Monday, December 21, 1981
This morning at work, Hetty said trains to her
home country of the Netherlands were delayed four hours due to snowstorms.
Since I was planning to go northward myself, to spend Christmas with the Ls
in Praha, Československo/Prague, Czechoslovakia, I decided to leave as early as I could.
After my last kid, I left at 11:30 for the train
station. It was lightly snowing, but there was ice under the snow and you had
to be careful. My one suitcase seemed awfully heavy!
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| Train ticket cover |
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| Biel to Prague train ticket receipt |
Caught the 12:08 train to Zürich. I still see
people using Inter Rail and Eurail Passes. Arrived in to Zürich about 14:00.
When I passed a telephone booth in the station, I saw a neighbor from Monsey!
Walked down to Sprüngli to get 500 grams/~1-lb of
chocolate truffles for 25CHF/$12.50. They packed fresh ones for me. Went
shopping for a calendar. Most had wonderful pictures, but with small dates
without space to write in appointments, etc.
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| Zürich to München train reservation |
The 16:08 train to München/Munich was coming from Geneva. My reserved seat was taken,
so I sat next to the distinguished gray-haired gentleman who had stolen my
seat. A couple skiers in the compartment got off at the first station in
Austria: Bregenz. As soon as everyone else left, the distinguished gentleman
started talking to me in a German. Unlike most Germans, he did not speak
clearly and his Rs disappeared entirely. I found him hard to understand and
tried returning to my book. He told me we were in Austria (very briefly) and
pointed out the Bodensee/Lake
Constance in the dark. When he learned my profession his eyes lit up and he
said, “Massage!” “No, sir!”
In Lindau, a young man entered our compartment,
and the distinguished gentleman began a conversation with him. They kept
saying, “Bitte?/Excuse me?” to each
other. They even had trouble understanding each other!
We had a middle-schooler join us and he was going
all the way to Stockholm by himself, which amazed the conductress. We were in a
German car, and in Switzerland the door kept rattling. In Germany the ride was
completely smooth and quiet. We were due in München
at 21:11, arriving at 21:30.
While waiting for the 22:25 train to East
Germany, I watched all the electric carts with and without trailers of packages
and luggage. They zipped around in a chaotic manner, but really it must all
have been well-organized. I’m surprised there were no collisions with unwary pedestrians.
Our train pulled in at 22:15, and we didn’t leave
until 23:00. We had an impatient German version of Gianni in the compartment.
He was blond, but had the same eyes and nose. He was ultra-skinny and spoke in
a joking manner like Gianni does. The killer was that he wore his watch loose,
and always had to shake it down to his wrist to read it! He kept the three old
ladies amused, while the other tall fellow studied papers he took out of a
plastic bag. The car was East German and was very shabby. There was no heat and
the window didn’t close all the way. The two fellows left, then one old lady
got off at Regensburg and another got on. This lady was Polish and did not
expect any problems at the border. One old lady kept taking nips from a tiny
bottle. The other one stuffed newspaper around the open edges of the window to
keep out the draft and snow. The old ladies thought we were making good time.
Tuesday, December 22, 1981
I slept on and off, but at 1:45 one of the old
ladies told me we were approaching Marktredwitz. I was not going as far as East
Germany, but was changing trains at this tiny station decorated with a
Christmas tree. Waited for the 2:42 train to Czechoslovakia. The station
newsstand was closed, but I saw a poster saying “Clean up this store - buy
“Mad”!
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| Marktredwitz to Prague train reservation |
The train was 10 minutes late and only three cars
long. I found my seat, but it was taken by a svelte older German lady. There
were plenty of empty seats. The Czech car was Russian, and clean and modern,
but sat eight to a compartment. Our seatmates were a middle-aged Czech who
spent most of his time with a friend in another compartment, a Czech girl with
German and Czech passports who was visiting her grandmother for the holidays,
and an Algerian who talked and talked and talked. He had traveled extensively
and compared customs procedures of different countries. He had a friend who was
arrested for having an unregistered weapon when he was on his way to register
it. This friend disappeared.
