View of Prague

Had a lovely evening enjoying the view from the rooftop terrace at our hostel. This picture courtesy of Jack's artistic eye. We drank french wine Hamish provided and 8 crown beer! Thats roughly 40 cents Canadian! Political debate ensued needless to say- my personal favorite pasttime.

We are departing Prague today for the Czech mountains to check out some small towns (It is sad leaving our little hostel). There may not be any posts for a few days in the event we do not find internet...don't worry though! Will write soon! Then onward march....Austria and Hungary here we come!!!

-LlalalalalaDelilah

Munchen and the 'SLAV EPIC'

This one is called 'Fate'...the gaze is particularily disturbing! I love it! Today we went to the innovator and contributor to the art noveau movement Alphonso Munchen museum. We learned about his 'Slav Epic' which we are really keen to check out in another small town outside of Prague. We really enjoyed to exhibit and had an informative chat with a proffessor and his wife from Portland Oregon, who taught us about some of the Protestant movement in Prague and about Jan Has, who was burned at the stake as a heretic and who effectively influenced Martin Luther.

After we parted ways from our American and Norwegian friends, Hamish, Jack and I were impeded by the Czech Transit Authority for not having tickets for the subway- which we kind of have been taking advantage of. It really sucked, we were lectured sternly by a mean-looking Czech beheamoth of a man, issued a fine and sent along our merry way. We were a bit shaken up- I mean images of me in a Czech prison were not something I wanted to entertain. We tried to talk our way out of it, playing the lost tourist to no avail. Thus we returned to the Hostel and picked up a few cheap beers to drown our sorrows. Luckily our friends/ dorm mates did not suffer the same fate when we bumped into them later in the night!

-Gutten Tag, D

Museum of Communism and Galavanting About the City

Yesterday Jack and I headed out with Hamish and our new friend Jordan (from Montana) to see the museum of communism. It was stratigically located next to a McDonalds and a casino... which was quite amusing. There was plenty of sculptures and paintings of Marx and Lenin, but we found much of the commentary to be rather subjective. We also felt it was bit overpriced for what we paid which was a bit of a disappointment.
Afterwards, we went to the Prague castle. Although we did not get to go inside any buildings, we observed to magnificent views of the city from our perch. The church on the Castle ground was breath taking and I wished we got there in time to go inside.

The last picture is of me, peeking inside on the lookout for ghouls and the type. Unfortunatly I did not see much, but Hamish and I were certain we could hear voices of the torture victims ghosts within. The rest of the day we trecked through the royal gardens, scaled a rock ledge succesfully...hee hee...braved the jungle of a Czech mall which is similar to braving such places at home and went to a two floored Tesco grocery store to stock up on crucial supplies.

Woke up today to a pounding rain. Were entertained with fellow backpackers awesome guitar skills, Oystein, who could play anything you could think of...Even NEIL! He is from Norway which sounds like paradise. The cops do not even carry gunsthere...and apparently they produce guitar prodigies....

-Over and Out, Delilah

Quote of the day!

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.
- Author Unknown

Found this on my pal Wilkies blog Turnip Creations from NZ...She is very talented with a needle and thread.

Our FREE Tour of Prague

Yesterday, while Jack was on the lookout for graffiti I was busy observing the sights and learning more about the city of Prague. After arriving at our new (Cheap+nice) hostel we befriended a felllow traveller Hamish from New Zealand. The three of us trapized off to take in the sights, sounds and smells of the city indulging in our free tour. It started in the town square, where our guide (George from Missouri) enthusiastically regaled us with stories of Nazi occupation, communist Czechoslovakia, Jan Palach, Franz Kaftka, Mozart and many more. There is some amazing architecture in Prague dating from the Art Noveau period in the New City (new as in twentieth century) and the old city, which I believe is remanents from medieval times (OOOLLLDDDD).

After the tour was over, we spotted these giant brass babies. I managed to get a few good shots of us tickling their feet, kissing their bums (hee hee below) and Jack and Hamish riding them like horses. Then we walked along the river and watched the swans. We are off today to do some more indepth investigation... the old Jewish quarter of the city (with the oldest Jewish cemetary in all of Europe), the Kaftka museum, museum of communism andf perhaps a tour of the castle.

Anyhow, thanks for all the comments! Will post soooonnnnnn! -lalalalalalaDelilah!

P.s To the Hmac Mothership- How is Steven doing????

Prague Graffiti

Here are some pictures of local graffiti in Prague. Since we've been in Europe we have seen tons of spray paint. There are loads of people tagging slogans and what not, those who know us well know we have a personal attachment to stencil street art.

