Two Trips to Prague

Chris and I recently spent 3 days in Prague over the Easter break. It was a meaningful trip because we had also visited Prague 21 years ago in 1990 just as the walls of communism were falling.

On Charles Bridge 2011

On Charles Bridge 1990 with Jan and Juroslav, Czech relatives

My great-grandparents on both my mother's and father's side emigrated from what was then Moravia. My grandmother kept in touch with the relatives who stayed behind in Czechoslovakia by writing letters. After the fall of communism in 1989 the borders were opened making it easier to return to the country of my family's origin. How wonderful that we still had contact information for the relatives living there.

In May 1990, my relatives gave us a wonderful whirlwind tour of Prague in one day. It was so exciting being there at that time when free enterprise was just being discovered and hatred of the past government was evident. We saw lots of graffiti like on the plaque below. It was on a bridge saying it was dedicated to Gottwald, Communist president, in 1973. The word "killer" was painted over it.

May 1990

This time in Prague we visited the Museum of Communism. It was fascinating to see the events that were so fresh during our last trip now documented as history. The fall of communism in Czechoslovakia is called the "Velvet Revolution" because it went so smoothly. The photo below shows a makeshift monument in 1990 to the Czech heroes at Wenceslas Square where demonstrations were held. There was melted wax all around the edges from candles. Today this is just a flower bed.

May 1990, Wenceslas Square

The square is named after Saint Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia, and yes, the same guy in the Christmas carol, "Good King Wenceslas".

Prague is now a very touristy place, so different from 21 years ago, and yet the beautiful churches, the history, and the famous Charles Bridge remain the same. The pivo is still very good and inexpensive too!

Prague, April 2011

This memorial book is in the St. Vitus Cathedral.

Memorial Book of Czechoslovak Airmen 1939 - 1945

We saw tourists lined up at a spot between two buildings. Naturally, we had to check it out. It was a narrow passageway with a traffic signal so pedestrians can flow single-file in one direction at a time to get to a neat restaurant on the river. Clever marketing.

I was excited to see that Kiefer Sutherland, aka Jack Bauer from 24, had stayed at our hotel, the Alchymist Residence Nosticova. Jack would be proud to see the injustices of communism gone from Prague!

Tower Bridge

While Ryan is home from university and before he starts his summer internship in London, we've been trying to get out and about and do the sightseeing stuff.  We took a tour of the famous Tower Bridge in London.

Tower Bridge in background

The iconic Tower Bridge that is seen in so many photos of London is often mistakenly called the London Bridge. It is located near the Tower of London so I suppose that's where it gets its name. The London Bridge was getting so crowded that a new bridge was built in 1894 to offload some of the traffic.

The new bridge was considered a triumph of engineering at the time, using hydraulic power on a scale never attempted before. A steam engine powered a see-saw type mechanism for raising and lowering the drawbridge. The hydraulic power was also used to operate elevators in the towers to take pedestrians up to the walkways. The idea was that pedestrians wouldn't have to wait to cross while the drawbridge was lifted for a ship to pass through. They could go up to the walkways and walk across well above the drawbridge activity below.

Letting a sailboat pass

Sometimes the best plans are for naught, however. The drawbridge was able to be raised and lowered so quickly that the pedestrians preferred to just wait. The walkways were closed by Parliament in 1910 due to a lack of use.

Today, the walkways are used for an exhibition showing the history of the bridge. They still provide stunning views over the river.

I found it interesting that the bridge was only minimally damaged during World War II. The Germans found it a useful navigational landmark to guide them to the rest of the city so they avoided bombing it.

Our Aga Agatha

We are fortunate to have the iconic British cooker called the "Aga" in the house we rent. This is what it looks like:

We have named ours Agatha.

It's a cast iron oven with a gas fire burning constantly so it's always hot and ready to use. There are two cooktops as well, the boiling plate and the simmering plate.

I was frankly intimidated by Agatha at first. Where's the temperature setting? Oh, there is none. Then I guess there's no digital display panel? Ha! Do I use the top oven or the bottom oven? That's a very important question. It's almost an art to cook on an Aga.

For the longest time the main thing we used Agatha for was to warm ourselves up. Lift the lids and lean on in. What a lovely heat Agatha puts out.

Warming up

Our kitchen also has an electric oven, gas stovetop, and most importantly, a microwave. So why would I want to mess with the scary ancient-looking beast? It took me a while to brave it. I finally decided to attend an Aga cooking class that demonstrated all the things you can do with your Aga. Our instructor went through a day of cooking and prepared breakfast, lunch, a starter, veggies, main course, and a dessert, all within about 2 hours. The best part was getting to sample all the food at the end.

I learned that the top oven is warmer than the bottom oven because heat rises. Oh, that's easy, I can remember that. And inside each oven, again, the higher-up rack positions are warmer than the lower. I just had to abandon my need for setting a precise cooking temperature. Just go with warm, moderate, hot, or very hot. The first thing I tried was baking a potato. It burned to a crisp because I forgot it was in the oven. There are no oven windows because that would let out too much heat. The oven is vented to the outside so there are no cooking smells emitted into the kitchen. Uh oh, I've really got to get in the game and pay attention! At least the potato never burst into flames, it was just a pile of ash when I found it the next day.