At the border town of Schirnding, our passports
were thoroughly examined, especially the Algerian’s. They wrote our names down
in a notebook. A half hour later we crossed into Czechoslovakia. You could see
the road with a roadblock and a little hut with armed guards. We arrived in the
Czech border town of Cheb at about 3:30 and began the customs procedures. First
two ladies in blue smocks. One held a huge worn leather bag and she checked
your visa to see how many days you were staying, and then told you how much
money you had to exchange. She seemed disappointed that I was not changing
American dollars. Sorry! I changed 180 DM to 819 Czech koruna (CZK)/$80. The
Algerian had written 15 days on his application, but asked for 10 days worth.
One guy didn’t know how long he was staying and was charged a minimum of three
days. As the first lady changed the money, the second wrote everything down on
the visa application. Next came a man with a small briefcase on a strap around
his neck that he could open into a tiny desk. He checked the visa application
and took one page to keep. He stamped the application and passport. In my case
he asked if I was bringing any electronic equipment or cameras and what kinds
of gifts, in English. The Czech-German girl had to show her camera, and the
older German lady just had to give the name brand of her camera. Next a young
soldier came into the compartment with a flashlight and peered into the vent
space under the seats. They were also checking under the train outside. We were
in Cheb from 3:30 until 5:00.
We figured
we would be in Prague at 9:00, and two hours late was considered good timing.
When the Algerian decided to fall asleep, so then could everyone else.
As it lightened into day, I could see the
countryside was mostly woodsy with a few gentle hills and a couple farms. Mostly
uninhabited. Everything was covered with snow, and under the cloud cover,
everything was in shades of gray. Supposedly there is not much color even under
the sun.
Arrived at Praha
hlavní nádraží/Prague Main Train Station (1901-09, designed by Czech architect, Josef Fanta, with a
new extension built 1972-79) about
9:00. The train had grown to be so long and the platform was so crowded that I
figured I would be met within the station. The train platforms were under a
typical European glass arcade and I was surprised the station proper was so
large and modern. I walked down the arrivals ramp, carefully checking all the
faces, and then in the large hall I wandered past arrival and departure boards,
information windows, reservation windows, restaurants, etc. Decided to get my
reservation for the trip home, and noticed they had dates posted after train
numbers. I checked schedules for train numbers, but the international trains
were not listed so I was afraid they might be filled.
Decided to call the embassy, and Tom said Dot was
there with an Embassy driver. I went back to the arrival ramp and found a large
lobby with several exits. I checked the waiting areas on a balcony overlooking
the lobby. This time I knew to look for a pair of people. As I studied everyone’s
face, I noticed one woman was studying mine back. I passed her a couple times
and she finally came up to me and asked in English, “Are you here to visit the
Ls?” “Why, yes!” She explained that Dot left with the driver who had to
return to the Embassy for another errand. She volunteered to stay a few more
minutes, and voila, she found me. Evonna works in the International School
where Dot also teaches and she loves to guide visitors around her home city.
(Later Dot said she didn't even know Evonna was at the train station, but she probably
was curious to meet me.) I took advantage of the situation to ask about making
an international reservation, and Evonna made the transaction for me. She even
paid the 4 CZK/40 cents before I could!
Decided to call Dot at home and she said to tell
Evonna to put me in a taxi and give the driver the address in Czech, and Dot
would wait outside after about 10 minutes. It took 10 minutes to get a taxi and
Evonna decided to come along with me. She cautioned me not to speak any languages
(except Czech, I guess) so that I would not be cheated by the taxi driver. But
she couldn’t help but to point out and explain the major sights! Passed the Národní muzeum/National Museum
(1885-1891 by Czech neo-renaissance
architect Josef Schulz) at one end of Václavské náměstí/Wenceslas Square. The square is actually a wide boulevard
of hotels and shops. Evonna said no Czech can drive along this and certain
other roads in Prague. Only foreigners, diplomats, and taxis.
