Czeching In
After a wonderful week-long vacation to Eastern Europe, I'm back in full force.
This past week our entire group trekked across Germany to the oft-forgotten Czech Republic. We stayed in the capital city of Prague (really the only place worth visiting in the country) and went on a variety of excursions.
First off, let me say that Eastern Europe is noticeably different from Western Europe. Even in a rather "westernized" city like Prague, the differences were there. With hints of communism still scattered throughout the country, the city is much colder than the West. Store owners, hotel clerks, and waitresses were much less friendly, and I felt like I was constantly looking over my shoulder.
But that aside, the city of Prague is probably the most beautiful that I have seen to date. It contains a fascinating history and an endless line of ancient architecture. Even after four days there, we were still seeing new and exciting things.
The first day consisted of a city walk accompanied an experienced tour guide. She didn't have a whole lot to say, but one thing struck me as being very interesting. With all the extravagant and prominent churches in Prague, you would think it was somewhat of a religious center. But despite all the churches, nobody goes inside. In fact, I just read an article yesterday about "faith in Europe." On average, 90% of Europeans "believe in God." Czech Republic returned the worst results, with only 34% saying that they belived in God. Possibly a reason why the city seemed so "heartless."
On day two we headed outside town and visited Melnik Castle. Although it wasn't what I had in mind when I was picturing a castle, it was intersting to tour. The castle originally housed a wine cellar and a large vineyard outside, and surpisingly it is still functioning. So, we received a tour of the wine cellar and participated in tasting some homemade wine.
Day three was the highlight for me. We took our chartered bus about an hour outside of Prague to the small village of Terezin. Terezin is most famous for its "Small Fortress" established in the 1700's as a national prison. However, when the Germans took control of Czech during WWII, it became a concentration camp which housed more than 30,000 Jews. As far as concentration camps go, it's not particularly popular. Only some 2500 Jews were killed there. It served more as a holding place for Jews to be shipped to places like Auschwitz or Buchenwald. Its residents included several prominent anti-communist scholars, artists, philosophers, scientists, and even the young assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. But the fact that it wasn't a main concentration camp actually made it better, I think. Nearly everything was left unrestored after the war, making it very authentic and real. Second, it wasn't very crowded. It's kind of out in the middle of nowhere, so it wasn't swarming with tourists. Finally, everything was wide open. You could touch anything, walk on anything, go anywhere - nothing was off limits. That made for quite a real experience. All in all, it was shocking, real, scary, and fascinating.
Day four was spent browsing and wandering on our own. Shopping was popular, because things in the Czech Republic are very cheap. They still use "crowns" as their currency (1 US dollar = 25 crowns). Let's just say it became apparent that this story is true. The highlight of the day was probably our visit to the Museum of Communism. It documented exactly how awful the influence of communism was and is on the Czech Republic. It's quite amazing to learn that the communist party was still so prominent in the Czech Republic up until the late 1980's.
Well, in other news, President Bush is heading my this week - he is visiting, among other places, the EU headquarters in Brussels. As my good friend Pol de Vos puts it, "He is coming to persuade and influence the European leaders. We are afraid the European leaders will distance themselves from their people." So I look forward to what my other European friends have to say about W. And for some reason I think the citizens of the Czech Republic aren't such a big fan of Bush, either. A popular souvenir in the shops in Prague was peaceful, sympathetic portayal of Osama bin Laden in the form of a wooden doll.
So it goes.
This past week our entire group trekked across Germany to the oft-forgotten Czech Republic. We stayed in the capital city of Prague (really the only place worth visiting in the country) and went on a variety of excursions.
First off, let me say that Eastern Europe is noticeably different from Western Europe. Even in a rather "westernized" city like Prague, the differences were there. With hints of communism still scattered throughout the country, the city is much colder than the West. Store owners, hotel clerks, and waitresses were much less friendly, and I felt like I was constantly looking over my shoulder.
But that aside, the city of Prague is probably the most beautiful that I have seen to date. It contains a fascinating history and an endless line of ancient architecture. Even after four days there, we were still seeing new and exciting things.
The first day consisted of a city walk accompanied an experienced tour guide. She didn't have a whole lot to say, but one thing struck me as being very interesting. With all the extravagant and prominent churches in Prague, you would think it was somewhat of a religious center. But despite all the churches, nobody goes inside. In fact, I just read an article yesterday about "faith in Europe." On average, 90% of Europeans "believe in God." Czech Republic returned the worst results, with only 34% saying that they belived in God. Possibly a reason why the city seemed so "heartless."
On day two we headed outside town and visited Melnik Castle. Although it wasn't what I had in mind when I was picturing a castle, it was intersting to tour. The castle originally housed a wine cellar and a large vineyard outside, and surpisingly it is still functioning. So, we received a tour of the wine cellar and participated in tasting some homemade wine.
Day three was the highlight for me. We took our chartered bus about an hour outside of Prague to the small village of Terezin. Terezin is most famous for its "Small Fortress" established in the 1700's as a national prison. However, when the Germans took control of Czech during WWII, it became a concentration camp which housed more than 30,000 Jews. As far as concentration camps go, it's not particularly popular. Only some 2500 Jews were killed there. It served more as a holding place for Jews to be shipped to places like Auschwitz or Buchenwald. Its residents included several prominent anti-communist scholars, artists, philosophers, scientists, and even the young assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. But the fact that it wasn't a main concentration camp actually made it better, I think. Nearly everything was left unrestored after the war, making it very authentic and real. Second, it wasn't very crowded. It's kind of out in the middle of nowhere, so it wasn't swarming with tourists. Finally, everything was wide open. You could touch anything, walk on anything, go anywhere - nothing was off limits. That made for quite a real experience. All in all, it was shocking, real, scary, and fascinating.
Day four was spent browsing and wandering on our own. Shopping was popular, because things in the Czech Republic are very cheap. They still use "crowns" as their currency (1 US dollar = 25 crowns). Let's just say it became apparent that this story is true. The highlight of the day was probably our visit to the Museum of Communism. It documented exactly how awful the influence of communism was and is on the Czech Republic. It's quite amazing to learn that the communist party was still so prominent in the Czech Republic up until the late 1980's.
Well, in other news, President Bush is heading my this week - he is visiting, among other places, the EU headquarters in Brussels. As my good friend Pol de Vos puts it, "He is coming to persuade and influence the European leaders. We are afraid the European leaders will distance themselves from their people." So I look forward to what my other European friends have to say about W. And for some reason I think the citizens of the Czech Republic aren't such a big fan of Bush, either. A popular souvenir in the shops in Prague was peaceful, sympathetic portayal of Osama bin Laden in the form of a wooden doll.
So it goes.
posted by Aaron at 8:22 AM
5 Comments:
Kyle, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you.
Stay.
Fantastic post as always. I laughed; I cried, and I will always return for more.
Sweet pics
20/m/ca
A/S/L?
15/m/ca...what do you look like?
26-14-26...u?
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