places is Vyšehrad. I don't consider this a formal garden because it's not sculptured, etc but it's peaceful greenspace...

Beer gardens
However, my favorite type of garden is of the beer variety. Once the weather gets warm, and you see the cafes and restaurants putting out their outside tables you know that the beer gardens will open soon. For years, I had heard of the beer garden at Letná park. I finally went there a few weeks ago and was kind of let down. While it does have the promised view, the atmosphere is a little quiet...

...other than when my friends are there that is :)

Another good one is at Vyšehrad, but I don't seem to have a picture of that. When I had been before, they had a big grill going that had some amazing grilled goodies and we talked with some really nice people who wanted to try out their english :)

My favorite, so far, is Riegrovy Sady. I've been there a few times and really enjoyed the atmosphere.
Lots of people, food, beer, a big screen tv that shows sporting events...basically, an outside bar. And, as in other pubs around here, people will bring their children...
So, it wasn't so surprising that I had a good time one Sunday afternoon, sitting in the shade, drinking good beer, having good conversation with this group:

I think I might have finally found a type of gardening that I'm actually good at!

Sv. Jan Nepomucký - St. John of Nepomuk

One of my favorite Czech saints is Sv. Jan Nepomucký. Probably because he's one of the most famous but also because like all good saints, has some great legend built up around him. That, and you can ask him for favors if you visit his statue on Charles' Bridge. When my sister, Jill, and I were in Prague together a few years ago, I told her to ask Sv. Jan for a wish. Just put your left hand on his statue - I have recently heard that you must touch the five stars, one with each finger - and ask. She mentioned that it was a bit superstitious to which I replied, he's a saint, it's like an intercession...score one for me ;)





So, Sv. Jan lived in the latter half of the 14th century. From vitejte.cz:

"St John Nepomuk, a Czech patron saint, was one of the most devoutly worshipped saints in the Czech Lands in the Baroque period. Appointed vicar general under the archbishop Jan of Jenštejn, John Nepomuk became involved in a dispute with King Wenceslas IV concerning Kladruby Abbey. Legend has it, however, that he refused to disclose the confession secrets of the Queen. Nepomuk was tortured to death and his body thrown down into the River Vltava. Reportedly five stars appeared on the site where the body was found. These five stars were later adopted to serve as St John Nepomuk's symbol. Statues depicting John Nepomuk can be found practically in every village. More often than not they are situated on bridges as they are believed to protect against floods."

Legend also has it that the Queen was young and beautiful and supposedly cheating on the king there. But more realistic sources will say that he was dumped in the river more because of his political disagreements with the king. A month later, his body was buried. A few hundred years later, when he was exhumed, he was not fully decayed. What is now thought to be his brain, was believed to be his uncorrupted tongue, solidifying his place as a martyr for this refusal to break the confessional seal. Ironically, as one of my friends pointed out, he is the patron saint of sailors and bridges - yes, a guy who was thrown off a bridge and drowned.



So, why am I writing about him? Well, his feast day was a few weeks ago and the night before there was a Baroque festival to celebrate. Pontoons on the river held a platform for a baroque concert. Fireworks were promised, even gondolas...being patron saint of sailors also ties him closely to Venice. Plus, supposedly, the gondola is the only remaining baroque-era boat to still be in use...yes, I hang out with nerds...we're grad students...sue us.





So, naturally, we went to see what was happening. My friends and I gathered at the Ruldofinum and were highly disappointed. We saw the gondolas. Meh. We saw the stage set for the concert, which had no concert but did have a couple of giant evil-looking fish. We were hungry. So, we opted for dinner first. After finally finding space for 6 people on a Friday night, we ate, we were merry, we were tired...so after dinner only a few of us headed back toward the "festivities."







Not much to see. There was a small Medieval-themed market. But the night was nice and a lot of boats were out on the river. So, it was a nice evening. As I was heading towards my tram stop, I heard the faint strains of a Baroque concert.











Sunday morning, as I was walking across Charles Bridge, I saw the garland they laid where tradition has it that Jan went over the side. When showing the bridge to my friend Kasia who just visited, we figured that the 5 stars are on this memorial, not the statue. So, if that's how you make a wish come true, it's no wonder mine hasn't yet. We'll see if I got it right this time.