Passed the Prašná brána/Powder Tower or Gate (1475), and Obecní dům/Municipal
Smetana Hall (1905-1912, designed by Osvald Polívka and Antonín Balšánek in Art Nouveau style) where
concerts are held.
We crossed the Vltava/Moldau
River and in the smog up on the hill to
the left you could see the Pražský hrad/Prague Castle (first established in 870
with multiple rebuildings and additions from 1485 to late 18C) and the
spires of Katedrála
svatého Víta/St Vitus Cathedral (started in 1344 in gothic style and half-finished in
the late 15C, restarted in 1844 and completed in 1929).
Passed the Soviet Embassy which was a huge
complex including a church. We passed the U.S Ambassador’s residence and turned
down a street of block apartment buildings. The Ls have a U.S. government
apartment at 54 A. A. Zdanova (NB. Now Terronská). The half-frozen Dot was waiting outside and I
was warmly welcomed. Garbage cans sit permanently out on the sidewalk and a
small pile of coal sits in the front yard. The front door scraped on the floor
as you opened it, making a loud screech every time we went through it. Evonna,
Dot and I barely fit in the tiny elevator with my suitcase. We went to the
third floor, which would be the fifth in the U.S., because we number our ground
floor and mezzanines.
We sat down for tea, and I presented the Sprüngli
chocolates. I had forgotten Dot doesn’t like sweets, but fortunately Tom does!
Evonna eventually left to see her dentist at about 10:30.
The apartment came furnished and was quite nice.
All the rooms were carpeted, the living room, dining room, and bedroom in a
dusky blue, and the kitchen, study, hall and bathroom in a brown print. The
living room furniture of two couches and two chairs were upholstered in a
velvety material. There were several tables and a bookcase. Dot said that
everything may look nice, but when you visit other U.S. government employees,
all the apartments look the same! I was put in the study that had a single bed.
It was originally closed off with French doors, but the Ls wanted just the
drapes. The kitchen had a stove, refrigerator, and a refrigerator-sized freezer.
Also a washing machine and dryer.
At about 13:00, Dot called Tom and he came right
away to pick us up in the VW Rabbit they bought partly on my recommendation!
They got it in 1977 just before being assigned to Den Haag. Tom’s next
assignment is India, and they don’t think they will need a car there. They have
already sold it to a Yugoslavian diplomat who is paying what they originally
paid for it. We drove to the U.S. Embassy which is housed in Schönbornský palác/Schönborn Palace (1643-1656). On a hill in the grounds behind the Embassy is a
Glorietta with a nice view of Prague on a clear day. Today was not one of those
clear days. Tom went through an unmarked door in the courtyard to work and Dot
and I went to an office where I left my passport with two ladies who would take
it to the Foreign Ministry where I would be reported to the foreign police. We
then went through a wooden door, up a flight of stairs, and through an old
metal door into the snack bar, where we ordered cheeseburgers! Dot pointed out
the Ambassador himself having lunch with a Marine guard. Shortly after 14:00,
Evonna arrived with two packages meant to be Christmas gifts for Tom. We put
them in the trunk of the car while we three went for a walk. We left through an
archway and I menioned that anyone could just walk in to the Embassy. But Dot
pointed out the guard booth and said the Marine would have stopped anybody he
didn’t know. Across the street there was a Czech soldier in a small booth who
was “protecting” the embassy.
Walked along Tržiště a short way, through a
tunnel under a building to end up in a square with Kostel svatého Mikuláše Malá Strana/St
Nicholas Church in the Lesser Town (1703, a Baroque masterpiece of Christoph
and Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, a father and son duo), a Prague landmark with
its green roofed dome and bell tower. We entered and were met by an old man who
said something in Czech. Evonna was surprised. He offered to give us a tour
(for a fee) or we had to pay an entrance fee of 1 CZK/10 cents each.
