Jumping ahead of myself:
In our recent trip to Europe we visited Vienna and Venice as well as Prague. Prague impressed me the most, but there were interesting things in the other cities as well. One of these was the Cafe Central in Vienna.
Vienna has long been known as the "home of the coffeehouse". According to legend the love affair of Vienna and coffee dates back to the siege of Vienna by the Turks in the 1680s. When the Polish army came to the rescue the Turks reportedly fled leaving a great number of sacks of coffee behind. The Viennese used these and became quite wired on the bean.
Whether this is an exact description of the rise of the Viennese coffeehouse is debatable, but there's little doubt that the institution dates back many centuries in Vienna, and the Viennese coffeehouses are the very model for the coffeehouses across the world.
The Cafe Central in the Palais Ferstl is perhaps the most famous of the lot. This cafe has been a Viennese institution since 1860, though its location has changed several times. There is some dispute about when the present location opened for business. Some say 1975. Others say the 1980s. In any case the present location is "high bourgeois" to say the least. From the plush armchairs, to the life size portraits of various Hapsburgs on the wall, to the little glass of water along with the coffee, to the delicate Viennese pastries served as an imitation of food, to the piano player whose repertoire is part classical and part movie scores and to the high gilt ceilings the place pretty well reeks of decadence.
In different locations in the past the Cafe Central was the meeting place of the usual motley crew of artists and bourgeois intellectuals and revolutionaries. It was frequented by the likes of Goethe, Freud, Beethoven, Mahler and even the trinity of Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky. Even Adolf Hitler used to drop by to try and sell his paintings before his two rejections to enter the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts (though his usual haunt was a coffehouse closer to the school that rejected him). The ironies of history ! I have several photos of said school. If Hitler had been just "slightly" better as an artist or if the standards of the Academy had been just "slightly" lower what would our world have been like today. The entrance to the Academy is very much nondescript, and a casual passerby would never know that the history of a good chunk of the 20th century was determined behind those doors by a coterie of stuffy academic dons.
Anyhow, the prices in the Central Cafe were high but nowhere near as outrageous as I expected. I sunk myself in Cafe Mozart and Irish Coffee. The cafe has a little rep in travel books because of its association with Leon Trotsky who lived in Vienna from 1907 to 1914. At that time the coffeehouses provided not just coffee but also a mail drop, a meeting place and even a supply of pens and paper for the usual bohemian crowd. Given that rep I noticed a few entrants to the Cafe who were obvious Trotsyists. It's hard to mistake them. They have the air of innocence trying to be decadent and rebellious hovering about them that exudes across any room. From the carefully trimmed beards of the males to the very ! proper feminist attire of the females (not too loud and aggressive mind you, but very much a fashion statement) the crew is unmistakable. Cute, I must admit and probably much better people overall than some of my own insane anarchist comrades. Hard to dislike but basically very boring. (note to self- get a decent haircut and beard trim soon).
I wonder what these tourists would think if they found out that the bullshit-central of good old Lev was actually somewhere else- the guides usually don't mention the shifting of location. I even wonder whether the contrast between the high bourgeois atmosphere and the purported history strikes them at all. It certainly struck me. What came to my mind was not favourable to the average lefty plotter. It looked like a place where the "outs" of the declasse intellectuals would come to admire the works of the ruling class of their day and plot to become a new and "improved" ruling class. That sort of thing is usually beyond most Trotskyists- it's a "thought crime" to even slightly entertain the idea that this is the motivation of some "revolutionaries".
Ah well, be that as it may, Trotsky and Lenin were reported to have played chess in the confines of the Cafe Central. Obviously Trotsky won as Lenin had more than a few nasty words to say about good old Lev, like the following from 1912,
"I advise you to reply to Trotsky through the post: "To Trotsky (Vienna). We shall not reply to disruptive and slanderous letters". Trotsky's dirty campaign against 'Pravda' is one mass of lies and slanders....this intriguer and liquidator goes on lying, right and left....It would be still better to reply in this way to Trotsky through the post: "To Trotsky (Vienna). You are wasting your time sending us disruptive and slanderous letters. They will not be replied to."
Oh yes they were. This is a little example of high words substituting for the phrase "fuck-off" long before the internet could even be conceived in the imagination.
Molly
Showing posts with label Vienna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vienna. Show all posts
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Thursday, November 09, 2006
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
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
Friday, November 03, 2006
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
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
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Saturday, October 14, 2006
We're due to leave Praha for Wien tomorrow. Lot's of interesting stuff in this city. Many tales to tell for later. Off to see The Castle (shades of Kafka) this PM. The only great annoyance is the "pay as you piss policy" of most public washrooms. Most have an old Baba guarding the door to the can. The price varies from crapper to crapper, and the price bears no relationship to the quality of the facilities. The toilet paper looks for an entrepreneur to start importing the real stuff to this country.
The best incident was desperately !!!! searching for a non-upscale toilet in Wencelas Square one evening. Finally, I find one in a McDonald's. Fumble,fumble with the coins. The cost was 5 koruna (only about20 cents actually). My surprise- the Baba hands me a coupon redeemable in the restaurant. So........I got a coupon for shitting in McDonald's. Above the Big M is (literally) The Museum of Communism. I think that this says it all about why the commies lost. The commies provided subsidized toilet paper for the masses, paper that still exist today. I imagine that the whole lot was (over)produced in some factory in Irkutsk in 1973. But you'd never get a coupon for taking a dump from the commies. They may, however, have distributed free coupons that entitled the comrade to one free dump every third day. Need it or not.
The best incident was desperately !!!! searching for a non-upscale toilet in Wencelas Square one evening. Finally, I find one in a McDonald's. Fumble,fumble with the coins. The cost was 5 koruna (only about20 cents actually). My surprise- the Baba hands me a coupon redeemable in the restaurant. So........I got a coupon for shitting in McDonald's. Above the Big M is (literally) The Museum of Communism. I think that this says it all about why the commies lost. The commies provided subsidized toilet paper for the masses, paper that still exist today. I imagine that the whole lot was (over)produced in some factory in Irkutsk in 1973. But you'd never get a coupon for taking a dump from the commies. They may, however, have distributed free coupons that entitled the comrade to one free dump every third day. Need it or not.
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