Prague, Salzburg and Mozart

Prague - the red roof tops of Prague, the castles, parks, bridges, canals, and an ancient old city that has not been ruined by new development, makes Prague a city to visit and remember. Marc and I started the visit to Prague with a tour to the Prague castle, which calls itself the biggest castle grounds in all of Europe. We saw an underground burrial area where nobbles were burried with their armour and many really rich churches.

The biggest and most populr bridge connecting the city and the Castle is called the Charles bridge, where I decided to have my portrait done. After 20 minutes and $50 I was very dissapointed. I should have known better when bypassers came up to look at the artists work as he was painting me and no one stayed to have their portrait done. To make matters worse he didnt give me the proper carrying case so I have been lugging the portrait around from city to city and train to train.

Local food in Prague definately caught Marc's eye. One day on the train as he was sleeping I caught him smiling. I asked when he woke up what he was smiling about and he said that he the best dream about a pork knee that he had the other night which was covered in fat, spices and salt. The Checzs do a lot of potatoes, pork, sausage, dumplings and goulash (beef stew).

Marc has become a serious beer conoseour. He was asking a waiter about their beers on tap, and the waiter told Marc that this one particular beer is one the best beers in the world... Marc asked him "is this really the best beer because I have had quite a few good beers in the last few days." I would say that this is kind of an understatement. Marc has tried probably every beer on tap in each country we have been to. We actually decided to go to Belgium solely because of their reputation for beer. Lucky for the waiter, it was a very good beer.

They have a very productive train system (subway) in Europe. It runs on the honour system. Each passenger is responsible for buying his own ticket, validating it and riding the train. He does not need to wait in a line up to show his valid ticket or pass which means there are no line ups to get into the subway and there are no line up to catch the bus because all doors open and passengers enter. This again creates less waiting time and less traffic. There are conductors that pass by and check tickets. I know that some of you are thinking that there will be people that dont pay the fare. And I agree there are probably 2% of the population of train riders in Europe that manipulate the system, but why punish the other 98% who are honest and deserve to have a fast transit system?

Jewish Quarter in Prague - Prague has the oldest preserved Jewish town in Europe. It was especially left alone as per Hitler. He wanted to keep the Jewish quarters as they were left by Jews before they were deported to concentration for one purporse: if any jews in the future should come back to Prague they would see what kind of vibrant past the Jewish community has had and make an example of what their faith has become. Marc and I wondered through the quarters for two days. It was really nice to see actual old synagogues, shops, buildings and a cemetery. The cemetery is very unique, they have too many people burried in one place, so to combat this problem, they burried plot on top of plot and placed cascet on top of cascet. As a result the cemetery has one tumbsone one over the other. We saw a clock in the Old New Synagogue that was done in the Hebrew alphabet and the handles moved counterclockwise to simulate the Hebrew language. We also heard the Golem story. Rabbi Low, one of the most prominent and famous Rabbis of Prague had a problem with break ins in his town. So God advised him to make a Golem out of clay and place a shem (cloth) inside his mouth. The Rabbi followed instructions and the Golem came to life, he protected the town as he came alive each time the Rabbi placed the shem in his mouth. One day the Rabbi forgot to take the shem out and on Shabbath went to pray, the Golem up to no good destroyed everything in sight. The Rabbi took the shem and hid in in the Old New Synagogue. Till this day access to that area is forbidden.

Quest for Mozart - Our quest for Mozart began early on in Prague. I read a brochure in our hotel that there are places in Prague that Mozart stayed at. We were told to go to the state theater to find him. This theater was very well hidden and it took us quite some time (especially at our pace) to find this place. Once inside the theater we approached two ladies in uniform and said "we are looking for information about Mozart" and the lady said "Mozart is dead." I was so shocked by her response that I remained polite and restated the question. After which she informed me that if we want information about Mozart we should visit Salzburg his birth place, and so we did.

The train ride to Salzburg was very scenic, the landscape was full of mountains, farms with well fed animals running free, little wooden homes, and tall white churches. We had one full day to spend in Salzburg so we ordered two trips. One to see the city sites that focused primarily on Mozarts whereabouts, and one to see the lakes, mountains and spots from where the filming of sound of music took place. The Austrians are pretty clever, they named the museum for Mozart no other than Mozarteum. We visited the house he lived in and the place he performed. He started composing at five years old and wrote over 600 compositions during his life. Mozart was not a very wealthy man when he died. He worked for the Roman Catholic Church which at his time was very rich and powerful in Salzburg. They were the ones that build most of the city and brought in riches. Their main source of income were the salt and gold mines. Mozart also composed music for wealthy people that paid for his work. He liked to hang out with his friend Bach in England. He moved to Vienna at 27 years old, and he did it for love. He significantly improved his career when he started attending court in Vienna and impressed the dutchess with his genius. He ended up having 7 children, only 2 of whom survived. He and his wife did not belive in the public education system and they home schooled their children.

Our quest for Mozart continued on the following tour to the hometown of Mozarts mom and the place where he was born: St. Giligen. This is a typical small town on a lake with many small houses and set against the mountains. We took a boat ride to many little towns just like Mozarts and one that we particularly liked called Wolfgang. The town produces gift soap, food and a place to sleep for the flock of tourists that come to gawk at this beautiful place. Our next stop was the church from the Sound of Music, from the scene where the Baron marries the nun. Last stop was a patio on the 7th floor that overlooks a castle and Fortress at the same time back in the city. I really liked Salzburg because it has the old city with royal gardens, museums and lots of history as well as a breathtaking countryside.

Salzburg is the home to Red Bull and the owner is one of the richest man in Austria.

Today we are in Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. It is Marcs birthday but he is still asleep. I snuck out to check out the views from our hotel and they are spectacular. We are on top of a mountain overlooking the city. We have a pool and the weather is great. So I leave you now and hope that you are having a great weekend as well.

Kissess