Nothing But Words

• I uploaded a YouTube video — Kai's Lego X-Men adventure http://bit.ly/JAOgI #
• Seeing Julie & Julia was a good idea. Skipping dinner and seeing it on an empty stomach was a really bad idea. #
• Just had a nice dinner at a friend's place. The weird thing was, for every couple, the men worked at Penn, and the women at Villanova #

Kai made this video entirely by himself, using Frame-by-Frame and Sound Studio on the Mac (I combined the audio and video for him using mencoder). Aside from occasional appearances by his hands, the only editing glitch is that he lost the first 5 seconds of audio. He’s been watching various home-made Lego animations on YouTube, so he wanted to try one himself. I uploaded it to YouTube at his request (direct link).

We returned from Prague on the Friday before last, and I still need to blog about the last half of the trip. We got back just in time for Philly’s first serious heat wave of the summer, and we spent that weekend getting over jet lag and putting our kitchen back together. Before I left to join Maria and the boys in Prague, I managed to get as far as re-installing the sink and the major appliances, but everything that goes in the cabinets was still in the basement, I hadn’t treated the new countertops yet (they’re wood butcher-block and need to be oiled before they’re used), and I had an electrical circuit to finish. There were still a lot of little things for me to finish in the kitchen over the course of the week as well, and the intense heat and humidity didn’t help. But I’m happy to report that Maria is pleased with our new kitchen

Ed and I built a wall where his garage door used to be (yes, we’re going to take down the basketball hoop too) View at Picasa Ed and I built a wall where his garage door used to be (yes, we're going to take down the basketball hoop too)

Yesterday I built the first of three firewood racks that I’ll need for this winter, to store 2 cords of wood. Popular Mechanics has a very simple and sturdy design plan for them. We had a Hampton HI300 wood burning stove installed earlier this summer, and we’re planning to use it as our primary heating source this winter (I got tired of $400+/month energy bills just to keep our house at 62 degrees, and these modern stoves burn very efficiently, putting out an amazing amount of heat and much less pollution than older stoves).

After the heavy rain last night, I had an unpleasant surprise when I turned on the ceiling fan in our top floor room this morning – it sprayed water all around the room. Fortunately there’s no visible water damage to the drywall on the ceiling, but I’m definitely calling a roofer tomorrow (after a friend of mine who’s a contractor fell off a roof a few years ago and broke his back, I’ve sworn off doing any roof work myself).

I spent today at my friend Ed’s house, framing a wall in place of the garage door we removed a few weeks ago. It all went fairly smoothly and we got it done in a day, including the door and window. Ed can pay me back in a few weeks when it’s time to install the flooring in our sunroom

• Back home after 3 weeks of travel. I'm now in a place called an "office" where I'm apparently supposed to do something known as "work" #
• Jet lag from a 6 hour time change (Prague) is worse than jet lag from a 13 hour time change (Tokyo). We've been up at 4am 3 days in a row. #
• @mister_eno Alas, I cannot name the beers. I don't speak German, so I would just ask for "beer" and then I'd always get something tasty. #
• How to be a better zombie – http://bit.ly/voSy3 #

• @MisterD – it's asking me for a username and password – is there a way to access it publicly? And sorry for the late reply – I'm on vacation #
• Rode the historic tram around Prague today, then the kids had a blast at the Areal Gutova playground http://bit.ly/HyrYx #
• Had a slower day today: left the apt late, spent a few hours in the castle district, did some grocery shopping, & now it's the boys' bedtime #
• was going to upload Budapest pics tonight, but discovered someone hacked my site. So instead I spent the night cleaning up the mess. Grrr. #
• @MisterD – thanks very much for working on this. I'll make one of the fixes they recommend in the next Shashin release. #
• http://twitpic.com/cryay – Happy Birthday Eidan! We took him out for burgers with Peter and 2 of the students #
• Went to the outskirts of Prague today to Little Hanoi for my favorite thing: a tasty bowl of pho – http://bit.ly/3YDdX2 #
• Visited Prague's small Museum of Communism today- sandwiched between a McDonald's and a casino- Lenin is turning over in his grave #
• @geni couldn't get the family tree to print correctly from Win XP or Ubuntu. Finally got it to print from Windows Vista- came out nicely #
• Just came across old photos online of my cousin John in GQ- he has a Toppa face, but not a Toppa nose- http://bit.ly/QHEq3 #
• All day train today for 2 days in LegoLand (Gunsberg) in Germany. Then Munich, Plzen, back to Prague, then home! Not sure when online again. #
• feeling decidedly apprehensive about boarding a train called "the Franz Kafka Express" #
• thought Czech beer was the best I ever had, but German beer is a revelation #