This one was pretty neat.
I think the next one is by
the same artist.

For my girlfriend, my sister, and my cousin.

Freehand, but I like the message,

and colour. Definetly the same artist, on the same daymost likely. Im pretty sure both pieces say the same thing, one in English, one in Czech.

We'll keep an eye out and post some more soon!

-Signing out

Jack

The trip to Prague

We have arrived in Prague! We ended up heading to Prague instead of Berlin because we got on the road late and missed the early bus to Berlin.

On our way to the bus station, we were in a busy area outside the town hall (see above) and an old man started messing with Jacks back pack. My first instinct was to slap him, and without thinking a gave him a good hard smack. He backed off and laughed, mumbling in German. Then he casually rejoined his wife and meandered on. We were a bit jumpy after that! We really stood out with a giant backpacks so we remained very vigilant .

We finally made it to the bus unscathed and we were pleasantly surprised by (a) the comfort of the seats, (b) we recieved free drinks...there was a stewardess! (c) the tv's, the stewardess kindly put on english subtitles for us.


Anyways...the story will be continued ...we are heading out to tour the Prague castle!!!!

Never Again

We visited a place called Dachau today. It was formerally a World War II concentration camp. The camp in Dachau was the first concentration camp set up in Germany. Originally designed for political prisioners and those who posed a threat to the Nazi party, the camp was to become a living nightmare for Jews, Gypsies, Jehovahs witnesses, homosexuals, and people of a wide variarity of nationalites. The Dachau camp provided the model on which the notorious Auschwitz death camp was constructed.

Going to a place like this is a disturbing remider of the capabilites of human beings. The holocaust goes way beyond 'normal' violations of human rights and dignity. It was systematic, industrised murder. Economic incentives for some high ranking members of the Nazi Party such as Hilmar Wäckerle, Heinrich Wicker, and Wilhelm Weiter were some of the original motives for creating a slave labour camp. Total authority for the Nazi Party was a top priority, and under this premise the camps quickely desended to places of human degradation and terror.
We decided to take a guided tour of the camp. Our guide Steven (which is also the same name as our cat!) was very knowledgable, and he took us through the process which prisoners would be initaiated through. Starting with the SS intergation room, moving on the the shower and de-lousing room, main courtyard, the cramped barracks', the crematorium and finally the gas chamber (dubbed barracks X). As you walk though a place like this you can feel the history. There is an erie sense of stillness, dispite the German school childern milling about (who are required to visit the site by the curriculum). Steven spoke of the process of removing the individual from the self and of the desensitization the prisoners endured in order to cope. It was as much physical pain as psychological which haunted those who were incarcerated here.


"Arbeit macht frei" are the words on the entrance gate, meaning in English "Work will set you free." This was on all concentration camps front gates. Its designated intent was to begin the dehuminazation process. It assumes that thoses who pass though these gates are somehow inferior or unworthy of the full rights of human beings. In some twisted sense of baseless justification it aussumes it was the prisoners fault as to why they ended up here... but with hard work and sacrifice they may be redeemed, both physically and spiritually. These words are in line with Nazi ideology and their ideals of racial superiority.

Overall, we were glad to visit this historical site. At the end, Steven really emphasized that the intent of the tour was not to serve a reminder of what happend in the past, but to ensure that something like this will 'never again' happen.

Greeting From Munich!

May 5th (on the plane): Currently hurtling 32,000 feet toward the Atlantic ocean. Slight turbulence makes my stomach quiver. Babies whimper. I hear pages of a book being turned. Whispers. What a strange and unnatural feeling flying is! The muffled rumble of the engines become white noise. I can see the reflection of the half-moon on the plane. So many adventures in store! Estimated time of arrival- half past ten.

We we arrived in the city we were surprised by how quiet and clean it was. There are bikes everywhere. Not many stores. You can buy cigarettes out of machines. Booze is very cheap.
This is some cool graffiti we found on a side street...
Our first make-shift meal, havarti and yummy bread with coffee! We bumbled in the bakery trying to order. One cashier spoke a bit of English which helped. After we left the bakery we headed to a local library where the librarian (who spoke english well) gave us some pointers.

Help- Hilfe
Thank-you- Danke
How much is that? Wie viel kostest das?
Excuse me- entschuldigen sie!

We will keep working on our German!


Guten tag! -Delilah and Jack

     

WE LEAVE TODAY!!!!!! Our bags are packed, we have bid adieu to family and friends and we are heading out to the airport in a few hours! More posts will follow from abroad...

Over and Out, Delilah and Jack