Nove Syrovice's Grassel

There is much to explain here. Heidi's assistant principal, Frank, invited us to his nearby village Nove Syrovice, or as he calls it, New Jersey. The event that is taking place in the village is recognizing a famous, or more correctly, an infamous robber, Johann Georg Grassel, who was born here in 1790. Frank says that there is nothing really distinctive about the village other than this person... and since they have no famous person, the next best is a person of ill repute. There was a walk tracing some of the trails the crook used to tread, then refreshments, then a tree dedication, perhaps one like he was hanged on for his crimes... then we ended the day with a supper and some polka dancing at the town hall... but I get a head of myself. Above, next to the handsome devil in the red jacket is an interpreter brought in for the Americans' benefit. In the background you may note the gentleman speaking to the crowd - he is the Mayor. This meeting provides those necessary announcements before we begin our 6 km hike into the woods to see the various dark confines that Grassel strode.
I said it was a trek in the woods didn't I? Here is proof. Again, who is that good looking rebel, (in the red jacket) that plays by his own rules? Has Johann Grassel returned from the nether to harangue the peasants once again?
There is Heidi, in the blue jacket, shmooshing the local powerful mayor. ...that or perhaps she is apologizing for me... it's possible... mystery, drama and suspense...

Behold! That rugged good looking lad in the jacket was me! Can you believe it? ha ha ho ho... what a funny mistake. On another note, Grog and food will steal the girl from the mayor every time. This is Heidi and I eating at a mid-walk break. We are served "grog"- a part tea and Rum mixture... some lemon and sugar. At first it tastes... just ok. Second round... gets a little smoother... Third, best damn stuff I ever drank. Also of note, we were served "Special Grassel food" as Frank called it. It's basically a potato skin, stuffed with a stick of butter, some garlicky ham, covered with smoked bacon. ...in other words, it was really tasty, but filling. The building we are in is a hunting lodge built in the Middle Ages by the local aristocrats to rest and eat while on their hunting parties.
The interpreter asks how I feel? "feeling fine!" ...Heidi laughingly apologizes, thus deflecting an international incident.

Here, the Grassel tree planting. Sun is low in the afternoon...
Later, Mark has finished "special Grassel Goulash" to Elise's utter astonishment. The thought bubble above her head reads, "where does it all go?" But what does Mark's surly countenance portray? Lost in the special goulash he looks up and realizes....

Frank has put the moves on his wife. ...but Frank is the department head and Mark has no job. Got to play it cool.

Watch that hand Fresh, I mean Frank! Now's when I gots ta make my move...

Still got it!
I refrain from commenting on the camouflage.

All ends happily. Elise finds a friend and Mark gets the girl. Mari is no where to be seen. I'm sure she is not doing anything I wouldn't. ...ah, we gotta go now.

Ok, silly little drama aside. It really was a great day. I don't know how to explain it. I love places such as Prague and Vienna. The cities are amazing. Having lived in Chicago, we find it hard not to want to be in other cities that offer so much. But I must say in defense of where we are, it is things like this local walk and being with people who are invested here - it's beautiful. The folks here live very presently... they enjoy. I count this as a highlight of this Czech adventure so far.

In Medias Res

I (Heidi) thought it might be good to tell our story of life in the Czech Republic from its beginning, lest you all think that our adventures began on September 3rd when Mark arrived. Certainly the first entry of our blog would suggest that they did begin upon his arrival. But alas, they did not, and the first entry actually begins in the middle of our story - OK- not technically in the middle - more like in the first of our eleven-month stay, but I liked the title and needed to come up with some excuse to use the little Latin I know. Our adventures actually began three weeks prior to Mark's arrival when the girls and I went through security at O'Hare without Mark - OH!! - OK - that was a horrible moment in my life, and I have no qualms about saying I wept uncontrollably when I was told Mark couldn't walk us to the gate - not that I couldn't fly to Europe on my own - it's just that I applied for this adventure for my whole family and not having Mark with us on the plane was just too much disappointment for my overwrought nerves. Below is the picture we took once the three of us got through security!

I was still weeping when I took the picture!

So here we are - the 3 of us on our own for a while.