It seemed
unusual to pay an entrance fee in a place of worship, but perhaps officially
there are no places of worship in Czechoslovakia. Evonna sounded like a
professional tour guide and explained the who, what, when, where, and why. I
only remember that it was Baroque and that as a child Evonna was frightened by
the huge statues. The ceiling frescoes extend the real columns (creates an
illusion of more space?) and in one of the chapels was a painting of an angel (or
archangel?) with a 3-dimensional carved leg (or trompe l'oeil?). The crèche was empty, awaiting the arrival of Jesus on Christmas Eve.
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| St Nicholas Church in the Lesser Town ticket |
It was as cold inside the church as outside.
Although it didn’t seem cold, the fingers and toes seemed to freeze up. Outside
a layer of snow had turned to black slush, due to coal dust as heating and
cooking is mostly done with coal.
Passed the Sloup
Nejsvětější Trojice/Holy Trinity Column (erected 1715, designed by Giovanni Batista
Alliprandi), a memorial to victims of the plague of 1713-14. Across the
street was a building with a large red star on it, some sort of school for the
Communist Party. On the other side of the church was Malostranské námestí/Lesser Town Square with a fish market.
Traditionally the Czechs eat fish, specifically carp, on Christmas Eve. Around
this time of year you see many of these fish stalls with plastic barrels full
of water and semi-live fish. Many were floating on top but occasionally flapped
a fin or gill. A line of people were waiting to purchase fish, and supposedly
they take them home and keep them in the bathtub full of water until Christmas
Eve. However, if you wished, you could have the fish beheaded, gutted, and
scaled while you waited, as attested by the bloody table and bucket full of guts. There
was also a semi-circle of spectators.
Walked down a street of buildings with some
character. It seemed every building had two poles, some with decorative appeal.
They were twin flag staffs. Everyone is given two flags and is expected to fly
them on certain holidays; the Czech flag and the Soviet hammer and sickle. The
bakery had a line out the door, as did several other shops, averaging maybe 30
people. (Holiday demand or every day shortages?)
I bought several postcards and wanted to buy
stamps, but the newsstand lady only had small denominations where I would have
to buy so many that they would cover the entire postcard! As it turned out, Tom
would take them to the Embassy for a driver to take to the post office.
Evonna took us through an unmarked glass door
into a private courtyard, then up some stairs past people’s front doors! We
ended up next to the outer wall of a bridge tower where you could see the
remains of the oldest sculpture in Prague (There is a preserved Roman relief
of the original bridge inside the smaller Malostranska bridge tower, depicting
a sitting person, probably the ruler, passing a document to
a kneeling one?). We were truly off the beaten path! Next we crossed the
most famous landmark in Prague, the Karlův most/Charles
Bridge (started construction in 1357). King Charles IV was the second King of
Bohemia (1345) with Prague as the capital, and later became the Holy Roman
Emperor (1355). The bridge is lined with 30 statues and rumor had it that
Evonna could give a lecture on each one. Actually, she only did every other
one! No, in reality we only got the long lecture on St John Nepomuk, a martyr
who was thrown to his death from this bridge in 1391. (Because of the manner of
his death, he is the protector against floods.) At the base of this statue we
saw some black chalk drawings and an old man hurried over to display his
sketches of Prague landmarks. Another
man had pen & ink drawings, plus a large watercolor wash painting that was
very good, of a view down the Charles Bridge to the bridge towers with the
steeples of St Nicholas in the background. Dot paid 200 CZK/$20 for this
painting of a scene Tom had considered painting. We left the pedestrian-only
bridge under the town tower. Passed the original Univerzita Karlova v Praze/Charles University of Prague (1348) that
has some superlatives; the first university in Central Europe, and one of the oldest
universities in Europe in continuous operation. Turned a few corners to Staroměstské náměstí/Old Town
Square. In one corner stands the Historická radnice/Old Town Hall
with its Pražský
orloj/astronomical clock (installed 1410,
making it the oldest such clock in the world). On the hour a skeleton rings a
bell and two windows open up to show a parade of the twelve apostles. Next to
the town hall are the remains of the City Archives which was set on fire by
retreating German forces in WWII.
