Home Again

I'm back home now, wandering back into a sweltering Big Apple after seven days away. I guess the best way to synopsize this week's getaway is thusly:

-I had seven full days vacation. Of these 168 hours, I spent 44 hours sleeping, 17 hours finishing up an impending work project, 23 total hours traveling and 2 hours buying souvenirs for Fang's boss which left me 82 blissful hours to my own touristy devices. I would venture most of that time was the long weekend in Prague which was worry free, stress free and I daresay relaxing despite the fact we walked 16 miles over the course of our tenure there. I need a serious pedicure.

-I could go an awful long time without hearing the German language again. The people were kind beyond belief, but the language made me want to rip my ears off. My German sucks and no one seemed to be able to speak English. Even when we returned to Cologne last night, I felt thwarted simply asking for two cups of coffee to go.

-I still don't know what was in those sausages.

-The Czech Republic has to be one of the most gorgeous countries I've ever seen. Well, next to France and Austria. I am quite partial to those very lovely places as well.

-I never actually had a real breakfast on any day of this trip. I did have a roll in the Cologne airport one day. In Prague, all of our breakfasts featured pork, cabbage, some tubular meats, vegetables and the like. It was good, but I am jonesing for some eggs and bacon with a side of rye toast American style.

-I never quite sorted out the Czech crown exchange rate. The Euro is far easier; you are simply paying twice what you should.

-Beer always tastes good when you're on vacation.

-German television is weird at best. With lots of nudity.

-I'd go on but I am jetlagged beyond belief and I have to go back to work tomorrow. For your amusement, here are the last of my pictures from Prague:

Czech breakfast. Smacnego!
A tour of Josefov, the old Jewish quarter in Prague. First stop, Staronova synagoga (Old-New Synagogue).
The Maisel Synagogue and Jewish Museum.The Spanish Synagogue (which was spectacular inside--alas, no photography was allowed). We then visited the famous Pinkasova synagoga which features the handwritten names of the nearly 80,000 Czech Jews lost in the Holocaust. It was incredibly stirring. Out of respect, Fang purchased a paper yamaka to cover his head while in the synagogues. We then visited the Stary zidovsky hrbitov--that is, the Old Jewish Cemetery which dates back to the first half of the 15th century.Of course it started pouring with rain as soon as we entered the cemetery which some folks would consider a bad omen. Here's one of the lions that marked a prominent grave--in this case, Hendel Basevi's tomb.Pardon the pun, but it was a most haunting place. We were so overwhelmed that we had to leave and find a local cafe where we enjoyed a beer and the men's final of the French Open tennis on EuroSport Television. So what do you follow the French Open final with (to say nothing of the spanking that poor Roger Federer received in three sets)? Why, a visit to the Communism Museum. It's a fabulous tour. Deliciously, the museum is situated between a McDonald's restaurant and a casino. Stalin must be spinning in his grave. We wandered back into the main square and admired the architecture.We saw the Franz Kafka memorial.We toddled off (on foot, of course) to Vysehrad Castle to see the Basilica of Peter & Paul and its surreal cemetery. The cemetery was chock full of some pretty elaborate tombs.Oh, yeah, some famous composer named Dvorak is buried there.The town hall of Prague was nice, too. But my dogs were barking.A perfect way to end our stay in Prague meant lunch in the famous dining room at Hotel Europa.Smoked meat, smoked cheese, eggs, cabbage, dark bread and beer. What more do you want?