View of Prague from the top of Petrin Tower View at Picasa View of Prague from the top of Petrin Tower01-Aug-2009 21:42, SONY DSC-W55, 9.0, 9.4mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100

Maria and the boys decided to have a quiet day in the apartment, so I ventured into town on my own for an afternoon (they’ve been here for a month, so they’ve seen all the sights already). The central, historical part of Prague is separated into 4 neighborhoods – the Castle Quarter, Old Town, New Town, and Lesser Town. I picked Lesser Town as my destination. Compared to the other parts of town, it doesn’t have the grandest attractions, but it offers the most dazzling view of the city (from atop the Petřín Tower). What really drew me to it though is that it also offers the city’s most unusual attractions:

• The Wallenstein Palace Gardens, with its “grotesquery” (an enormous fake cave wall), owls, carp, free-roaming peacocks, and Wallenstein’s fresco of himself as Mars, the god of war. The garden’s Renaissance statues are replicas of the originals, which were stolen by an invading Swiss army in the 17th century (the originals are still in Sweden).
• The small museum of Jára Cimrman – a fictional Czech character – “the genius who is not yet famous” – who is depicted as “…one of the greatest Czech playwrights, poets, composers, teachers, travelers, philosophers, inventors, detectives and sportsmen of the 19th and early 20th century.” A few years ago he was voted the greatest Czech of all time in a Czech Television contest, much to the surprise of Czech TV, which subsequently disqualified him due to his non-existence.
• The moving (and disturbing) Monument to Victims of Communism Who Survived.
• The Lennon Wall – when Lennon was killed, this wall became covered with graffiti celebrating his life and music. It also became a focal point of quiet protest against the communist regime – every day the police would paint it over, and every night it would be covered with graffiti again.
• The Infant Jesus of Prague in the Church of St. Mary the Victorious – it’s a small statue of Jesus as an infant, which one of the Church’s priests said spoke to him once. Since then “claims of blessings, favors and miraculous healings have been made by many who petitioned before the Infant Jesus… Today, thousands of pilgrims pay homage to the Infant of Prague each year.”

A few days later, I visited the Palace gardens again with Maria and the boys, and the boys got in some playtime at the small Kampa playground on the Charles river (so the pictures below are from both outings).

View at Picasa Monument to the victims of communism who survived28-Jun-2009 19:48, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200	View at Picasa This line runs in front of the Monument, quantifying some of the suffering under the Communist government – 205,486 were imprisoned, 248 were executed, etc.01-Aug-2009 20:59, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa View of Prague from the top of Petrin Tower01-Aug-2009 21:42, SONY DSC-W55, 9.0, 9.4mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa View of Prague from the top of Petrin Tower01-Aug-2009 21:42, SONY DSC-W55, 9.0, 9.4mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa "Cimrman's famous famine spoon" – Cimrman is a fictional Czech historical character, credited with a number of silly inventions01-Aug-2009 21:56, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.125 sec, ISO 1000	View at Picasa After beer, absinth is probably the most popular drink in Prague. This shop on Nerudova St offers absinth ice cream03-Aug-2009 23:06, SONY DSC-W55, 3.5, 9.4mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa View down Nerudova St03-Aug-2009 23:33, SONY DSC-W55, 4.0, 12.4mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The Lennon Wall – when John Lennon died, this wall became covered with graffiti celebrating his life. Day after day the communist police would paint it over, but each night it would be covered with graffiti again.01-Aug-2009 22:41, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Prague's last water wheel – all the others were destroyed in the 2002 flood01-Aug-2009 22:54, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa The canal that runs to the water wheel01-Aug-2009 22:57, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The Infant of Prague – worshipers come from around the world to pray at this small statue01-Aug-2009 23:08, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 1000	View at Picasa The stage at Wallenstein Palace01-Aug-2009 23:51, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa The fake cave wall at Wallenstein Palace01-Aug-2009 23:57, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Maria and the boys at Wallenstein Palace04-Aug-2009 00:03, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The Charles Bridge04-Aug-2009 18:56, SONY DSC-W55, 11.0, 14.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa The Charles Bridge02-Aug-2009 00:08, SONY DSC-W55, 5.0, 16.3mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa At the base of the Manesuv bridge, looking down Kaprova street to the Church of St Nicholas02-Aug-2009 00:14, SONY DSC-W55, 10.0, 12.4mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100