Sorry to bore you with bad pictures - but so be it! I did have some consolation at O'Hare when my cousin Todd, who works there inspecting planes prior to their flight, came to visit me at the gate. I nearly cried again in gratitude for my dear family who has been part of this whole Fulbright/selling of the house process from the very beginning. I then bought our last Starbucks and boarded the plane. The girls and I arrived in Moravske Budejovice, Czech Republic on August 14th and spent the next three weeks acclimating to our new town, which is really not that easy of a task when in a country that speaks an entirely different language. For the first few days we were in that jet lag haze - tired but unable to sleep when the sun went down and tired and needing to sleep when the sun was up! But after a few day, and with the help of a few kind colleagues (and now friends) here, the girls and I navigated the streets and shops of our village in search of items to stock our shelves - things like kitchen utensils and waste baskets, salt and pepper and tea, and the whole array of goods upon which a household operates. Every morning we'd go out in search of something new to eat - we got tired rather quickly of yogurt and pasta, cheese and cucumbers- the only discernible items that don't require translation. We'd then come home and eat our new finds and then head out again in the afternoon to visit new shops. It was exhausting and exhilarating to walk into every shop and say in Czech "I only speak a little Czech," which actually means - I don't know any Czech other than this one phrase!!! But at least we were trying! We walked everywhere, drank lots of tea, took lots of pictures just because we could, and plowed through books because for at least a week, we had no access to technology for a host of reasons. I nearly wept with joy when I finally got a cell phone - I think I endeared myself to the clerk for the remainder of our time here - for now every time I walk into the shop for more credit on my phone, he smiles and says in his little English "Credit" and I laugh and say "Ano" - yes - and hand him my 400 crowns. Here are a few photos from that time.

We also had the blessing of visiting Hana's Mom (Hana is my exchange partner who is living in Illinois now). She welcomed us so kindly and we spent a number of afternoons with her, practicing our Czech and playing with the rabbits she keeps in her beautiful garden.

Our biggest outing was a trip to Vienna to apply for my visa. That trip cemeted our existence in Europe - and some of our favorite memories of those three weeks come from those 2 days. I don't know why, but successfully navigating the transporation systems of two countries without speaking either language sure made us feel quite confident in our survival skills. We visited our first castle and found an amazing park that kept Elise occupied for hours. Vienna may also hold some appeal for me because it was there that Mark phoned to tell me the sale of our house would finally occur and that he actually would be coming on September 3rd. It was a lovely moment. Vienna's charm hasn't yet faded for us and fortunately we aren't that far away to access its loveliness. Below are a few pictures.

...eating pastries in the park

The Hapsburg's Schonbrunn Castle

By the time Mark arrived, the girls and I had settled in to our new life fairly well and were ready for our next adventure - acclimating to the Czech school system. But that's for another entry!

YO! Czech our Crib!

I thought it might be interesting for some to see how and where we live. It's different than our place in Cary. If you refer to the prior post, Mari and I are sitting in the kitchen at the table. This pic below of Elise is from the same vantage, but looking into the living room/master bedroom.


And here is our view out the living room window Elise is sitting in front of... note the factory in between the two brown buildings.
Now remember that our mere digital camera does not capture the setting. I mean this in several ways. You should know that the camera creates distance, for when we look out of the window, things look closer. Also the colorization of the camera is horrible. The skyline of the horizon the night I took the pictures was amazing in color... setting sun and all. But what should be noted specifically is this factory, which makes itself known every time we gaze out the window from this vantage point. The saying on the factory is "May the Unity of the Workers Live". Obviously this is of the communist era... much like the structure of our building. See below



next

From the kitchen table, we see Heidi preparing something made with mushrooms most likely.

Our couch converted into the master bed. This is where all the magic happens.

This is our entertainment center. Every time we turn on the TV we realize how little Czech we understand. We do get CNN and it's in English. The news is usually bad.... but we do get a European perspective... which is good. Some of you might find it odd, but the news in America is hardly liberal and hardly neutral.....neither is this news... but then it's at least different than the same American blather.

The Hallway. Here you see our entry door. You may note the "faux" brick wallpaper on the right. I think it really adds texture.

And below is from the same position looking in the opposite direction. Our wardrobe. I can't find any secret doors in the back, but then I haven't gotten inside and shut the door either. When it's January and were desperate, maybe I'll send Elise on a scouting mission. (None of that will make any sense if you don't know the story of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."
Perhaps it doesn't make sense if you do?)

Finally, we have Mari's and Elise's room. They have the southern view. It's quite good. Since they have it so good we make them pay buy hanging the laundry in their room. But fortune still smiles on them: in the drying process, the whole room smells of freshly done laundry. You'd think this paradise might entice them to make their beds. I suppose that the clean smell of laundered cloth has more of a poppy effect.

And below, the rear view - minus the laundry as seen in the above picture.

And this is from the groundling's perspective. I lock my bike up to the places where people don't hang their laundry.

The observant eye will note the lack of closets in our apartment - we actually have 2 small closets - one in the hallway that serves as dresser drawers and one in the dining area for our food and paper goods. As a result, bags and shoes and mops and ironing boards - all the stuff we Americans have but hide away in closets when we clean house (because - let's be honest - all that stuff rarely stays where it's suppose to) - all of it is now openly sitting on the floor and we ignore it. We didn't come to the Czech Republic to clean house every day!!! Still, we haven't yet lost our respectability - come over for dinner or for coffee and you won't find much of those items sitting around. We might even sweep up those incessant dust bunnies that never seem to go away!

