Visit to Prague and Vienna
My wife and I recently returned from a trip to Prague, from which we made a weekend of it in Vienna. My random impressions:
Happily (wrong word for this author, but...), I'd just read "The Castle" this year. On crossing the Vltava on the way to our pension, my wife said, "That must be the castle". It was early evening, but quite dark and on turning toward the north--bang--the image and its connection to the novel hit you. The specter of the castle, brightly lit at night, is at once intimidating and magisterial.
A word for the old women (and old men, but many of these have died) of Europe. I've now had the privilege of visiting London, Paris, Madrid, Moscow, Prague, Vienna...in each of these places, but especially in the cold of Moscow and, just recently, Prague, I've seen dozens of bundled-up old ladies, limping, sometimes at remarkable speed, through crowds in metro stations and other public areas. Braving chill wind, they manage to wend their way through indifferent throngs, not get crushed on some very fast escalators, and avoid getting wiped out by the distinctly non-pedestrian-friendly drivers. You see more about life in their faces than you can read in a book. They are heroic. For some reason, I just don't see as many such old folks in the States. I don't know why exactly.
Fast cars are cooler in Euroland than in the States. In a European city, the BMWs/Audis/Mercedes are dirty. They're going fast. Their drivers look like extras in a "Bourne" movie. They are often pulling illegal, unsafe maneuvers and show no remorse. Here in Calif., the status cars have a highly polished look. They might go fast for a burst, but quickly and sensibly deflate to a responsible speed. Their drivers look like aspiring white-collar criminals. I mean, if you're going to drive a fantasy car, why not live the fantasy?
My wife and I were privileged to attend a lecture for one of our son's classes (he's doing a semester abroad in Prague). The class is taught by Vaclav Cilek, one of the leading intellectuals in the Czech Republic. On the afternoon we attended, Prof. Cilek took us to a modern art museum in the Old Town district. The prof's knowledge of and passion for art was captivating. He is, incidentally, a professor of Geology, at Charles Univesity, in Prague.
Interesting to note, in the cathedral of St. Vitus, the principal church on the Prague Castle grounds, a wooden relief depicting the city of Prague. As I recall, the relief is from the 13th century. Old Town and what became the Jewish Quarter are recognizably the same places they are today. To someone like me who has lived most of his life in Calif, this gives you pause: the San Jose my parents moved to in 1960 (and where they live today) no longer exists. There are a handful of buildings downtown still standing, but these no longer have a significant role in the life of the city. I think it's accurate to say that more than half of the development of the SF Bay Area (and I could probably extend this to the entire state) has occurred since WWII. The "place" where a Californian of my age (57) is from exists only in his mind.