View at Picasa Eidan's birthday in Prague05-Aug-2009 01:47, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Eidan's birthday in Prague05-Aug-2009 03:29, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa Eidan's birthday in Prague05-Aug-2009 03:57, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 160	View at Picasa Eidan's birthday in Prague05-Aug-2009 01:50, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100

We celebrated Eidan’s birthday last night at Jama – a restaurant specializing in American hamburgers and Tex-Mex food. Maria tells me it’s hard to find good burgers in Prague, but the food at Jama’s is comparable to a place like Chili’s; perhaps slightly better. We generally don’t look for American food much when traveling, but for Eidan’s birthday we wanted to pick a place the boys were sure to enjoy.

Two of Maria’s students joined us – Gisela and Tai – along with Peter – a native of Prague who has helped Maria with planning trips for the students. Eidan has been excitedly talking about his birthday for about two months now, and I think he was especially happy that some of the students came (he refers to them as “the boys” even though there are women in the group too). Over the course of the meal he kept sneaking under the table to try getting at his bag of presents, but I managed to intercept him each time. After dinner we sang happy birthday to him over brownies and ice cream, and then he finally got to open his presents. As we walked back to our apartment after dinner, he zig-zagged down the sidewalk like a drunken sailor and babbled on excitedly about his new toys.

Buda Castle at night, viewed from the Danube View at Picasa Buda Castle at night, viewed from the Danube31-Jul-2009 04:35, SONY DSC-W55, 4.0, 12.4mm, 0.1 sec, ISO 1000

When I take a trip I like to know at least a little about where I’m going. For our short excursion to Budapest, I didn’t. Maria let her students pick the destination for a weekend trip, and they picked Budapest. Before I left Philadelphia, I was so busy with the kitchen remodel work that I only had a little time to read up on Prague, and didn’t have a chance to find out anything about Budapest. After two fun, busy days seeing Prague, I got on an overnight train with Maria, the boys, and the four students.

We got off to a rough start on the train – the couchette we thought was ours was already occupied, and the conductor made a point of being as unhelpful as he could. Stuck standing in the train car’s narrow aisle, we eventually persuaded him to take our tickets out of his pocket and look at them again, and then he grudgingly admitted he had brought us onto the wrong car. Everything went smoothly after that, except for the train itself – the boys liked the triple bunks, and they went right to sleep along with Maria, but I couldn’t sleep at all. Each time I almost drifted off to sleep, the train would screech to a halt at its next stop. Also, I was on the top bunk, and it took me a while to get comfortable enough with the situation to stop worrying I’d get thrown to the floor if we stopped too quickly.

After getting my first glimpse of the city as we walked out of Keleti station, I began to worry how the weekend would go. Viewed from the steps of the station, the city looked grim, poor, and unwelcoming. But I’m happy to say my first impression was wrong. While not as evidently wealthy as Prague, Budapest is a beautiful city and rich in history.

We spent our first day in Buda – the side of the city west of the Danube (the eastern side is Pest). Budapest is south of Prague, and at 90 degrees it was considerably hotter. The students went off on their own, and Maria and I set out with the boys to explore. A city map acquired at the hotel, and less than an hour of internet research were our guides. We had a good time exploring. Maria and I make a good team when traveling – I bring the maps and the planning, and she brings the intuition and street smarts. Too much of the former can lead to missing unexpected opportunities, and too much of the latter can lead to chaos. A good mix of both made for a successful day. We spent most of the day in the area surrounding Buda Castle, home to Hungarian royalty since the 13th century. Since it was so hot, we also spent some time in the very silly but considerably cooler, underground Buda Castle Labyrinth. It’s filled with fake historical artifacts, such as fossilized remains of ancient computers, complete with keyboards and monitors. In the evening we took a one hour cruise on the Danube. While many of Budapest’s historical buildings suffer from graffiti and inadequate maintenance, all of that disappears at night – the city looked absolutely gorgeous from the river.

