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Today is Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras is the culmination of the tradition Carnival Season, a time of celebration that actually predates Christianity. In Christian custom Carnival is most prominent in Roman Catholic countries, but it also makes an appearance in Orthodox countries such as Greece. The most famous celebration of carnival in Greece is in the town of Patras in the northern Peloponnese. It actually begins 4 days before Mardi Gras and finished on the Monday before that day.

Carnival was a time of celebration before the austere season of Lent. Feasting was almost a necessity so as to use up meat, eggs, butter and other animal products before fasting began. Most commonly it began on the third from last Sunday before Ash Wednesday, but in some places it began as early as the Feast of the Epiphany (Jan 6th in our calender).

Little of Carnival has survived the coming of Protestantism in England, except for the custom of "Pancake Day". Most of England's "Carnivals are held during the summer and fall. The southern, Catholic part of the Netherlands where it is called Karnaval, Carnaval or Vastenavond preserves the custom as do most countries in Eastern Europe. In Russia it preserves many of the traces of its pagan origin. Also, in many countries of the region Carnival has taken on some of the costume aspects that we in North America usually associate with Halloween. Needless to say this is true in many Latin countries as well.

It's in the Latin countries that Carnival has become the most famous. Portugal, Spain, Malta and Italy all share in the Carnival tradition. In all these places vestiges of the "inversion of society" still linger. In Tarragona in Catalonia, for instance, the effigies of the Carnival King and Queen are burnt at the end of festivities. In fact the festival of Carnival took many of its themes from the Feast of Fools that openly mocked the rulers, clerical and secular. This festival, usually held around New Year's had many elements dating directly back to the Roman feast of Saturnalia.

The most famous European Carnival is that of Venice, first recorded in 1268. Over the years the Venetian authorities many times tried to restrict the practices of Carnival such as the wearing of masks (though "society ladies" were sometimes required to wear masks during Carnivale so as to discourage the exhibition of costly jewelry). During much of the Middle Ages Venice was something of an "adult content Disneyland" during Carnivale. It took the decline of the Venetian Republic, Napoleon's conquest of Venice and the long grey rule of the AustroHungarian Empire to end the party. In the 1970s, however, local craftspeople began to manufacture the tradition pale carnivale mask known as the larva (Lating for "ghost") or volto (face). In 1979 an effort on the part of the Biennale, an international exhibit of contemporary and avant-garde art held every odd numbered year in Venice since 1895, and the Campagnia dei Grandi Alberghi (local hoteliers' association) relaunched Carnivale in Venice as one of the most popular events in Italy, and perhaps in all of Europe. Nowadays Venice, a city where tourists usually outnumber locals at any time of the year, becomes so crowded during the 10 days of carnivale that the causeway from the mainland has to be shut down because of the overcrowding. I don't speak of no place to sleep or eat. I speak of too little room to walk around.

In the Americas the Carnivals of Brazil, especially that of Rio de Janeiro, are the most famous. The Carnivales of the Caribbean, however, may be more festive. On some islands, such as Trinidad and Tobago, the celebrations may last a full month. Carnival is also celebrated in other parts of both South and Central America with varying amounts of enthusiasm and varying customs.

Here in Canada the Quebec City Winter Carnival is a descendant of the old celebrations, though it is held on the last days of January and early February so as to have good snow accumulations and cold enough temperatures for the ice sculptures. Winnipeg's Festival du Voyageurs is similarly held in early February for the same reasons.

The culmination of Carnival in Mardi Gras is not a universal feature of Carnival. In some places, particularly those with a longer carnival season other days of the festivity are more important. In Brazil, for instance, the season lasts two weeks. In New Orleans the celebration of Carnivale was introduced by the French settlers, but it became a multicultural event with traditions all its own. There are numerous "krewes", perhaps over 60 at the peak, which organize parades and other festivities during the two weeks preceding Ash Wednesday. The oldest parading krewes include those of "Rex: King of the Carnival"(from 1872) and Zulu (founded 1909). Both of these parade on Mardi Gas morning. The oldest of the night parading krewes is the Krewe of Proteus (1882) which organizes parades on the night of Lundi Gras (Fat Monday) . Numerous other Carnival celebrations are also held in the south eastern USA and even as far afield as Detroit.

