On the Cottage

As you take a train through the Czech countryside, you will see little villages and collections of small houses. Some are wooden and some are brick, some are small and some are big. But these little house represent one of the sweetest aspects of Czech culture: The Cottage.

Nearly every family has a cottage. "Praguers"go to their cottages on the weekends to escape the city and grow some veggies. If a girl is very lucky, she will have friends with a big cottage in tiny village who will invite her to spend the weekend with them. That's me!

Going to the cottage consists of two main things: eat and drink. A steady round of Fernet, a strong herby liquor, was served all day. And, as the whole weekend was in Czech, I was grateful for the Fernet which gave me courage to speak with a loose tongue.

In the afternoon we went to the local pub, which doubled as the fire station. In order to be served, one member of the party must be a volunteer firefighter at the station. So, my friends pay 50,-kc (about $2) per year membership fee to be volunteer firefighters in order to have an occasional beer.

The table was always full of food. There were three types of cake, fruit, pretzels, chips, chlebicky (open face sandwiches). In the evening the grill was fired up and there was a mound of chicken, pork and beef.

We played board games late into the night. After hours of laughter, and more drinks, I was ready to sleep. The fresh air had cleared my head and cleaned my lungs. I know why the Czechs have cottages. The cottage is a little piece of heaven on earth.