The next day we visited Pest. Our hotel (the Charles Hotel – reasonably priced and clean) was in Buda, but by this time we had figured out the buses, and their routes were well marked on our map, so we didn’t have trouble getting around. We started the day at the enormous St. Stephen’s Basilica, and then took our time wandering up Andrássy Avenue, which “…is an iconic boulevard… dating back to 1872… Flanked by Eclectic Neo-renaissance palaces and houses featuring fine facades, staircases and interiors, it was recognised as a World Heritage Site in 2002.” The avenue ends at City Park. By the time we arrived there, Eidan had fallen asleep in his stroller, so Kai and I had some fun exploring the grounds of Vajdahunyad Castle, while Maria took a break in a shady spot with Eidan. We ended the day at the Szechenyi Baths. Although I didn’t know this before we arrived in Budapest, the city is famous for its hot spring baths. After a day and half of walking around, the boys needed something that was fun for them. Szechenyi has 3 large baths – one hot, one lukewarm, and one cold. The cold one is intended mainly for lap swimming, the lukewarm one for kids to play in, and the hot one for adults to relax in. The boys had a great time there, and the natural spring water feels great on your skin, so we arrived at the train station feeling refreshed and ready for our overnight trip back to Prague. There was some anxiety for a while since the students arrived at the last minute, but our train ended up leaving late anyway, so fortunately our departure worked out fine. And this time I managed to get at least a few hours of sleep.

I took almost 200 pictures, but I narrowed it down to 21 in order to preserve the sanity of my blog readers

Next »

View at Picasa Our sleeping car on the overnight train from Prague to Budapest30-Jul-2009 05:16, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa An apartment building near the Buda castle30-Jul-2009 19:23, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa A fake archaeological find of a computer, in the Buda Labyrinth30-Jul-2009 20:40, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 320
View at Picasa The Parliament building, on the shore of the Danube30-Jul-2009 21:24, SONY DSC-W55, 11.0, 16.3mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Kai rocks Budapest30-Jul-2009 19:27, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Buda castle30-Jul-2009 22:03, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa 31-Jul-2009 01:45, SONY DSC-W55, 10.0, 12.4mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200	View at Picasa The Inner City Parish Church, near the Elizabeth Bridge31-Jul-2009 02:53, SONY DSC-W55, 3.5, 9.4mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The Chain Bridge at night31-Jul-2009 04:11, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 1000
View at Picasa Buda Castle at night, viewed from the Danube31-Jul-2009 04:35, SONY DSC-W55, 4.0, 12.4mm, 0.1 sec, ISO 1000	View at Picasa The Parliament building at night31-Jul-2009 04:21, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.04 sec, ISO 1000	View at Picasa The Jewish Synagogue, at the end of Adrassy ut31-Jul-2009 18:03, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa A typical street in Budapest – some buildings are in better shape than others31-Jul-2009 18:08, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa St. Stephen's Basilica31-Jul-2009 18:26, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The altar in St. Stephen's Basilica31-Jul-2009 18:33, SONY DSC-W55, 3.5, 9.4mm, 0.125 sec, ISO 320
View at Picasa Heroes' Square31-Jul-2009 21:03, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The Church of Jak, adjacent to Vajdahunyad Castle31-Jul-2009 21:24, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa A bust of Bela Lugosi, tucked away in a back corner of Vajdahunyad Castle31-Jul-2009 21:31, SONY DSC-W55, 3.5, 9.4mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100

« Previous

View at Picasa Vajdahunyad Castle31-Jul-2009 21:28, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100

View at Picasa The Szechenyi natural hot spring baths01-Aug-2009 00:20, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100

View at Picasa A sign on the train from Budapest to Prague, written in 5 languages – none of them English01-Aug-2009 13:29, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 250