For an overview of the subversive history of Carnival, the actual festival and other aspects of "collective joy" see Barbara Ehrenreich's new book 'Dancing in the Streets:A History of Collective Joy' (Metropolitan Books, NY, 2006). This book puts the whole matter into a comprehensive overview of what such festivities mean for society.

Molly

The Prague (Praha) Subway:
One of the most enjoyable experiences in the city of Praha is the efficiency, safety and comfort of its subway system. Praha is a city of about 1.2 million people ie a little less than twice the size of Winnipeg, but its public transport is about 10 to 20 times better than that in this city. The Praha subway consists of three lines complemented by a number of trams to outlying areas. The stations themselves are mostly a single platform system serving both directions ie no making a wrong turn and finding yourself staring across the tracks to the train going the direction you want to go. During rush hour there are only two or three minute intervals between trains. Maps of the system are clearly posted in numerous locations, and one can easily locate which train to take in the station by further maps hung from the ceiling. During non-peak hours the trains run about every 5 to ten minutes. Waiting is never a pain.
One of the things that amazed me about the subway system was the quality of the announcement system. In airports and bus depots here in Canada the overhead announcements are usually incomprehensible in two official languages. In parts of Europe they may be garbled in up to 4 languages. The best you can do is listen for your own name and hope they don't garble it too much. Every last word and syllable on the Czech subway system was clear and distinct, every place and every time. I have no idea how this magic was achieved, but it sure was different.
The Praha subway also gives new meaning to the phrase "rapid" transit. It beats any car hands down, even excluding circling to find parking. I must admit that I am not a great connoisseur of subway systems, but from what I have seen Praha's system is definitely cleaner and safer than that of Montreal, Barcelona, Vienna and Athens. The later is especially significant as many upgrades were done in preparation for the Olympics. it must be admitted that the floods of August 2002, also led to a lot of new construction in Praha as many of the lines and stations were flooded out. But still...a much better job was done in the Czech Republic than in Greece.
The subway system in Praha, like that of Wien and the boat transit in Venezia (and I suspect a lot of Europe) operates on the "honour system". There are generally no ticket takers nor electronic gating systems in any of these three cities. I saw ticket checkers in operation on a few occasions at stations in Venezia, but they were rare, and the system operates efficiently ONLY because there is no such gating to hold it up. I believe that I have already mentioned the roving spot checks of "transit police", and how you don't want to get on their wrong side, but these people are hardly common.
I was quite astonished to find out that the construction of this ultra-modern and pleasant system actually began under the Communist dictatorship in 1967, and the first section was opened in 1974. Maybe it shouldn't be so astonishing if one stops to consider that Communism may never have been able to supply good toilet paper (nor most other consumer goods) in necessary quantities, but the buggers actually could build good bloody engines. The Moscow subway is apparently close to being one of the wonders of the modern world, both for its engineering and for its design. Even today one can find not just beautiful almost baroque art in its caverns but even historical relics of socialist realism. What can one expect from a country where 'Love Song to a Tractor' was #1 on the hit parade for 6 months in 1955 and made another comeback in 1966 (just joking).
The Praha subway was designed after the Moscow model, and it is one of the few valuable things that Communism left to the country. The Czechs, however, certainly contributed their own skills to its construction. After East Germany the Czech Republic was the most industrialized area of the Eastern Bloc, and there was a vast pool of skilled labour for construction. Unlike in the Soviet Union, only a small minority of the workforce would be falling down drunk on the job at any given time (see Czech Beer and the difficulty of getting drunk on same, and compare to the effects of vodka). The result is that, while the Moscow Metro may be more magnificent you are far safer riding the sub in Praha than in Moskva, even to this day.
Actually something like "industrial archaeology" might reveal that the former Communist rulers of the former Czechoslovakia were truly obsessed with the train. Perhaps it served the same iconic purpose as the tractor did under Stalin in the USSR. The beauty,cleanliness and efficiency of the rolling stock in the Praha subway contrasts with what we saw on the rail line from Praha to Wien. No doubt the Czechs could and do build locomotives of excellent design. But under Communism they OVERBUILT them. The line leading south seems to be a wilderness of crumbling smokestacks of factories no longer in production, abandoned railway stations and AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT of dead rolling stock. I swear that there isn't as many dead locomotives and railway cars of all descriptions gathering rust in "railway graveyards" in the whole of Canada as there were visible along that one short line. Some of these mortuaries were huge beyond anything seen anywhere in this country. It's beyond my comprehension why these sad things aren't crushed up for scrap, but there they sit and probably will for another 30 years.
The abandoned railway stations are the saddest thing as they attest to a time when the train was the major form of transport, and they are much more numerous than the same things in Canada.
The pleasant experience of the Praha subway contrasts not just with the industrial decay in the south but also with the sad state of our own public transport here in Winnipeg. Waiting underground for 5 minutes for a train in Praha is a more than slightly more pleasant experience than waiting 20 minutes at 30 below in January for a bus in Winnipeg. For anyone interested there is a website detailing comparative urban rapid transit systems across the world at http://www.urbanrail.net . Look through it and see that many cities that have smaller populations than Winnipeg have functioning rapid transit systems. It's an eye-opener. But it leaves me with the question of how an "honour system" could possibly operate in a city like Winnipeg. But that's may be a question for deep philosophers rather than little cats.
Mollymew

