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European
Vacation
- Prague & Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
When
we last left off, we were headed to a rendevouz in Prague with Mom and
Dad Harder. Before we left, they
looked
at our itinerary, and decided that the Czech
Republic, Austria and Italy seemed the safest and most
comfortable bets. This meant an immediate upgrade
in accommodations compared to our recent style of
traveling.
We
got to Prague first, and found a nice apartment that was being rented
out. Can't step off the train without being accosted by touts offering
their apartments up for cold hard cash. But, two for two, it has been a
bonus. The apartment was clean, nice and centrally located and we never
saw our flat-mates.
We had the city to ourselves while we waited for the eminent arrival of
the family. Or so we thought.
 In seems that in my decade long
absence, mass tourism
had 'discovered' the hidden gem of Europe. The Germans and Americans
were out en force. The place was crawling with tour
groups and hoards of crowds. They
graze like cattle at one
sight then move on to the next, in their inane package T-shirts behind a
tour guide waving an umbrella like a shepard's staff. The town
was completely overrun. What
was my favorite city in Europe a decade ago, was close to the bottom, if
not the last on my list. Mark my words, Budapest will be the next
Prague...
We met Mom and Dad Harder and
immediately transferred to their luxury accommodations. It lacked the
charm of our other flat, substituting sterility and amenities in its
place. We set out to show them the city.
 Our best
experience was not seen
but
heard.They give glorious
recitals and concerts
in many churches in town, the repetoire heavy
with Mozart, Bach, and Vivaldi. Almost every night they play, with fees that range from free to
moderately expensive. We
heard an exquisite
rendition
of Mozart's Requiem complete with full
orchestra,
horns, oboes, drums, full choir and
soloists, an
hour of aural ecstasy, heard in a beautiful church, in the manner it is meant to be
experienced, outside of a funeral.
And
we ate like gourmets on a quest. They said the best food in town and we
found places that fit the bill, their bill at least. The best, by far,
was a small place, cozy and yet luxurious at the same time, deep under
the Charles Bridge at the foot of the castle. The menu was a set
degustation with matching wines, and it raised our palates to new
heights and set the tone for the following days.
Breakfast in bed
overlooking th old city of Prague
From
Prague, we travelled to Cesky Krumlov in southern
Bohemia
and stumbled across the annual Five Petal Rose
festival.
We were lucky to get accomodations in the best rooms in town, a converted Jesuit
monestary.
We
literally stayed in the tower belfry, and had to
keep
our windows closed because of bats.
Above our bed was the huge wooden mechanism for opening the tower and
ringing the bells. The rooms were spartan, white with dark mahogony
furniture, and it suited the place well. There was an open courtyard,
where roving troupes performed ballards and short plays as part of the
festival.
The town itself is a charming
array of red peaked roofs and the occasional steeple stabbing upward
while the
river winds through the town like an S, with the
castle
rising dramatically on one side.
 For
the
festival,
all the townspeople dress in medieval
and
Renaissance clothing ranging from simple
peasant
wear to extremely elaborate costumes complete
with
men in Elizabethan pantaloons and women in
full
hoop skirts. I couldn't help but inquire into how the town pulled off
such a major production. The answer? The Prague Historical Society
supplies all the costumes and have been for ages. Weeks before, there is
a lottery to see which part they will play, peasant or prince
in that years festival.
They were
everywhere, as the
festival
is mainly local, and one could easily imagine what life might have been
like back then. The main square was the center of it all, a large stage
dominating with smaller booths of food, drink and wares. The first
night they led
a
procession through town, with all the costumed
revelers
carrying torches of fire and led by drummers
and
a pack of dogs. It was
eerily hypnotic. There
was
also jesters and magic shows and Renaissance
music staged throughout the entire weekend.
The
whole event was capped by a strange audio-visual
multimedia spectacular with dancers and goofy special
effects
including what appeared to be a twenty foot
onion.
Since it was narrated in Czech, the effect
was
even more disconcerting, but from what we could
make
out, we think the onion was a time machine
which
told the story of the founding of the town. It was all set in very
dramatic setting, below the towering castle against a stony cliff right
at the river's edge. The audience watched from the far shores. The
show
was capped off with a fireworks display set to
Pink
Floyd (again disconcerting)
As
with any good festival, one has to sample the
beers,
and
here in southern Bohemia, so close to Budvar,
the
beer has to be good. The local brew is called
Budwieser,
not the local swill produced in the states,
but
a very tasty, full bodied variety, with the
bitter
taste of hops, and more importantly, it was
only
30 cents for 16 ounces, we got well dehydrated
a
few of those nights. For beer connaisseurs,
Budvar(the
Czech brewer of Budweiser) first coined the
term
but then Anheiser Busch borrowed it. Recently,
they
got into some legal wrangling over the use of the
name,
and basically came to a settlement that the
American
swill can't be sold in Europe while Budvar
cannot
export to American. Oh the
shame, its so good.
 We
traveled on to Salzburg, Austria, home of Mozart
and
set in the Austrian Alps. Some
highlights include a cable car ride
to
the top of the Untersberg, a 5000 ft mountain, with
a
jolly barkeep at the top ready to fill us with his
homemade schnappes, which Mom enjoyed while
Dad
was terrified from start to finish from the heights involved. We had
another memorable meal, the best in Salzberg in a small house off the
main drag. The perfect degustation that lasted four hours. The Europeans
know how to eat.
The
last night
we
walked around to see the town lit up at night
and
take some memorable pictures. We
reached the
towering
fortress that was atmospherically lit on the
mountainside.
As I was focusing the shot in the
viewfinder,
it suddenly went black. Someone
just
flipped
the switch. CLICK!
And off it went. The
castle,
the fountains, the churches, everything
in
town, just went dark, and I never got the shot.
I
think I remember screaming something about turning
it
back on for just a second but to no avail. oh well, sometimes the shot
is not for you to get.
Traveling
with the parents is great. We
are sampling
wonderful
cuisine, no milk bars for this crowd.
We
have our own toilets, sometimes two if you count
the bidet. We
ride first class (ok six seats instead of eight
but
they have headrests!) And hot high pressure showers,
all
we want.
Ten
four good buddies
over
and out
ann
and doug
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