Amsterdam - Land of old-school bicycles and hash.
People go to Amsterdam for many reasons. Many involve something that grows. Mine involved the tulip fields that exist in Noord-Holland, which are famous throughout the horticulturalist world (I think).
The tulips weren’t in bloom yet. It was bloody freezing. Surprisingly expensive. And the beer came in little tiny glasses.
I had a fabulous time. Despite problems, the city has an amazing ability to charm. Maybe it’s the thousands of old-school bicycles, ridden around the whole city in a constant swirl of 1920s-esque innocence. Or the fact that they rule the road and I nearly was run over more times than I care to count. Maybe it’s the canals and all the old classic boats moored alongside squat stone bridges. Perhaps it’s the café culture, and the hundreds of people who appear on the restaurant terraces when the sun peeks out. Or the Saturday market in Haarlem, selling everything from batteries and underwear to tulips, kebaps and fresh Dutch cheeses from the nearby towns of Gouda and Edam. Or the genuine kindness and friendliness of the Dutch people. Maybe it was the cool windmills.
Or maybe it was the cute little beer glasses. Whatever the reason – it was cool.
Easter Whip Enabled.
Easter is a time for traditions. In some cultures they search the yard for dairy products, in others they bite the heads of chocolate bunnies and in others (like Ireland) they just go to Mass and drink copious amouns of alcohol.
Easter in the Czech Republic is a little different...
1. Exercise. Multiple Matching. Choose from the list of traditions the words that you think have something to do with Czech Easter. (10 points)
Coloured eggs
Fried fish
Ham
Various distilled spirits
Ducks
Bunnies
Whips
Pussy-willows
Water splashing
Cake shaped like a lamb
See below for the answers ...
If you said "fried fish" you get a C for a valiant attempt. That's Christmas. No, Czech Easter involves colouring eggs. In fact, this is one of the most beautiful traditions here - the eggs are simply stunning. They start by punching holes in the top and bottom of the egg - they blow out the insides to leave a shell. The shell is then painted and decorated, attached to a ribbon and tied to a tree. Yes, they have an Easter Tree (a bare tree with coloured ribbons and eggs hanging from it).
Often, the eggs are decorated by boiling in water with onion skins. Intricate patterns are achieved by wrapping flowers and leaves around the egg, then placing the egg in a stocking before boiling. This imprints the flower onto the egg - an impressive result!
Of course, like many Czechs, we just bought an egg-dying kit at Carrefour. :)
The next tradition is my personal favorite. You see, pussy-willow branches are woven together to make ... yes! A whip! The whip is used by boys, who go around whipping the legs of girls. They also sing some kind of silly song, and the girls are supposed to give them coloured eggs in return. Now, before you women start to complain that it's unfair, I should say that being whipped on the legs is not a negative thing! No, on the contrary, it ensures youth and beauty in the coming year. And... if you're whipped too many times, I believe you're allowed to splash the boys with water, to wish them the same.
So colour your eggs ladies, and weave (or buy) your whips gentlemen, and get ready to wish each other a Happy Easter!
(Of course, as with all traditions aimed at youngsters, they are often adapted by the older generations ... some things stay the same, whips get longer, transport gets easier, and somehow, coloured eggs turn into shots of alcohol...)
Easter whip, as seen in the vase on the right hand side.
Finally, how cute is this, photo of the weeklong spectacle down on Old Town Square, smack in the middle of the Easter Market ...
And so, I wish you all a belated, if whip-less, Veselé Velikonoce!
Grill-Enabled.
It isn’t really summer until you can grill. Usually, it isn’t really summer until it stops snowing, either, but I decided to make an exception and buy a grill anyway – Thanks, J.
Choosing the grill was the first key step. There were many to choose from and I chose the heaviest and cheapest one. I wish other things in life were so simple.
After being foiled a few times by the weather, a few times by the work, and a few minutes by czech charcoal and funny lighter gel, we were in business and the pork steaks were thrown on.
And it was summer that afternoon.
Ještě Jedno.
That's Czech for one more. Try, that is, to go to Amsterdam. Tomorrow morning, I fully intend to be on a plane bound for Amsterdam's Schipol Airport.
If I don't make it, look for me in Ukraine.
