It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...Thanksgiving? Christmas? Holidays, Anyway

This little guy frequently meets us as we go from the bus stop to the school. He has nothing to do with the blog, but he's cute so his image comes to you. He has a couple of siblings and the mother apparently lives one street over.


Has it really been since November 7 since we posted last? Well, it has been busy. We went to the Slovak Wine Institute and got a tour, including tastes of ten wines. The institute is housed in an old castle that was used as a winery in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The Soviets, of course, had to try to make it more efficient with steel barrels for aging. Nevertheless, the Slovaks preserved several of the old wooden barrels, some of which had religious carvings on them. Many had wooden bungs; one had a glass stopper, so we had to take a picture.

The hunt was on--for sweet potatoes. What are they called in Slovakia? Sladke zemiaky, translated--sweet potatoes. Tesco had them, and then they didn't, and then they had them. Not exactly a widespread phenomenon here, but of course they have them all the time now! Maybe we'll get some and bake them. Paula made two casseroles, the first for
the American teachers' Thanksgiving, held in Bratislava on November 20, the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day. ELCA teachers came in from schools in Central Slovakia and Poland, and the American teachers in Bratislava invited guests as well. There were about 26 people there. The cook at the school prepared the turkey and cooked the potatoes; we mashed them. Paula also made green bean casserole with cream of mushroom soup from Marks & Spencer, the British department store, and French's dried onions from Janna Haug, wife of the pastor. Janna usually has coordinated the food and participation, but this year she was taking a river cruise with her father and brother, so Paula got that privilege. She also made the display with stuff from our flat, the open-air market, and Tesco. We also learned about the "It" game. Everybody contributes gag or white elephant gifts (wrapped). Each player has dice and rolls, and passes them quickly to the right. If the player rolls doubles, he or she claims a prize. After all of the prizes are claimed, winners open and describe them and then comes part 2. Players roll and pass as before, and if they roll doubles they "steal" a prize from another player. If the player rolls double sixes, the player calls "it!" and gets a soft toy thrown to them. The one who ends up as "it" at the end of the game gets a special prize, in this case, 20 euros.On Thanksgiving Day, after classes, the Student Council hosted a Turkey Party for the American teachers (and, truth be known, for the students themselves). One of the posters is pictured above; in case you can't read it, the little guy in the corner is saying, "Save a turkey--Order a Pizza!" Other posters will undoubtedly show up on Facebook. This was the occasion for Paula's second sweet potato casserole, which got eaten up post-haste. Needless to say, the spread for this party equaled the first feast; once again, the cook made the turkeys. Six in two weeks, in an apartment-sized oven! Some of the students did a "man (person?) on the street" video asking if their interviewees knew what "Thanksgiving" was, what got eaten, and whether Slovakia should adopt the holiday. Pretty much universally, the Slovaks interviewed said, "No." The sentiment would be lost. (Nobody ever takes a picture of the guy who takes pictures--hence the "deer in the headlights" look).

Then last weekend the Bratislava Christmas Festival Market opened. The Vienna market opened the weekend before, but we've not gone yet, so perhaps we'll devote a future blog to that. This is the night of the second Stuzkova event too, so that also will be a future topic. It's not as if we lack for things to write about; we just lack for the time!

Oh--Paula continues teaching, and Jim in the library. We spend most of our time doing that, truly we do! We got our first snow today; just a dusting, the sun came out, and it was gone by noon.

A Visit to Prague

Prague to English speakers, Praha in Slovenska and related languages, Prag to the eminently practical German speakers--whatever it's called, a beautiful city. We went there last weekend during Fall break, Friday to Tuesday. Prague has nearly 2 million inhabitants of the metropolitan area, about four times the size of Bratislava. Compare Denver to Chicago; each has its own flavor, but size does make a difference.

We'll let pictures do most of the communication. We stayed in a boutique hotel, the Dom Henrici, about a half kilometer from the castle, which means we climbed up stairs after each time we went to the center of the city. You will see the hotel, the stairs, the castle including the changing of the guard, the Charles Bridge over the Vltava River, and the parts of the city that we saw--the Old Town, the "New (from the 14th Century) city, and the Jewish Quarter. A few words will accompany the pictures to keep you oriented, but this is not a travel blog, so if you have questions, you'll have to ask us.

The church in the castle is named for St. Wenceslaus (as in the King o' the song, except he was a prince, not a king). You'll see a statue of him also in front of the National Museum; he's the patron saint of the Czech Republic (of Bohemia, actually). The Swartzenburg Palace, on our way to the castle from the hotel, has sgraffiti on it; no, not bad words or slogans. It's trompe l'oeil painting or etching meant to fool you into seeing stone.

Paula took a beautiful picture from the balcony of the cafe in the Lobkowicz Palace in the castle. Not heard of the Lobkowicz family? Neither had we, until we saw their stunning collections. Google them. Oh, by the way, we ate well, not only in the Lobkowicz (a little something pictured) but all five days.

We also seem to collect Frank Gehry buildings. The one(s) shown (there are actually two in the picture, not one) are called the dancing buildings, known locally as "Fred and Ginger" for Astaire and Rogers.

The bottom line is, we found, you can't compare the two cities. Both had important roles in former days, in former empires. One never had much of an industrial base, but even as it faded a little, kept its beauty for the tourists. The other had many industries, and outside interests pushed them at the expense of its beauty. In an era, and under a regime focused on industry, one stayed a tourist mecca and the other became even more a haven for industry. Now, when nations covet ideas more than ideologies, the smaller city encourages tourism and works to make up for lost time. We're glad to be here and watch it all happen. And we're glad to be back to meatloaf in our favorite restaurant.