St. Stephen Among the Holy Innocents on Boxing Day

A merry Christmas and happy new year to y'all!  This blog sends our holiday greetings to the thousands of you (well, a few less than that) who read the blog. It is actually being written on Boxing Day (if you're in England), December 26, which would be a couple of days before the commemoration of the martyrdom of the holy innocents, and a day known in Central Europe as St. Stephen's Day.  So everything is closed in Bratislava. 

Much has gone on in Bratislava since our return from Lutherstadt Wittenberg (see the previous blog entry), but if the truth be known we haven't taken many pictures!  Many of our activities went on last year as well, with different participants, so I guess you'll have to conjure up images from previous blogs.

The Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt

Not too many days after we got back from Germany, we took a trip south of here by car to Eisenstadt, Austria, with Pastor Arden driving.  The Esterhazys, princes of the Hungarian Empire, made Eisenstadt their family home in the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries.  Eisenstadt was convenient for royal travel, since it sits about two-thirds of the way to Vienna from Budapest. The Esterhazys had a lot of money and a lot of influence, since the house fought for the Hapsburgs.  The palace is most famous for being the place where Joseph Haydn did most of his composing in the last part of the eighteenth century, and where he died (and so is doing most of his decomposing as well).  A local boy from Bratislava (or as it was known then, Pressburg or Poszony, depending on whether you were from Vienna or Budapest), Johann Nepomuk Hummel, succeeded Haydn.  And, we found out a couple of weeks ago, Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Mass in C Minor at the behest of an Esterhazy and premiered it in Eisenstadt in 1807.  The Prince didn't like it, Ludwig stormed out, and that, as they say, was the end of that!

We took time to go to Lutsmannsburg, just south of Eisenstadt.  That area, Burgenland, is noted for its red wine, and this year and last were especially good.  It so happened that we

The barrels of this year's harvest

came to Lutsmannsburg just on the Saturday of the wine festival.  Arden knows one of the families well, since they are active in the Lutheran parish there, and we were treated to wine (except for Arden, of course, who was driving) and a tour of the winery.

Paula went to a couple of stuzkovas (which, if you remember, are the fifth -year students' we-hope-for graduation parties at which they receive their stuzkas, or green ribbons which they wear for luck), and Jim got invited to one, too!  We found out this year that the parties and the ribbons are traditions only in Slovakia.  Like weddings, stuzkovas have gotten more elaborate (and expensive) over the years, but the students were dressed wonderfully, the food was delicious, the programs were good, and the dancing was... well, good when other people were involved.

Paula' centerpiece graced both parties

We got plenty of Turkey on Thanksgiving!  As with last year, there were two parties. The students took pity on their poor American teachers and put on a Turkey Party on Thanksgiving Day after classes.  The school chef (and she is one, too) did the turkeys, potatoes, and dressing.  Students and teachers provided the rest.  Then, on the next

Birds get carved....

Saturday, American teachers came in from the rest of Slovakia and Poland for another Thanksgiving.  Again, the school cooked turkeys and provided the setting, and the Americans (and

The Turkey Party spread

invited Slovak friends) celebrated and ate.  Later, the "It" game got a little wild... The International Church benefited the next day, too, since many teachers stayed over and provided extra music.

The Christmas markets started in Bratislava and Vienna, and of course we went. We added Budapest this year, but that's a long one-day trip!  We got to see the Oslo Philharmonic with Joshua Bell during the Bratislava Music Festival.  Oh, yes--teaching went on, too!  

We'll blog about Christmas and Trieste next time.  We leave tomorrow.  The reaction we get most often is, "Trieste!  How wonderful! Where's that?"  Our concern is that the main book is Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere, by Jan Morris.  We'll see, and let you know.

Thin Places

The Evanjelicke Lyceum, being what it is and where it is, offers a fall break over Reformation Day and All Saints Day.  We took the opportunity to visit Leipzig and Wittenberg, Germany. 

Martin

In our minds these two cities, stomping grounds of Bach and the reformers, are thin places.  In Celtic spirituality a “thin place” is a physical location where the veil between God and the world is especially, well, thin, where people experience God more directly and clearly.  Theologically we doubt whether we should use this metaphor, since it implies that the distance between God and people is generally “thick,” and we know that God is everywhere.  Our experience, however, tells us that places do exist where we feel closer to God, whether it is true or not. 

The Leipzig market

Against the law to have a REAL monkey

We took the overnight train on Thursday from Bratislava to Dresden, changed trains, and went on to Leipzig.  Walking a bit brought us to our hotel, which was grand.  New remodeling and total electronics took us far and away from our much more humble flats in Bratislava.  Based on the recommendation of our traveling companions, we went first to the tourist office and signed up for the guided walking tour a couple of hours later.  It just so happened that the market opens on Friday, so we strolled through the booths and ate our lunch in the open air--bockwurst and reformation bread.  Imagine a bit of Christmas bread with raisins and then add some red jam on top, covered with icing or powdered sugar.

