Where Have You Been?

To be honest, I've been in Wien and Viden. Both can be "loosely" translated as Vienna.

After a day or two to myself in Austria, my folks joined me, and then spent the rest of the week in Prague. I have to say that Vienna most accurately fit my original idea of a European city. Modern, but plenty of old buildings. Good flow of traffic, good food, very interesting sights. Way too much to see in the couple days I was there. Nonetheless, I still got to hear some good music, eat some good food, and see some interesting sights.


As great as Vienna was, I was bummed to have missed Prague's Easter festivities. Apparently the Czechs celebrate Easter in a, well... different way. Guys chase after girls - frequently people they know, but certainly not always - with these whip-like sticks and whip the girls on their butts and the backs of their legs if they are caught. It's supposed to keep the women healthy and beautiful for the coming year. The more whipping, the greater health and beauty. In some rural Czech towns, they seem to take this pretty seriously. When asked in class this week about it, many of my female students were not too happy about their sore bodies.
Here's one young Czech boy being led on his first Easter hunt.

But men are only allowed to whip girls until noon. After that, the women have a chance to get even by throwing water on the men. I'm sorry I missed it.

At the end of their week in Prague, the folks and I also took a day trip to Kutna Hora - a small Czech town about an hour away. Why Kutna Hora? you may ask. The main attractions in this town are an old silver mine and Kostnice, aka the bone church. In the mine, the corridors were, at some places, as short as 120 centimeters and as narrow as 40 cm. Pretty hard to imagine working fourteen hour days under those conditions, especially with minimal light. Claustrophobes need not apply.
From the outside, the bone church looks like a normal church.
(No, it didn't have snow on it when we went - this picture was taken by my buddy Reed in January)
However, its inside is not what you'd expect to find in a house of the Lord.

I thought it was a cool place to visit. My folks weren't as amused.

I want to provide a link to my buddy Ryan's picture blog. He has a way of capturing real Prague life. There may be blackmail material on there. Maybe, maybe not.

All in all, I'd have to say the most important development since the last post has been the emergence of color in Prague. After a few false starts, spring is finally, really here. The grass is green! There are leaves on the trees! You can hear birds other than pigeons. Walk outside without a jacket. Eat and drink outdoors. During the folks' visit, as they were feasting their eyes on the wonders of Praguian architecture and way of life, I relentlessly commented on the leaves on the trees.


Off to enjoy the weather...