Vienna: Taste and Sight

If Vienna is anything, it is grand. This city shines imperialism. Vienna was the capital of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire for several hundred years and this regal past is displayed everywhere. The streets are broad. There are no meandering cobblestone lanes to get lost in. Any moment Maria Teresa herself could appear in a horse drawn carriage from the feel of things.

The palaces are grand, the gardens are grand, the music is grand and the museums are grand. To keep my head level and feet moving I had two main objectives for this trip to Vienna: the Impressionist exhibition at the Albertina Museum and the Saturday morning flea market.

H. had recommended the exhibition. He's working in Vienna currently and had seen an advertisement for it. He knows my taste well, because I am an Impressionism devotee. I've seen Van Gogh paintings in almost every major European city and I've spent hours with Monet. (In fact, an Impressionism painting was actually the reason for our first real date...but that's a story for another day.)

The exhibition was executed incredibly well. The paintings themselves were, as to be expected, marvelous. But the real icing on the cake was how well detailed and educational the information was. There were genuine easels and artist chairs and props from the time period set up in mock studios for the museum-goers to get a feel for how the artists worked. When there was an interesting fact about the painting, canvas or method then there was a large detailed print explaining what to look for. An example is a painting of a wind swept beach. Tiny grains of sand were actually embedded in the paint. There was a printed blow-up poster detailing the grains and giving an explanation of how the artist would have painted on location.

www.albertina.at/jart/prj3/albertina/main.jart?rel=en&reserve-mode=active&content-id=1202307119317&ausstellungen_id=1229505194745


Art is art, but the Viennese flea market is an art form to be savored with eyes, ears, tongue and fingers. The market is not just a few tables and stands, but city blocks and blocks of happiness. The first part of the market is for food items, most of the stands are actually small brick and mortar shops. You can whet your appetite with nearly any food item from any corner of the world: French cheeses, Swiss chocolates, Lebanese breads, Greek olives, Indian spices. I was quite literally a kid in a candy shop. I think I embarrassed my dear boyfriend more than once with my exuberant outcries of joy at some new found food item.




The second half of the flea market is for the normal folk to rent a table and set out whatever treasures or junk they would like to pawn off at an unreasonable price to locals and tourists alike. There were a few items that caught my eye. I'm a sucker for old books. I love the feel, the smell, the must. The costume jewelery always reminds me of playing dress up as a little girl. And the porcelain and china almost always draw me in with unusual color or shape or design. But all my money had gone into my tummy by the time I made it to the stands, so I browsed and made a mental note to begin to set aside a flea market fund for my next trip to Vienna, which I hope will be very soon.

www.wien.info/en

Vinobraní!!!

Many nations are known for their wine culture: the French, the Italian, even Hungarians. The Czechs don't have this international reputation but for those who are lucky enough to be in this lovely little country in the early autumn there is an experience like no other.

Vinobraní is the traditional celebration of the grape harvest in the autumn here in the Czech Republic. If you go to the southern region of Moravia, you will find villagers dressed in traditional clothing, large dances and tiny towns decorated to the hilt....and of course WINE. And here in Prague there is also an annual vinobraní celebration, although there are stages with large screens and rock bands instead of peasant women.

Now, you must understand that the wine of vinobraní isn't what you are used to buying at the local shop. This is a specialty called burčák. Burčák (bor-chak) is "new wine". It's a little like hard grape juice. The key is to drink the grape juice that is being prepared to become wine just before it begins to ferment. The Czechs have many various legends and wives' tales involving the health benefits and how many liters will bring those desired benefits.

I went to the festival in Vinohrady with my lovely friends, the Princs. (Thanks for the photos, Angela!) We ate and we drank. Kolbasa and potato pancakes helped coat our tummies with a nice layer of fat to help in the digestion of burčák. We discussed love, life, religion and politics...all with the help of a little burčák. At the end of the evening, the vineyard hillside of the park was lit up with fireworks and the ooohs and awwws of happy people.

