History Hunting in Žižkov

Twenty years ago this November the world changed. I'm sure in the past month you've been bombarded with images of the Berlin Wall falling, of crowds tinkling keys in Wenceslas Square and Romanians fighting in the streets back in 1989.

Prague did much to commemorate this event. There were outdoor exhibitions, radio and tv programs, newspaper articles. I felt close to this Czechoslovakia I've heard so much about but never actually seen. The country I live in is not that nation that I see in the photos and hear stories about.

And that connection to history is what excited me so much about the newly opened National Memorial on Vítkov Hill. The Memorial was built during the First Republic, in the 1930s, to commemorate the soldiers who fought in World War I. But under the Communist government it was converted to a mausoleum for Communist Leaders. The fate of the Memorial was uncertain in the 90s, but recently extensive renovations have been done and it now exhibits a complete and interactive history of the Czech Republic.

It's a must see for those interested in time travel, because it will open up a portal to the Czech past as you've never seen before.

www.nm.cz/expozice-detail.php?f_id=95

J word

Usually this is my platform to air my travels and experiences. But today I'm turning it over to H. We were both were saddened when we heard about the recent shootings at Ft Hood and our hearts went out to the families. And we also discussed the implication of this on the men and women of Muslim background serving in the army. Our discussion of the backlash came to fruition in various heated and inflammatory remarks found throughout the Facebook community.

Here is H's reaction, as someone looking in from beyond the borders:

Jan Autrata November 10 at 8:26pm

"Reading all your posts makes me feel better. I'm from a country you've never heard before from the middle of the Europe. Our democracy is quite young in comparison to yours, and our constitution was based on western democratic constitutions as yours. It's nice to hear that just not in my country people are ignoring basic human rights, that they are thinking that human beings are not equal and that some religions are better than others. I thought for awhile that we have a long way to go, but I see now that we are already there or even in front of you. Thanks to xenophobic people like you we see that just having democracy for ages is not enough. You need some intelligence to use it as well. You are just like people we fought some sixty years ago. They thought that Jews were not good enough. They thought that Slavic people were not good enough. They were wrong. And that's why I can write this.

But on the another hand, It's so foolish to judge whole community by acts of a sole person. Otherwise we should have put all the Germans in jail, do not let them to live in the free world. We should have to eliminate all white people in the US because some of them were slave owners. But that would be a big mistake. Because most of them are people who are open minded. Who fought for rights and freedom of other countries. Who are not negligent. Who are trying to help other nations, communities to come over their dark present. If you think that by separating them from your lives you make world better you are wrong. You are just going to make gap bigger.....

Just want to let you know that you should read and think what you are going to post before you do that.If anyone wants to talk to me about this I would more than happy, because I don't like other people to think that they are better than anyone else and I would rather talk to people I disagree with than shoot them. I know how is to be treated like person of second class.I'm always treated like this when I go to the US .....

PS: Just want to say that I'm a white male from a country with a Christian past which is even longer than your country's history...."

Jan

"Munch"-ing on Halloween

If I had to design the perfect way to spend a Halloween afternoon, it would have to be exactly the Halloween I just had in Vienna.

I went back to Vienna to visit H, as it had been some time since we'd seen each other. We had no plans, except to hit up the international food market again for some brilliant Lebanese bread and hummus.

As we meandered down the long avenues we ran into Leopold Museum. A huge banner hung on the museum inviting us to come in and visit their exhibition: "Edvard Munch and the Uncanny". It sounded intriging. H had heard a piece on the radio praising the exhibition, and years ago when I was in Oslo, Norway, I'd wanted to go to the Munch Museum but it had been closed due to the daylight theft of "The Scream". So, it seemed an opportunity we couldn't pass up.




Leopold Museum is 5 floors of exquisite art. H and I started on the top floor and wondered through collections of Impressionism, Expressionism and art nouveau. We got lost in the world of artist Albin Egger-Lienz, with scenes of mountains and agriculture and rural life. And we discovered that Egon Schiele had spent significant amounts of time in the Czech Republic. Armed with this knowledge, we were able to pick out buildings we knew by heart in his patchwork quilt images of quaint towns.

The Munch collection was located on the subterranean floor. The lighting was dimmed and the paintings were hung on dark blue walls. The emotional turmoil of his subjects, the twisted images and mood lighting all contributed more to an aura of haunted house than world renowned museum. If someone had said "Boo!", I'm sure half the people in the exhibition would have jumped. In fact, the museum was giving special Halloween tours around midnight to brave patrons who thought their nerves could handle Munch on Halloween at midnight.

We didn't stick around to find out if "The Scream" would live up to its name.


www.leopoldmuseum.org/index_en.html