In another corner of Old Town Square is Husitský
kostel sv. Mikuláše na Starém Městě/Old Town St Nicholas Church. There are two St
Nicholas Churches because once the two sides of the river were considered
separate towns.
Across from the town hall was the Týnský
chrám/Tyn Church
(construction began in 14C, completed in the 1450s in Gothic style).
It has two imposing towers where there is supposed to be a slight difference
because one represents Adam and the other Eve. However, both were completely
covered in scaffolding, as is much of the town. The scaffolding is supposed to
indicate that renovations are being made, but many believe they are there to
keep the walls from falling down! Scaffolding often forms a roof over
pedestrians to protect them from falling objects. From the Karlův most/Charles Bridge, you could see the gold
roof of the Státní opera/State Opera House (1888) with a crane
hovering above it. The opera house is truly being worked on.
In the center of Staroměstské náměstí/Old Town Square
is the Pomník
mistra Jana Husa/Jan Hus Memorial
(erected 1915, done in Jugendstil/German
Art Nouveau). Jan Hus was a religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague who felt Mass should
be said in the local language. For this he was condemned to be burned at the
stake in 1415.
We turned into a side street of nice stores. We decided to warm our toes in
a Tuzek shop. Tuzek is a form of currency given in exchange for foreign
currency and could be used in special shops for quality goods and goods
inaccessible to the local people. They had a lot of crystal and jewelry.
Although quite an exclusive shop, it was crowded. We warmed up enough to
continue our walk to see Stavovské
divadlo/Estates Theater (opened 1783, in Neo-classical style) where
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart premiered his opera “Don Giovanni.” (NB. Part of the
film “Amadeus” directed by Czech director Miloš Forman was filmed here.) I did
not take any photographs because it was such a dull grey day.
At 16:00 we were in the Staroměstské náměstí/Old Town Square to watch the Pražský orloj/astronomical clock. As a finale, a
bronze rooster crowed.
We went to the Prašná brána/Powder Tower or
Gate (1475) to catch the No. 26 tram. Dot had a supply of thin paper tickets
that you put in a slot of a machine on the tram, and pulled forward to have it
punched. It was already dark, but we were going to the end of the line at Družby náměstí/Friendship
Square in front of the Hotel Continental. The Ls live only a few buildings
from this square. The downstairs hall light was out and we had to pick our way
up a couple steps and through the foyer door, then feel for the elevator
button. The L’s main complaints about sightseeing in Prague are that there
are no decent restrooms and no place to stop for just a bite to eat. As in
visiting Kathy J in Spain, one great thing about visiting Americans abroad
is having ultra-soft toilet paper!
Tom came home an hour
late at 18:15. He works as a communications officer who takes in and teletypes
out all communications. Today he also went out to the airport to pick up a
courier bag. Things have been very busy because of the growing Solidarity
movement in Poland.
The Ls had their
letter ritual, where Tom carefully opened the envelopes and Dot read the
letters out loud. Karen sent a card and seems to be fine after falling off a
roof and rupturing her spleen. At dinner Dot apologized for not having a salad,
as fresh greens were hard to come by. The commissary was sending someone to a
German market at the border the next day, and if demand is big enough, it would
be a regular bi-weekly run for fresh produce.
That evening we decorated
the spindly 2 m/6.5’
tall Czech Christmas tree. Although tall, it had only a few branches on which
to hang ornaments and needles dropped easily. The Ls collect ornaments, or at
least small objects that can be used as ornaments, from each country they
visit. The tree actually looked nice when we were done, with a lot of character
and the two strands of lights were adequate. |
| Tom adds the tree topper |
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| Czech Christmas tree |
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