• "Eidan, don't be so naughty." "I not naughty, I just pretending." #
• @MisterD it Safari seems to have trouble with table captions – did you change the margins/padding? http://bit.ly/18oXqU #
• Walked all around Prague yesterday – what a beautiful city! Headed to Budapest tonight – probably a few days before I can post more pics. #
• Maria and the boys slept well on the overnight train to Budapest. I hardly slept at all, but I'm holding up ok so far. #
• Budapest's historical buildings clearly suffered more under communism than Prague's; that or the sagging economy has prevented restoration #
• Budapest was hot, and rundown but beautiful; the people were friendly. Took a great night cruise on the Danube. Will sort out pics tonight. #
• Another night without much sleep on the overnight train back to Prague; Maria and the boys slept fine. I'm heading out solo this afternoon. #

Maria and the boys have been in Prague for a month, and I’ve been with them for the past week. We’ve had 2 days in Prague, 2 days in Budapest, and then 2 days back here in Prague. Now I need to catch up with blogging – I’ll start with my first 2 days.

Prague’s architecture is overwhelming. If you randomly selected a building from Prague, and transported it to a city like Philadelphia or Boston, it would stand out as one of the city’s remarkable buildings. But here there is one finely detailed Medieval, Baroque, or Renaissance building after another. The occasional Soviet-era faceless and bland concrete building actually isn’t unwelcome.

I didn’t sleep on my overnight flight here, so on my first day I followed Maria around town in a mental fog. The buildings were so dazzling I was taking pictures of practically everything I walked past (after a couple hours the realization that I needed to be a bit more judicious with the camera eventually penetrated my foggy head). She mainly took me around the “Old Town” area.

The language, with it’s heavy mix of consonants, is a challenge. A phrase as simple as “thank you” takes some practice for an American. It’s also tricky to sound out words when doing things like reading off a menu, because the pronunciation of certain letters isn’t the same as English and there are several unfamiliar inflection marks (like ě and ý). Fortunately, most of the people we’ve encountered so far either speak at least a small amount of English (especially young people), or are patient enough to work things out with hand gestures. However, outside the touristy areas they tend to get impatient with clueless Americans.

Czech food is tasty but very heavy, and Czech beer is really good (although I say this as someone who knows nothing about beer – to me it tastes smoother and less bitter than most American beers). Fortunately the Italian restaurants here are also very good, as the Czech food is just too much after a while. After seeing people shop in the grocery stores for the past month, Maria’s impression is that a lot of the Czech people do in fact eat sausages, schnitzels, goulash, etc on a daily basis.

The streets are cleaner than most American cities (even outside the tourist areas), and the subways and trams are modern and efficient. On average the people are much quieter than Americans – friends will chat quietly, and even a crowded subway platform is relatively silent.

On my second day we rented a paddle boat from Slovansky island in the Vltova river (the river separates the two sides of Prague) – some of my nicer pictures are from the paddle boat. Then in the late afternoon we returned to the apartment to pack for our 2 day trip to Budapest.

View at Picasa The St. Gallus Church in Old Town – built in the 13th century28-Jul-2009 20:06, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Traditional Czech food – goulash, schnitzel, and a noodle casserole – heavy stuff28-Jul-2009 20:19, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Near Old Town Square28-Jul-2009 20:55, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa The Powder Tower, in Old Town28-Jul-2009 21:01, SONY DSC-W55, 8.0, 8.2mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The art nouveau Municipal House, home to Prague's largest concert hall28-Jul-2009 21:05, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The Jan Hus Memorial, with the Tyn Church behind it28-Jul-2009 21:57, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa Old Town Square and the Pastel Houses28-Jul-2009 21:58, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The Havelska street market28-Jul-2009 22:04, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The boys reaction to our suggestion to go out29-Jul-2009 19:21, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa One end of the Charles Bridge – the Klementium (national library), Smetana Museum, and the St. Francis of Assisi chruch29-Jul-2009 20:30, SONY DSC-W55, 13.0, 18.9mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa View along the Vltava river, from the Legii bridge29-Jul-2009 20:50, SONY DSC-W55, 8.0, 7.2mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The National Theater29-Jul-2009 21:16, SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100
View at Picasa The controversial Dancing House, designed by Frank Gehry29-Jul-2009 21:33, SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa The boys enjoying a milkshake at Cafe Slavia – one of Prague's grand old cafes29-Jul-2009 22:43, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Lahudky – Czech open face sandwiches30-Jul-2009 01:03, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100