PHOTOS!

December 21, 2007
Flying over the German/Czech borderlands. No big mountains, but lots of neat hills and meandering rivers. Gorgeous sunset!

Tim's club- Radost FX

This is the underground lounge. Tim did the upolstery, painting, wall papering, design. I love this room! It's so silvery and mirrory. Can't wait for the New Year's Eve party in there!

We spend a lot of time on the escalators to the subway. Some of them are frighteningly fast, others have major wind issues. It's fun to see the posters for American movies like "Mr Magorium's magic emporium" and "PS I love you". I also enjoy the posters for something called "underwear in a can".

View of Wenceslas Square from the steps of the National History Museum. This is where the 1989 demonstrations against Communism took place. Imagine the entire length and breadth (in the night photo, as far as you can see lights) filled with people holding hands and singing. Half a million people. Below the statue is where Jan Paluk immolated himself to protest the Communist regime in 1969, an earlier protest.

The Charles Bridge (Karlovy Most). Prague Castle in the background on the hill. There are vendors all along the bridge, selling things like hand-drawn portraits and paintings of the town. There are also 30 giant statues of saints like Ludmilla (Wenceslas' mother) and Christopher and Cyril. The oldest statue, St. John Nepomuk was carved in 1683. The newest, St. Cyril with St. Methodius, was carved in 1938. We climbed the tower to take this photo:

Then we spent lots of very pretty money. The exchange rate has been about 18 Krowns to 1 Dollar.

This is another of Prague's 8 bridges.

And Tim showing demonstrating the process of preparing Absinthe. It involves a spoonful of sugar, a lighter, and a very strong stomach. It's awful! But I'm glad we all tried it. I'll try to post the video later.

Across from Tim's apartment is a delivery pizza place called "Pizza Go Home".

I apologize too....

Wireless internet is very hard to pick up in my flat. I could have been posting while at work though. Oops!

I thought I would also mention that we went to the Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. The cathedral is apparently one on the three largest in the world. The castle is the largest in the world. About 8 footbal fields would fit in the castle grounds.

We toured the Charles bridge. Construction of this bridge was started 571 years ago. It is only for pedestrians and completely lined with statues of saints. The little quarter (MalaStrana) is the oldest neighborhood in Prague and is at West end of the bridge. We walked through their and had hot mead. A hot spiced white wine.

Also, a lot of time has been spent in the restaurant/Club I also call home; Radost FX. Erin helped me out one day so far and I will be recruiting more help for New Years Eve. We have a lot of pressure to be the best party in Prague as we just got the the results of a poll for the best nightclubs in the world and Radost FX came in at #8!!!!!! We were the only Czech club in the top 100!!!! Hoorayy!!!!

So this evenning we will defy all odds and post pictures!!! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!!!

My apologies for lack of posts since we came to Prague. There is absolutely nothing reliable about the internet here. Before I get kicked off again, here is a list of places we've visited:

Natural History Museum- the books say it isn't worth a visit, but that's wrong! It was amazing! Tons of killer fossils and neato mineral samples, and a giant stuffed Mammoth head.

Old Town Square- the astrological clock is hard to figure out, but at the hour it bongs and a line of saints parade past the windows. Very cool! Also, the Christmas Eve mass was not really very "massy". It was more of a concert. Beautiful music (in Czech, so we didn't sing along) and millions of xmas lights.

National Opera- On Xmas day, we went to see a performance of the folk stories of the Czech people, performed mostly by children. It was incredible- the dancing was beautiful, and the songs were very cheery (which is odd because these are the grumpiest, rudest, most awful people in the world).

Museum of Communism- it really is above a McDonald's! And next to a casino! And down from Bennetton! It tells the story of how Communism began, and why it seemed like a good idea. Then it follows the path from the idealism of Marx to the abuses by pretty much everyone after Marx. It told the story of the "Velvet Revolution" (foreign media's name for the CZ's overthrow of Communism). It took Poland 10 years to beat Communism. Hungary, 10 months, East Germany 10 weeks. Czechoslovakia 10 days. Amazing to watch the video footage of people who look like most of us, dress like most of us, and are my Mom's age- peacefully marching in Wenceslas Square, and being beaten by police (uniformed and plain-clothed). But it worked, and Vaclac Havel (essayist and philosopher) was elected President.

Because I'm on Robert's computer (and my photos are saved on Tim's computer), no photos today. I will try to trick the internet gods into letting me blog tomorrow.

I hope everyone is well and had good holidays. We're all sick today, and taking a much-needed break from tromping all over Prague.