Mushrooming

Evidently Mushrooming is a big deal here. Last Friday we were invited by one of Heidi's colleagues to go Mushrooming... who could refuse an offer like that? As it turns out this summer was particularly dry, so this wet fall with occasionally warm days has produced a sort of late harvest of Mushrooms. In another blog I will show you some pics of where I've been biking on small forest roads... there is not a day that I haven't seen loads of people scouring the ground for them. And I must admit, walking into the forest, you can hardly take a step and not hit on one. See below - perhaps not the best pic, but this kind is orange with speckles... though they are not for eating. BTW, most of the mushrooms encountered are not for eating. I suggest ONLY going with an experienced native. Mirka, Heidi's colleague, showed us one particular mushroom that was so poisionous that to eat it meant one had only mintues left before the end. Another colleague of Heidi's evidently ate a bad mushroom years ago and substained permanent liver damage.

But that doesn't scare us! So here are some of the spoils...

But these were all carefully inspected by Mirka and we have had plenty-0-srooms since. Above, captured in "still life" as all pictures are... are four different types of eatable mushrooms. I also included some of our favorite things or things that we consume daily. Most notably is the "Matoni", the bottles of water. You can get the mineral water plain, with gas or without (carbonated) and in several different flavors such as lemon, orange, apple, and pear to name just a few. I really wish we had these in the US. They are just slightly sweetened... especially in comparison to soda. The "lovecky" salami as well... it tastes so good. But it is salami and mostly made from fat... which is not good. Kind of an evil cycle. Perhaps it can be countered by chocolate. I will have to experiment. You may also note the paper mache pumpkins. They don't really celebrate Halloween here so we are doing our best to decorate.

As you can see I'm busy at work with Mari supervising. Our menu for the last few days has been this. Friday night: fried mushrooms, made at Mirka's house. Saturday: Crepe Mushrooms, made by chef Heidi. Wow, they were great! Sunday: a goulash made by Mirka, made from a special kind of mushroom. It was very good. Monday: Mushroom soup, with lentils, made by chef Heidi. This was also good. I think everyone is getting sick of mushrooms. Not me. I think we'll make pizza tonight... mushrooms on it for sure.

Hluboka &Cesky Krumlov

This was our traveling last weekend. We had a three day weekend so we borrowed a car and went to the city of Cesky Budejovice and stayed there Friday night. I suppose it is the "Czech" version of our "Moravian" Budejovice, the name of our town. ...if you caught the language. The castle you see above, Hluboka, is said to be one of the best "Medieval" castles persevered in all of Europe. I'm not sure, but it is quite lavish inside. Inscribed in Latin above the fire place mantel in the dining room, (which can seat 72 people), is the family motto, "Nothing But Justice". I suppose in America we see vast differences in economic levels. But when you view the 17th century interior of the castle and realize how the surrounding communities lived in the 17th century and in some cases still do... you begin to understand the impetus of past European social unrest. Even so, Rawls' theory of "Distributive Justice" might seem conservative
in this context. Whatever the case, one cannot argue with the beauty of the place.

Yes, an interior entry to another courtyard.

I show this picture mainly because I think my brother-in-law, Greg, would be interested. Note all the mounted trophy's. Each year there would be a huge hunting party and all the racks were mounted on carved heads with the name and date underneath. This castle has been around for a few years. There were even hunting parties up until the early 1900's when it was still in the owner's hands, so there are literally hundreds, perhaps thousands of these, most of which are kept in the many stairwells. Nice racks, eh? Now please, when do you get a chance to say that with an air of legitimacy? Color, mind you, makes life interesting... especially in the form of humor, so that we can laugh at ourselves. Btw, that is key to understanding the brilliance behind the Simpsons.

But the real interest of the weekend is not this castle, which we saw on Friday. It was the next day when we left Cesky Budejovice and drove to a nearby city, Cesky Krumlov. This city is by far the most charming, picturesque, amazing place I've ever seen. If Hlbukova is the best persevered medieval castle, this is its rival in terms of a beautifully situated and well preserved Medieval city. Now mind you, the castle here is perched above the town, which itself is on a bit of a hill with a river meandering around it. One thing the picture doesn't show is the surrounding area, which is mountainous. The setting is perfect.

Of course now looking at the picture, or lack thereof, perhaps being the fault of the either the camera or its owner, the picture doesn't come close to the experience. So I recommend making the trip. Below I will post more of the town.

Entry into the city underneath a walkway of the castle.

Just through the entry
I love the way the castle is built on/into the rock
Part of the Castle from the foot bridge

yes yes, looking back from said footbridge
The plaza. It so happened that we came during a festival!

life from the street

Two girls who think that because they've discovered a "horor bar" they should get to enter regardless of time or age.

This seemed the end... and so we left Cesky Krumlov. We took a wrong turn and ended up on a river road. We decided to follow it as it was a very pretty drive. Before we knew it we ended up here...

Rozmberk nad Vltavou

So we decided to have lunch.

This was quite a find. It was so close to the Austrian boarder that everyone spoke German. Also, the place seems to be a stop for mountain bikers, all of whom were also Austrian.
Fin