The Graffiti in Krakow.
In many places around the world, you might see the words "Elvis Lives!" in one or another languages.
But in Krakow, you might also see "Jesus Lives!" spattered across an old concrete wall.
It was surprising, at first, that so many of the hotels were booked. Later, we found it surprising that every time we walked into a beautiful church (see below!), it was having a service.
And, coming around a corner, finally, we were presented with the solution to this mystery.
We'd arrived in Krakow, the birthplace of Pope John Paul II, exactly one year after his death. The Polish were out in droves, centered around one particular building (either his home or his birthplace, we don't know), where was hung this mural made of of thousands upon thousands of photos of different people. There were candles set up on the field opposite, and all day people brought candles, lit candles, and bought more until there were too many and they began to spill onto the street and everywhere. There was an exhibit of photos from his life as well.
It was very moving. We didn't mind that all the hotels were booked.
How much is a ... wait, what is the currency here?
The funny thing about travelling on impulse in a place like Europe is the potential to arrive somewhere, at night, with no money, no place to stay, and now idea how to speak the language. Maybe funny is the wrong word. If you ever find yourself in this situation, try these steps. They worked for me!
1. Find out when the trains leave. After all, you got yourself there, but that doesn't get you too far if you can't get ourself out of there as well!
2. Ask the nice people at the train station (a-hem) how many euro are in a ... what is the currency again? When English doesn't work, try any combination of languages such as french, italian, and czech.
3. Get money. This step is key.
4. Find an internet cafe to look up places to stay for the city that you find yourself in. A bookstore will also work, but this might entail the tedious steps of finding an internet cafe to look up where to find a book store to look for an English-language guide book to look up where to sleep. By that time, you might not need a place to sleep!
5. By any means possible, phone said hotels/hostels/pensions. Again with the languages, try them all. In Poland, Czech is often understood. At least, it seemed that way.
6. Decide how to get to said hotel/hostel/pension. You can stop for beer along the way because it might help you relax a little.
7. Check in to your fabulously cheap, fantastically situated, perfectly decorated, quiet room with embroidered towels.
8. See the world, baby!
Oh yeah, and the currency is Zloty. Apparently, one is about 3.90 euro.
How I packed my bags for Amsterdam, and ended up in Poland.
Like many adventures, I'm certain, this one started with the lemur. It was a bad sign, she said, that we'd left the lemur at home. Shortly thereafter, we were looking frantically for someone to explain why our flight was listed as having left at 8.10 when our tickets clearly stated 10.10. The time was 8.41.
So we didn't make the flight. They rebooked us for the following weekend.
But we did make the train. The time was 11.04, and the trains to Salzburg left at 13.23, and 15.57. The trains to Krakow left at 11.18, and 13.35. It was a close shave and we might have run a little, but 14 minutes later we began rolling our way to Krakow, Poland. And 7 hours, and 41 minutes, one adventure of nearly getting off at the wrong stop, one rude border control officer, and great conversation with a group of Mexicans we found sitting near us later, we arrived in Krakow.
We Interrupt This Series to Bring You Updates from the Life of Daniel.
Here is a refreshingly simple multiple-choice quiz to help you determine what the heck Dan has been doing lately!
Dan is excited because ...
(a) The flat is now "grill-enabled".
(b) He's going to Amsterdam this weekend, or at least has every intention of doing so.
(c) The weather has been holding steady above snow temperatures for at least a week.
Dan has had some interesting adventures recently, which include some or all of the following ...
(a) Running into and subsequently running away from the landlords at the grocery store.
(b) Packing his bags for Amsterdam in the morning, yet finding himself Zloty-less in Krakow, Poland in the evening.
(c) Coming home to a flat without hot water.
In other news, Dan's ability to communicate effectively (in any language) has begun it's inevitable downhill spiral. Erica has decided to work on her French, which Dan is of course thrilled about. However, this means that whenever Dan wants to find a Czech word, suddenly,
voila, c'est le francais. His English skills are hovering somewhere around the "B1 - Pre-intermediate" level on the EU language rating scale. He hopes to acheive native-speaker-fluency in the next decade.
Ssssh. Don't tell my students. I think they already suspect it.