Only winter, spring and summer until another vinobraní celebration...I guess absence will make the heart grow fonder (and the stomach stronger).

Run, Tasci, Run

In the spring I wanted to run a charity run. I got very ill the night before and spent the day in bed. I'd have rather been running...

So, I was determined to make the Tesco 3.8k Run for Life. The run supports cancer research. Now, 3.8k isn't a marathon but it's nothing to sneeze at. I've been running about 3k three to four times a week for the last few months so I knew I could do it physically, but still I was a bit nervous about running with, in and around so many people.

When I arrived at Old Town Square on Saturday evening, I had a little relief when I saw my co-runners. About half of them were either under 5 years old or over 60. Also, I could see by the footwear and clothing that many people were planning on taking a leisurely walk to the finish line.

The start was good. I felt strong about my pacing, even when I was passed by a woman with a baby stroller and her toddler. In fact, the first 3 kilometers were excellent. The only point at which I thought "Why??" was running on the cobblestone covered Mánesuv most (bridge). Cobblestones + Running = Sore Ankles.

The last 0.8 was the most rewarding. Nearly the entire length the finish line was in sight. Spectators were cheering and the mood was electric. There was also such a sense of community. There was one girl who wanted to give up. She was running with friends but she had stopped and was trying to climb over the barrier gate. She just kept saying, "I can't..I can't.." So several runners, including myself, started yelling "Come on!" and "You can do it!" Then the people watching began cheering her on and yelling encouragement. She put her head up and chin out, yelled "OK, I can" and made a mad dash for the finish.

I came in a few steps behind her, with a huge grin from ear to ear. I hope to see you there next year...or at least hear about the local charity run you will do in your community for your health and for the wellbeing of others.



www.praguemarathon.com/en/2009/tesco-prague-grand-prix/tesco-running-for-health-3-8-km/about-the-race

Growing up Kladno

I've always said that you couldn't pay me enough to go back to high school. Well, I guess that wasn't true because I spent last week making my bread and butter at a high school in a town not far from Prague called Kladno.

There were seven of us English teachers from the USA, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Our job was to lead conversation sessions on aspects of our own country and culture. I chose "Ohio" (none of the students had been there...big surprise!) and "Rites of Passage in Childhood and Adolescence".

The students were all last year students, preparing to take their final exams and spread their wings and fly out into the real world. We teachers were there to give them a booster shot of English conversation to help them with their English exams. But I think each of us probably were given as much by the students as we gave to them.

These young adults were lovely. They were well-mannered, polite and had that Czech sense of humor where one line can make you chuckle all day. I was impressed that compared to the high school where I went, these students had a lot of freedom. They could have a snack in class, they carried around bottles of water and they went out for lunch because there was no cafeteria in the school. But they were so responsible with the freedom given. They weren't late for class, they didn't disrupt the teacher or other students and at the end of the day they picked up the extra papers, threw away any trash and put the chairs on the desks without being asked or instructed. Lovely.

Although Ohio isn't quite as fascinating as New Zealand when you first introduce it, it does have some unique points. The obsession with the buckeye, our history of a love of flight, skunks and peanut butter all led to lengthy conversation pieces.

Rites of Passage such as the tooth fairy, driving at 16 (it is 18 in the Czech Republic) and a drinking age of 21 (it is also 18 here) showed that we all grow up in a community that tries to make us happy, healthy and safe- if that is always successful is a topic for another day.


I would still say you couldn't pay me enough to go back to my high school days, but I'd gladly spend a few more days at high school here in the Czech Republic.

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We played the game "Have you ever...?". Here are some of my favorite questions that students asked, they show that kids are the same all over the world:

-Have you ever missed your school bus?
-Have you ever been on a date with someone you thought was cute, but now you think is horrible?
-Have you ever slept all night at the school?
-Have you ever been to driving school?
-Have you ever drunk alcohol when you were under age?
-Have you ever got lost when you were young?
-Have you ever been in a circus?
-Have you ever been angry with your parents because they didn't allow you to go to a party?





www.gymnasiumkladno.cz