Science in the Low Country: Prague

Hazard duty

Our good friends Taco and Anja watched our kids for us last weekend while we went to Prague.

The little one, Leif, now walks around the house asking for "Taco, Taco, Taco." Tonight, when Taco and Anja came over for dinner, it was clear as Ethan served up juice in wine glasses for Anja and himself, that perhaps there might be room in his Oedipal little heart for another woman.

There are not many people with whom we would leave our children. Though at the right time at the end of a day particularly well-filled with whining and broken stuff and sand and dirt and snot and poop and crying and demands and cajoling and deviousness-beyond-their-years, we might consider leaving them with passing strangers on the street, there are really only a handful of friends we would really trust for a weekend.

Prague

Prague is a very fine city.

We took public transport from the airport to out hotel . It took about 50 minutes and was quite easy with a single change from bus to tube. It cost about $2.50 pp.

We stayed in the Marriott Prague. It is listed as a five-star place. I would say in reality it is three and a half. That is, it's perfectly nice Marriott, it was well worth what we paid for it, but it was not super-luxe. It was a Marriott.

It is located near the town gate and is an easy walk from the Old Square.

The Old Town Square is home to a celestial clock that is very pretty and interesting.

The square is very lively at all hours.

There was half-marathon being run the day we were there. Here is a picture of the last finisher running along the Vltava River.

This is a view from one of the towers of the Charles Bridge.

and here is the bridge itself. It's currently under repair.

There is an old Jewish quarter that has become largely a museum.

This is a night view of the statue of Wenceslas, the founder of the Czech republic. It sits in front of the National Museum.

My old PhD advisor, Emil Wolf, was originally from Prague. He fled as a teenager when the Germans invaded. He became friends with another Czech refugee in England, Vlada. He and Vlada were separated after the War. Vlada returned to Prague and Emil eventually came to the US. They managed to stay in touch through the Iron Curtain and eventually reunited after sixty years. The agreed to meet in '91 "beneath the horse," that is, beneath the statue of Wenceslas.

We had the great privilege of meeting Vlada on our trip:

He showed us around Prague by foot and by tram.

We had lunch at Parnas on the Vltava. The traditional duck was amazing.

Vlada was in the British RAF for a while. In this photo he is wearing an RAF tie and pins. During the war roughly 2500 Czechs served in the RAF and 2000 survived the War. Vlada says that today there are 28. There are only a few left in Prague; they meet on the first Wednesday of every month.

After the War, Vlada worked as an engineer in Prague. After the Soviets invaded in '68 communication with the outside became heavily censored. He was finally able to send letters to Emil while he was on a business trip in India.

Lastly, I liked this mural. It is perhaps a little pessimistic. I'd like to take it as a warning.