Ahoy! (Goodbye)
Dobre nacs! (Goodnight)

My Photographic Handicap

I know everyone is eager to see pictures of the places we are and will be writting about. My dilema is I am just completely stupid with computers. The fact that I am posting on a blog is a miracle. Actually, I have been struggling with an ailing computer, and stuck memory card and the inability to use my computer to connect to the internet. Furthermore, my computer decided it no longer wishes to burn images to CD for me. We haven't spoken in weeks as a result. I blame communism. Tomorrow when the Cahills unite in Prague there will hopefully be some resolve. Till then hold tight and check out www.radostfx.cz. The nighclub I work in. There may be a few new pictures like the room with the blue light wall in baroque patterns is my work. I promise though I will figure out how to get you pictures of a bloodied carp on the sidewalk in Prague!!!!

The Carp Are Out .....

......And the streets are bloody with there sacrificial Christmas Cheer.

One of the big Czech traditions is in full swing this Christmas. On many busy squares and intersections you will find large tubs of water with giant carp swimming around inside. Outside the tubs you find large men in blood and guts splattered jumpsuits yelling at the carp. People walk up, pick one out and the flearless jumpsuit wearing man goes in after the fish. It seems the fish are not worthy adversaries because the men always prevail. Their victory of the catch is followed by loud shouts, so far I can't understand them, and then fish brutality. On the sidewalks in front of commuters, tourists and soon to be owner of fresh fish meat, the carp it sliced open. Blood runs from the carp, through the cobble stone and into the gutters. Once fully emptied of the unwanted inards, the proud new owners pays the large jumpsuited man and the rest of the carp swim and wait.

Merry Christmas!!!

Czech Trivia

This all comes from http://www.myczechrepublic.com/basics/trivia, http://members.shaw.ca/stauderm/html/czech_trivia.html, and http://www.princeton.edu/~slavic/Czech/Czech%20Webpage%20Files/facts.html

Did You Know?

...that the soft contact lens was invented in Czechoslovakia by professor Otto Wichterle in 1961.

.....that the word "robot" comes from the Czech language ("robota" = "work", "hard work" in some dialects) and was first introduced in Josef and Karel Capek's science-fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots).

.... The origin of the sugar cube can be traced to the Czech town of Dačice.

Famous Czechs

Alphonse Mucha, Franz Kafka, Ivan Lendl.

Did you further know?

...that Czech astronomers have named an asteroid "Dominik" after Dominik Hasek to thank the goalie for his contribution in the 1998 Winter Olympics.

...that Sigmund Freud was born in and spent the first years of his life in what is now the Czech Republic?

...the Czechs have been drinking beer since time immemorial. The secret of Czech beer is that agricultural conditions are ideal for growing hops, and chronicles establish their cultivation in Bohemia as early as 859 A.D., while the first evidence of their export dates back to 903. Bohemian hops were so prized that King Wenceslas ordered the death penalty for anyone caught exporting the cuttings, from which new plants could be grown.

Population Facts

from http://www.princeton.edu/~slavic/Czech/Czech%20Webpage%20Files/facts.html

Population StatisticsTotal Pop: 10,249,216 people

(51.3% female, 48.7% male)

22.8% under the age of 19

13.8% over the age of 65

81.2 % Czech

13.2% Moravian

3.1% Slovak

39.8% atheist

39.2% Roman Catholic

4.6%, Protestant

3%, Orthodox

13.4% Other

Geography

Area: About 30,450 sq miles (78,866 sq km), slightly smaller than South Carolina

Climate: The average annual temperature ranges between 5.5°C (42°F) and 10°C (50°F), but temperatures are lower in the mountains.

The average annual rainfall is 693 mm (27 inches). The normal summer temperature varies between 23°C (73°F) and 29°C (84°F), and the normal winter temperature varies between -11°C (12°F) and 0°C (32°F).

The highest peak, Snežka, in the western mountains, has an annual average snowfall of 130 days.

The never ending Decorations.....

Never in my life did I ever think that all I would do from 8am to 11pm everyday was decorate, take down and then redecorate. Radost FX is the nighclub/restaraunt I do interior decorating for. Having been established longer than any other nightclub in the city the holidays are one party after another. I just finished decorating for a party and the doors open in 30 minutes. five hours from now I will take down some of it and then start adding more for tomorrow nights party. This is how it has worked for the last month now and will go on past New Year's. The club ceiling has around 300 snowflakes of different sizes dangling from it and more are going up. I am making icecycles taller then myself to go from the ceiling to the just above the floor. Friday is a Hollywood party with a lot of stage performances. For that I am making a twenty meter long film strip to wrap around the bar and a backdrop of the Hollywood Hill's in snow. In between the parties are catering events. Setting tables with candles, flowers and fabrics. Of course it is also my job to do the general upkeep. I have a bed cover to make out of silver snake print vinyl, a sofa in the VIP area to reupholster, lot's of painting. It sounds impossible but somehow I have to figure out how to get it all done......in the next couple days!!!!