Beer Today, Wine Tomorrow

Last weekend was a 3-day weekend, in honor of Liberation Day, May 8. For sometime, we - as in a bunch of the Fulbrighters - had been talking about going to the Moravian wine country so this was a perfect time. We ended up in Znojmo, mainly because that's where we found the hotel space. Regardless, it turned out to be quite serendipitous and we had a great time.

We started on the bus which was standing room only. I wasn't aware that they did this so was very happy that we had seat reservations. I usually get a mistenka (seat reservation) when I buy my train ticket but didn't even think about it for the bus. Luckily, Laura was buying the tickets and had experience with this.

Laura and I on the bus - Amanda behind the camera.

When we got to Znojmo, we headed for the hotel and then found lunch! We were lucky to find a restaurant on the square that served great food. Then we started to explore a bit while waiting for our 4th member, Joanna, to arrive.Znojmo is really a lovely town with a number of churches














and a castle with a World Heritage Rotunda,

set along a river and hills with a number of small valleys.

We found a great little restaurant for dinner that served 13 different kinds of fried cheese! The other 3 were happy for the halušky. When Amanda was deciding what to drink, I suggested beer today and wine tomorrow, knowing that we'd be spending the evening in a wine cellar :)





Saturday dawned beautiful. After breakfast at the hotel, we headed toward the square to the weekly farmer's market and spring wine festival! I had read something about a festival in Znojmo but wasn't sure of the date. We got lucky!






Thinking it a bit early for wine, we decided to check out the Podzemi, or underground caves.
Built centuries ago, these caves have served as storage and hiding places during wartime. I especially enjoyed the variety of additions to the caves to give them more atmosphere including skeletons dressed in a variety of rotting costumes - monks, Templars, soldiers - and ghouls and the gnomes below.
Time for wine! We bought our tickets and tasted a variety of very nice local wines and enjoyed a variety of folk and other local bands.

This little boy was a joy to watch as he danced to the soundcheck for the next band :)
At some point we climbed the town hall tower.



It was a great afternoon topped off by a fabulous night! Amanda had contact with a small, family-owned winery and arranged for us to go for a tasting. In a word, adorable!





Around 30 years ago, the Adámek family began making wine. Recently, their son Petr bought his own cellar and began making his own. Petr was our guide for the evening.










We tried a variety of whites, roses and reds and learned about wine and a bit about the history of the area.










For example, during communism, a lot of the tunnels (like the one pictured here) were closed off due to the proximity of the area to the Austrian border.









We also got to pick some of the bottles we sampled, with the excuse that if it's bad, we are to blame. There was no blame on Laura for this bottle!






While most of our samples were from the large casks or barrels, at the end we ended up in the "treasury" tasting the same varietals from different years. Joined by Bora, the dog.

Afterwards, we sat outside and enjoyed some of our favorites.

On Sunday we headed back to our respective corners of the Czech Republic. It was a great weekend and I had a lot of fun! Thanks, ladies!

Feelin' Pretty

So, some of you know that I have been growing my hair for the past few years. Trying something new - or that I haven't had in 15 years - something different...something that might entice a man. Anyway, about a week or so ago, it was finally long enough to put up, as long as I put the bangs in a clip since they were still just a bit too short. And the sides. Anyway, I could do a wee little ponytail. When I wasn't doing that, I was putting headbands on or clips to hold my bangs back. Basically, anything to keep the hair out of the face and off my neck. Then I realized...that's what I liked about short hair. No hair in my face or on my neck. I obviously thought of this when it was hot last week and as I am spending 10 minutes drying my hair. So, after beggining my friends for advice - thanks, ladies! - I decided to get it cut. To go back to the "real" me. You can all blame my mother. She started cutting my hair short when I was in the first grade. And I did have it well past my shoulders for a few years in high school - I have no idea how I had the patience to let that grow out but I'm pretty sure the curling iron had a large role to play in that. Anyway, see below as to the transformation I went through today.

From BEFORE to AFTER.

PS. I LOVE JOANNE!