Tomaskirche

Having noshed a bit (but not in the Naschmarkt-- see below), we found our way to the Tomaskirche where Johann Sebastian Bach was choirmaster and organist for over a quarter of a century., We went along to the tourist office again and caught our walking tour, one stop of which was our hotel!

After walking around some more and having a bit of a rest at the hotel we went to a motet (etc.) concert at the Thomas Church.  The famous boychoir was on vacation so adults from town, including some alumni from the boychoir, acted admirably as a fill-in group. We went on to a fine dinner and then went back to the hotel.

At the Leipzig Naschmarkt

Nikolaskirche

The next morning we did some shopping near the Naschmarkt.  Unlike in Vienna where the Naschmarkt is really a market, the one in Leipzig is a central square behind the old city hall where Goethe and the boys played.  We then went to see the St. Nicholas Church, a large structure with a substantial plaza outside, where the "Velvet Revolution" (the fall of the Soviet Bloc) began.  Monday demonstrations started in September of that year after peace services led by the pastor of the Lutheran congregation, Christian Fuhrer.  The demonstrations grew, and many people gathered in the plaza on October 9, 1989--about 5,000.  Police arrested some, the Army supported the police, and the authorities told the rest of the people to disperse or be forcibly evicted.  Fuhrer invited all of the demonstrators (all five thousand) into the church, and faced with the prospect of continuing demonstrations from the people of Leipzig and the East Germans who had taken refuge in the West German embassy in Prague, the East German government crumbled.
 

Inside the Nikolaskirche

In the middle of the nave of the church is a candelabra with 40 candles for the Jews' 40 years in the wilderness, 40 days of the ark on the water, Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness, etc, and "Our 40 years in the wilderness, 1949-1989."  Very moving and very touching.

The "Theses Door," now bronze

 

That afternoon we took a train to Lutherstadt Wittenberg.  We first located the hotel--one of us (he who must not be named) suggested following the driving sign which took us about twice as long, twenty minutes instead of ten.  We walked in the old town, locating the town church (St. Mary's), the castle church, and the tourist information office. The Castle Church is the place where Martin Luther purportedly posted his 95 theses against indulgences in 1517, the publication of which ignited the Reformation. We came to Wittenberg expecting to learn a lot about Luther, which we did, but we came away with the idea that Lutherans in the United States sorely under-appreciate Luther's co-reformer Philipp Melanchthon.  Of course, we are glad that the movement is

Luther's House

named after Luther.  After all, who would go to the Melanchthonian Church?  Perhaps more will follow about that in another blog.  We went to an English-language church service that night and then got turned away by a bunch of restaurants until we ended up in a Tuscan themed place, which turned out to be wonderful.

Katarina von Bora--Katy Luther

Guarding the Wittenberg old town hall

Sunday we walked around the city, including the newer part.  Wittenberg has about 50,000 residents, of whom perhaps 10,000 are Christian, the vast majority of whom are Lutheran (well, Evangelical,which may include several denominations near to Lutheranism).  During the time of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) those who publicly professed Christianity risked at least repudiation and sometimes persecution. We went to a museum that afternoon showing what life was like in Communist times.   Sunday night we went to one of the restaurants that had been recommended to us for the night before, but which had no room.  Arden Haug joined us; he is pastor of the International Church here and newly appointed director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Wittenberg Center.  

Arden Haug preaching

Soup's on!

Monday, Reformation Day, dawned foggy and cold, and the weather did not improve much.  Nevertheless, it was a good say with an English language service at the Castle Church at 8:00 A.M. (well attended), the festival service (mainly in German) at 10:00 (overflowing, perhaps a thousand or more attending), and the Renaissance Fair for the rest of the day.  Pastor Haug conducted the English service and served as a liturgist for the second.  He preached from five meters above Luther's grave.  The Old Town area was also packed. We had bratwurst, fresh mushrooms, and cherry beer for lunch.  Lutheran churches from around the world are sponsoring a tree garden, 500 trees representing the 500th anniversary of the Reformation which happens in 2017, and at 4:00 P.M. we went to the latest ceremony adding 19 trees.  Another concert happened at 5 at the Castle Church, this time focusing on gospel music relating to the theme of the weekend, freedom. Finally, we went to the Festival Concert at the Town Church at 7:30, Bach, Elgar, and Rutter.

The Town Church

The Castle Church

Services in the Luther Garden

Dedicating a tree in the Luther Garden

Where did we feel close to God?  Each of the cities provided a host of places.  Concerts, church services, trees, people--all gave us an encounter with a thin place.  Will we go back?  God knows, but we want to. 

"Ein Feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress)"

What We Did Last Summer

A little B&B in Porlock

Now that summer has officially ended and we are back at school in Bratislava, we can tackle the age-old first-day-of-school assignment--"Write an essay about what you did last summer."  We kept busy.  First, we met friends in England to tour around and stay in quaint little bed and breakfast places; visited parish churches;

braved the wilds of Exmoor and the fearsome Exmoor ponies;

 

Asthall Manor

relocated to Oxfordshire while scoping out our future home, meanwhile staying in another small B&B; and finally took in the "Oxford Experience" at Oxford University in Christ Church College, where we

Tom's Tower, Christ Church

learned about English cathedrals and Shakespeare, Alice Liddell and the Jabberwock, and Harry Potter.