Beer: Czech and Otherwise:
Despite our little experience at 'The Little Stalin Cottage' I have to say that Praha is a much more enjoyable city that either Wien or Venezia. More on the latter two later. Not that it reaches the level of Barcelona, but my anarchist prejudices may be showing there. Before going to the Czech Republic I had spoken to a number of Czechs resident here in Winnipeg. None had anything good to say about their home country. I have now learned that this is as much a "national Czech habit" as disparaging Winnipeg is for Winnipeg residents. No Czech has anything less than a thousand complaints about their country- but let a foreigner express the same things and the hackles are up. I guess that, if I was drunk enough and nobody had annoyed me for two weeks I could find something good to say about Winnipeg too. Besides getting out of it. But speaking about "drunk enough"...
There is something of a "national contest" between the Czechs and their former German speaking oppressors as to whose beer is better. I have to say that my initial response to to side with the Czechs on this and any other matter that they may drag up. But, prejudices aside, I have to admit that I have always had a liking for Czech and Slovak beer. The cultivation of hops, for which the Bohemian climate is ideal, is attested by chronicles dating back to 858 AD ie before the founding of the Czech monarchy. "Good" King Wencelas even instituted the death penalty for anyone caught exporting the cuttings from his domains.
The first Czech retail brewery was established as a workers' cooperative in 1118 AD at Cerhenice. This was a central brewing location from which members took the extract home to finish the brewing process. "Good" King Wencelas abolished the proscription on actual retail "sale" in the 13th century. This act seems to me to be much more deserving of his "sainthood" status than the official Catholic reasons.
Czech beer making later fell on hard times due especially to the 30 Years War. At one point the Czechs used beer to pay off a Swedish army to avoid the sack of the Czech town of Kutna Hora. But the country was generally devastated by said war. Later the industry received imperial patronage under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Emperor even sent a brewmaster to Mexico to "teach the Mexicans how to brew proper beer" (see the short lived 'Mexican Empire'). The Czechs later clung to their beer as a national symbol as part of their "awakening" from the process of Germanization during the later part of the 19th Century. Under Communism the idea of investment in the brewing industry was a no starter. Traditions remained, but the industry stagnated as the ruling class saw the production of cheap beer of doubtful quality as one of their "bargains" with those who they ruled.
Since the end of Communism the industry has flourished. The major breweries have, to a large extent, been bought out by foreign interests, but the result was an improvement in quality as the market for Czech beer is largely an export market because of the reputation of Czech beer. Microbreweries have flourished in the cracks of the multinational market.
Within the Czech Republic beer is incredibly cheap. One source quotes a price range of 20 koruna to 80 koruna for a half liter in Praha. This is about 80 cents to $3.20 Canadian for a half liter. I can testify to this price range having drunken in both the "tourist drag" and "off the beaten track". The problem with Czech beer, from a Canadian viewpoint, is that it is virtually impossible to get properly drunk on it. The alcohol content is usually much lower, and you will burp yourself to death long before getting to the point of falling down. An outside observer might take this as evidence that Canadians have more to forget than Czechs do, but I'm sure that most Czechs would claim preeminence for national depression over Canadians. Let's leave that to barroom conversations.