I kept trying and now I'm pleased to say that Agatha is my friend. No pre-heating required. Food can be kept warm while still cooking other items. She's a lot quieter than the fan-assisted electric oven. And her shiny exterior is so pretty!

Here I'm using the simmering plate to saute chicken:

It has a toasting gadget for making a waffle grid pattern on your toast:

I like cooking pancakes on a sheet of silicone laid on the cooking plate:

Easy cleanup, just lift off the silicone when done, it's not even hot:

Set your plate near Agatha to keep food warm:

It's a good place to dry shoes or hang items to dry:

Some houses here have only an Aga to cook on. That would be tough as we turn ours off in the summer. It heats up the kitchen way too much and we have no air conditioning.

Some say once you cook on an Aga it's hard to go without it. I'm starting to believe it.

Poppies

We have poppies blooming in our yard (or "garden" as they say here). I don't remember seeing them last year. Maybe I was still in the first-year fog of being here. I think they are poppies, I've only seen the fake kind that they sell on Remembrance Day and these look like them, only real. See what you think:

Silk and plastic poppies are sold here during November for Remembrance Day or Poppy Day, our version of Veteran's Day. Here is a photo of the kind they sell here:

Growing up I remember they were made of crepe paper. Our poppies look and feel very much like crepe paper. I'm enjoying the real deal.

English Neighborhood Walk

I like to take a nice stroll around the neighborhood: for exercise and also as a reminder that I am living in the beautiful country of England.  Springtime is especially beautiful here and I finally remembered one day to bring my camera along on my walk.

Bushy Tree

I see a giant foot with toes on this tree:

Toe Tree

Stately entrance to Ashley Park subdivision

Typical English houses

Houses are given names here.  I always try to peer in to see if this house indeed comes with moat:

The Moat House

Wild parakeets

 The algae growing on this tree shows just how damp it gets here:

Algae Tree

 Instead of curbs, painted white rocks line the streets:

I love this stone wall border:

Use your imagination on this tree:

Hooter Tree

My favorite tree

 And back home, in our own garden (yard), here are the daffodils that Chris planted last fall from bulbs:

Frog eggs and tadpoles in our pond:

Spring hath Sprung!!!

Royal Wedding Walk

Prince William and Kate Middleton??

So the big Royal Wedding is tomorrow!!! I'm really not that much into royalty, but this can be considered history -- a future King getting married.  I thought about heading into London for the big day on Friday but decided I didn't want to get crushed in the crowds and then not be able to see anything as I'm of rather short stature. People are talking about getting there at 4 am to get a good spot along the procession route. Again, not appealing to me. And even crazier, people are already camped out along the route, tents and all, to secure their spot to catch a fleeting glimpse of the action.

4 Sight-seeing Americans in front of Buckingham Palace

Some friends and I found a good compromise to be able to soak up the excitement today but stay home to watch the actual happenings on TV tomorrow. We took a train in to London and did a walking tour that hit the highlights and interesting tidbits related to the royal couple. The tour normally costs 15 pounds but we got it on special the day before for 7 pounds. Even better.

Fellow tour mates

On the tour were not just the usual tourists, but also members of the media from other countries, such as Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. A newspaper reporter from New Zealand interviewed me and my friend as she could tell we were American. We didn't have much to tell her except that we live here and wanted to come see the action today but not tomorrow. The Japanese had a video crew with them, I'm sure they need some uplifting news in that country. Two Australians claimed they were named Kate and William and were getting married the next day. In case anyone doubted them they donned their masks and posed for numerous photos.



We saw the jewelers, Garrard's, that made the ring, originally for Princess Diana. We saw a Jigsaw shop, where Catherine used to work as a buyer of accessories. We saw the suppliers of champagne to the royal family as well as suppliers of their shoes and hats. The first time a pair of shoes is made for someone in the royal family, it takes a year! They still have the form for the shoes made for Queen Victoria. (I hope I'm getting all these facts right!)


We stopped in front of the Mahiki night club where Prince William supposedly drowned his sorrows during the 3 months he and Kate were split up.  He ran up a bar tab of over 10,000 pounds, hopefully not all on himself.  He knows the owner of the night club so maybe he got a break on the bill.

Near Mahiki is the Ritz hotel where Prince Charles and Camilla publicly came out that they were dating.

The Ritz

We made our way over to St. James Palace which was built in 1536 and was a residence of kings and queens of England for over 300 years.  Two guards in the big fluffy black hats (excuse my not very precise name for them) were doing a changing of the guard and the crowds were snapping photos and taking video like crazy.

St. James Palace

Then we stopped by Clarence House, the London residence of Charles and Camilla, and William and Harry. Our tour guide asked one of the many media photographers milling about what was going on and he said that Kate was in Clarence House having lunch so they were waiting for her to come out.  Who knows if that was even true? We didn't stick around to find out.

The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace

Next thing you know we are walking down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace. Large Union Jack flags are displayed along the street. The crowds got thicker and then we were excited to actually see tents of the camped-out would-be spectators.

People camped out in tents

Chillin' out, waiting for the big day

Westminster Abbey

The grand finale of the tour was Westminster Abbey, where the wedding ceremony will take place. This area was where the most spectators were. Not only were there many people in their staked out seats, there were many gawkers of them as well. A one-way path was set up for pedestrians to gawk/walk by and try to snap photos but you had to be quick because the Bobby police officers would admonish you to "keep moving please".

So there it is: "The Day Before The Big Day".