Wells Cathedral

The Globe Theater, London

 

The "Jabberwock" Tree

The Hall (dining)

Off, then, to the United States, specifically Virginia, where we celebrated the marriage of our eldest daughter and her husband and rejoiced with Flounder, her eldest cat;

 thence to Colorado, where we hiked (walked?) in Rocky Mountain National Park with our youngest daughter and her husband, and went to the county fair with Paula's brother and his family;

4-H barrel racing!

 and then to Boston where we visited our middle daughter and trekked (well, drove) to Concord, Massachusetts to see both Orchard House where the Alcotts lived and Walden Pond, the site of Henry David Thoreau's cabin.

Orchard House

Thoreau's cabin site on Walden Pond

All in all, we had a great time, leading to all of those semicolons and dashes.  We send a big thank-you to all of the people who put up with us.  Once again we proved the old adage to be correct--too many places, too little time. Slovakia and Central Europe beckon us.  We would go back to Oxford and the UK again.  We have seen too few places in our own country.  And then there are all of those places the New York Times tells us about.  Sigh.  Satch, you're right--what a wonderful world!

Since we've returned, we've started a new school year, renewed acquaintances with students and teachers, met new students and teachers, had a visit from friends from Virginia and went with them to Prague, and started a new concert season with the Slovakia Philharmonic.  But all of that, friends, is grist for future mills!

Wind Up

 So--is it wind, with a long i, and if so, is it the prelude to a pitch or something's end?  Or is it wind, with a short i, and does that mean the air outside is moving, and we'll move with it?  Both, or all three, actually.  We finished an academic year, we anticipate a great summer which makes us look forward to a second year, and we are willing to see where the breeze might blow us next.

 A church service ended the school year on June 30 with celebration and a few tears, but before that we wound up the year with a bang (not a whimper).  We'll picture three events for the blog.  Modra (get out your maps of Slovakia) features many good wineries, and Slovakia's only "high school" focusing on oenology.  Christy, pictured with Paula, is friends with Riko, translating for his father in the second picture.  Pan Schoen (his father) runs the winery (the building behind Paula and Christy) where students are apprentices.  Got all of that?  We went on a Sunday afternoon tour and tasting.

Grapes are just beginning to appear; they do both whites and reds, but as with most of Slovakia the major focus is on white.  The growing season is just not long enough nor the summers hot enough to produce good red wine in quantity.

 A nineteenth century chateau houses the winery.  The working area and first floor are renovated beautifully, and the table is waiting for tasting, instruction in drinking wine, and wonderful conviviality.  Things get even more convivial as each wine is tasted.

 The following weekend we donned our T-shirts and other work duds to participate in Naša Bratislava, a volunteer effort to help city officials clean up and beautify the city.  Our International Church group went to the Pisztory Palace, a nineteenth century residence built by a very well-to-do pharmacist.  The building's history included use as a residence, as the Third Reich's embassy, as the Lenin Museum, and (briefly) as a catch-all museum and reception space for Slovakia. The palace fell into disrepair after 1996, and Bratislava City would like to see it restored.  To do so, of course, takes money, and money comes from investors who can see possibilities.

 We stood around and scratched our heads and wondered what to do.  As you can see, the courtyard's weeds and small trees outnumbered the workers.  Fortunately a group the day before cut down much of the underbrush, so we could at least see the challenge.

 Unfortunately, no one had come around to haul material away from the work the day before, so we tried to figure out how to tackle the problem.  "Salve", Latin for "save", seemed an appropriate plea from the floor tile in the entry.

Challenges to the inside cleaners probably exceeded those of the outside cleaners because of the dust.  The Soviets did not love lavish decoration much, and they painted over many ceilings when the mementos of Lenin arrived.  However, in some cases they installed false ceilings instead of using paint, so after the Velvet Revolution lovely decoration survived.

Finally, the arrival of a small dump truck brought a smile to the faces of workers inside and out--even the ones wielding fierce cutters against intractable roots.
 

 The next day Allan poured the champagne and we toasted our director as she celebrated the nearing of the end of the school year and a half century of life by hosting the American teachers, the school's website developers, and a smattering of others.  Edita always spreads a great feast, and we ate aplenty.

 Edita's daughter, who had just spent the year in North Dakota (brrrr) as an exchange student, composed a moving poem (in English!) for her mom, and read it for all of us. The guests became a willing cleanup crew (much better than the day before!).

This will be the last post until September.  Our first year moved us, surprised us, and gave us an appreciation for Central Europe generally and Slovakia particularly.  Slovakia is a very old country, and a very new one.  The Evanjelicke Lyceum is a very old school, and a very new one.  These dichotomies make for a peculiar environment in which we can learn from the Slovaks and they from us. It is a unique and wonderful opportunity.