Praha

Ahoy! Hello!

We're in Prague,  Czech Republic. We slept while crossing the border. No one asked for our passports, we're in the European Union.

Day One: we walk toward downtown seeing streets and people (who were drinking beer at 11 am),

Defenestration

I don't like violence. But there is something contagious in the joy with which Czechs display the room and window of defenestration.

The old depiction of the events

The same window in 2012

The story on display is simple and almost romantic: the representatives of the king where not good to the people, so the people stormed the castle and threw the regents out of the window. The Czechs kid themselves with the idea that if necessary they would do it again whenever necessary, supposedly their rulers should be aware of the risk and govern mindfully. The view from the window is gorgeous, but there is concrete below. If there could be just a black hole, I would gladly recommend the defenestration for all the politicians of the world. Take them to Prague and get rid of them. Until we solve the technical details, Prague remains just a touristic destination.

It's full of tourists in Prague during a hot September day

Europe So Far

We'll start this thing with London.

Actually we'll start by saying I can't type. But this has already been established.

Maria and I flew from Chicago on Tuesday and arrived in Great Britain the day after, where we met with Mom, Daddy, and Ioan. We took the metro and eventually reached our hostel, which was recognizable thanks to the construction stuff around the entrance-y bit. We slept on the top floor, which happened to be the fifth. Thanks to the teeny-tiny elevator and the long wait required for it, we preferred the stairs. The internet was only available on the ground floor, so the stairs were used quite a bit.

We met up with our grandparents and sightsaw a bit, going to the Tower of London and seeing the Crown Jewels, Buckingham Palace (sans parents), saw the changing of the guard (yawn. Yawn yawn yawn yawn yawn. Yaaaaawn.), was rushed around the Queen's Gallery which happened to be showing a very interesting exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci (the rush was to see the yawn changing of the guard), saw Westminster Abbey which is less church and more graveyard.

Zero Percent

If you try to learn about the world, there is a small population of 13,428,300 in 2010 (0% of the total), who suffered the most and caused most of the trouble in the world. Most of them live in America and some of them live in a country called Israel. They are generally called Jews, even though what makes someone Jew can be an issue of considerable debate. There is a lot to learn about them and the best place to do it is in Prague. It might seem illogical at first, but soon it all makes sense. Hitler dreamed of a museum for the "extinct race of Jews" and apparently he chose one of the oldest synagogues in the world to house it. In an adjacent synagogue they started to pile the artifacts stollen from the population, items of inestimable value, waiting to be put on display when the Nazis would have won the war. So saved from destruction and somehow surviving the communist era, they are now available for the whole world to learn. There is a quarter in Prague Old Town that contains the Jewish Museum, unusual because it comprises a few buildings scattered over several streets in a relatively new Art-Nouveau labyrinth. There is the Old-New Synagogue, built in 1270. The ceiling is awkward, almost clumsy, it has five spikes, the builders were Christians, they knew how to built a ceiling with four beams connecting in the shape of the cross. That wouldn't have worked for a synagogue, so they added a fifth one, clumsily. Why? The Jews were not allowed to built, they had to employ Christians. Why? Asked the children, it just doesn't make sense. They were not allowed to do anything, exempt moneylending. Why? They ask again. People are stupid. That is the short answer, there is a (much) longer one.

The ceiling with five spires, credit wikipedia

Awesome Days in Prague

We spent about four days in Prague. We actually did interesting activities for two of them (well, rather, we did activities).

September 8^th was my name day. We walked around Prague, saw the enormous clock that hangs up and shows the saints that are celebrated on each day.