A weird and unfortunate thing that I observed in Praha was that it was virtually impossible to get a "sampling" of Czech beer at any drinking establishment. Most places had a "sweetheart" deal with a given brewery, and when you asked "what sort of beer do you have ?" the answer was quite short. I found a lack of my favourite type of brew ie a dark ale. I can get the Czech beer 'Baron' a lot easier in Canada than I could in Praha. Capitalism may have come to the Czech Republic, but a "free market" is many years away. The breweries seem to rule the drinking establishments with an iron hand. I ended up drinking a lot of Pilsner,Budvar and Starobrno. Maybe it's the romance of Praha, but they seemed to taste better there than they do in Canada.
In general beer tasted better than our hootch in Praha, and it is one of the many reasons that I loved that city. A google search for "Czech Beer" came up with 184,000 hits, an indication of the popularity of the subject. Anyone interested in looking at the subject further can consult the wikipedia article on Czech beer at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/beer_and_nationality entitled "Beers of the World'. Another interesting source, with more knowledge than I have, is 'The Opinionated Beer Page' at http://www.topb.com .
Both these sources give more than a general outline of both Czech beer and other beers of the world. Speaking about the rest of the world, here in Canada I have yet to meet a beer as good as '1892 Traditional Ale' produced by the 'Quidi Vidi Brewing Company', just out of St. John's Newfoundland. We visted the brewery when we were there last summer. But for sheer joy I can say that Canada probably has the most "humour friendly" brewery in the whole world. This is the 'Unibroue' brewery in Quebec. Their signature beer is '1837', after the Lower Canada Rebellion of the same year, but they are not "politically correct". Some of their other efforts are 'Nom de Dieu', a swear word in joual, 'La Fin Du Monde', loosely translated as either "the end of the world" or "the ends of the Earth", and 'Quelque Chose' ie "something" (or the other). My favourite, however, is the dreaded 'Maudite' (another swear word in joual). Quite frankly this is the absolutely WORSE beer that has ever been produced anywhere in the world. It is foul and vomit inducing and should be used for alcoholic "therapy". The name is very apt. It is "damned" beyond all measure. The Unibroue brewery produces it as a "novelty item", and it fits very well with their light hearted marketing efforts. Try it- you won't like it.
Well that's it for item # 1 about why I loved Praha. More later. Should you ever visit the city avoid the Czech wine. It's plonk in the same sense that Canadian wine is. Both countries are on the very edge of the grape growing climate, with all that that implies. Bohemia makes no wine. It''s a product of the southern reaches of Moravia.
Molly

Toilet Paper and Civilization:
A travel writer that I have read remarked that the level of civilization of a country could easily be measured by its availability of public toilets. In his view this meant that Byelorussia was somewhere back in the Hyrcanian age. If they have "pay as you pee" toilets there, I'm sure that they have Conan rather than a Baba watching the door.
I'd like to offer an alternative index- the toilet paper scale. I've mentioned the stuff in the Czech Republic already. Basically coarse grade sandpaper. The materials were a bit better in Austria. Still from recycled paper, but the paper manufacturering process was a grade above "lightly chewed". I was swearing to myself that this sort of thing couldn't happen in Italia. I was wrong in one way. There are still some pay as you pee toilets here in Venezia, but a heck of a lot less than Austria or Czech Republic. The toilet paper is, however, on a much more civilized scale, fit for human use. I wasn't wrong there when I couldn't imagine an Italian torturing their hind end with the stuff available in the other two countries. It gives another meaning to 'la dolce vita'.
Anyways, enough of the scatological tour of Europe. More civilized comments are still to come.
Molly from Venezia