Prague Part II

Okay - Now it's my (Heidi's) turn to comment on our week in Prague. I was told that Prague is the most beautiful city in Europe. At this point, from my limited perspective, I'd have to agree. Historically speaking, it is an amazing city, rich with moments commemorating Europe's cultural and economic traditions. Every view of Prague provides one with beauty, unless of course you are coming from the bus station, which then affords the viewer with lots of graffiti-laced store fronts, thanks to the influx of American Hip-Hop, so I'm told. Trade networks at their best! Okay - back to Prague's historical center...As Mark says, words just cannot capture the beauty of Prague. We learned to navigate the Metro and Tram system fairly quickly and made use of it as often as we could. But being tourists was not the reason for coming to Prague in the first place. I had my Fulbright orientation to the Czech Republic and so had many meetings during the week that covered Czech identity, culture, economic and social positions, and more than one meeting on the US proposal for a missile radar facility within the Czech Republic as well as the visa proposal. The political maneuvering is fascinating, really, and I, as a European history teacher, am in awe of actually witnessing it all from the Czech viewpoint. I applied for this opportunity for reasons such as this, so I'm quite in my element. During the week, we went to an opera at the National Theater and also had the opportunity to visit the US Embassy (or rather to the visitor's center as clearance into the embassy would have taken an hour or more ) and later we were even invited to a reception at the US Ambassador's house (or rather mansion/palace), which is one of the most amazing ambassador's houses in the world, so we're told. And it was quite amazing. The pictures included above should give you some idea of its grandeur. Mark and Elise are standing in front of the house, which looks over lovely gardens, and Mariana is standing in front of the stairs that lead to the personal residence of the Ambassador and his family. The current ambassador is from the Milwaukee area, and since part of my family is also from the Milwaukee area, I was able to connect with him on a small, polite level. No smoozing from my end, I promise. In the picture below, standing from left to right, is Zbynek, my mentor here in Mor. Budejovice. In between Zybnek and myself is the Ambassador, Richard Graber. My associate principal, Frantisek, is on the far right. It was such an honor to have Zybnek and Frantisek with us that evening, and I think it made quite an impression on them as well.

All of us were honored to attend the reception and grateful for such a fun opportunity, though afterwards most of us Fulbright grantees enjoyed the food and fun at the local 350+ year-old pub more than the ambassador's house. In all fairness, I'm not sure the two can be compared. Still, I did feel the need to show pictures from the reception and not the pub. Go figure! Our week was full and enjoyable, and we look forward to returning to Prague in December. I hear that no city is more beautiful at Christmas time than Prague. But that's for a later entry. Ahoj.