Under the Charles bridge...

During my stroll yesterday morning I ended up on the west side of the river under the bridge. I had never been there before so I snapped some pictures.

You can see the statues that line the bridge. Also, note the wooden barriers in the water that serve to protect the bridge from ice and runaway boats.

Looking southeast towards the center of the city. You can climb the tower at the end of the bridge (I have several times) and view is spectacular. The cost is about 50 crowns (less than $3).

Looking eastward under the Charles at one of the other bridges that serve the city. There are 13 bridges spanning the Vlatava in Prague, and more or on the way as two ring roads are being built. (Sadly, like the extension of the metro to the airport, we shan't be here for the completion).

I got a bit lucky with this picture, with the duck landing in the foreground just as I took it. I could see it was coming, but there is a split second delay from when the button is pushed to when the picture is actually taken. Like I said - luck.

Starbucks in Prague - Update...

Our church, St. Thomas, is less than a block from where the first Starbucks in Prague is going on Malostranska namesti. So after dropping Noah off at Sunday school I took my usual walk, but swung by the site to snap a few pictures. Here is a look at where it will go. In the bottom picture you can see the orange sign. I have heard that the opening date is January 24th.

Artists on the Charles bridge...

Sunday school was back in session today after the holiday break (when most families leave the Czech Republic for wherever home is). Kathy had a doctor's appointment this morning so it was just Noah and me.

After dropping Noah off at the church for Sunday school I took the usual stroll to the Charles bridge. It was quieter than usual today. If there is a low season for tourism in Prague, this is it. After the holidays and before the weather warms in March and the outdoor cafes begin to reopen.

Today I took some pictures of the wares that are sold on the bridge. As a pedestrian bridge and one of the main tourism spots, it is a prime location for selling things. Thankfully, most of the items sold on the bridge are artistic in nature and not the typical junk sold elsewhere in the city (like the "Czech National Drinking Team" T-shirts).

There are probably 50 or so vendors selling things on the bridge - here are a few.


There are a few caricaturists. You see Joe Cocker, who was just in concert here a few weeks ago.

Original art is very big on the bridge and represents probably the single largest category. You can get water colors, color and black and white photography, etc.

The other primary category is jewelry of all kinds. Like everything else on the bridge it is pushed as local and hand made, but you are never really quite sure.

Here is a one of a kind on the bridge - a man, his monkey and a calliope. He plays the music and people throw money into the little bucket. The calliope plays well enough but a little calliope music goes a very long way. He even has CDs to sell, but I'm not sure who buys them. On the way back across the bridge there were a few Japanese tourists who were looking at the CDs and he was trying to describe the kind of music that was on them by acting it out - I surmised that one CD had uptempo music while another was slower (!?). I didn't stay to see if they bought anything.

Movie nights...

Our neighbor, Gaye Foote, brought back some DVDs for us from her recent visit to the States. We got The Simpsons Movie, Shrek the Third, and Underdog. So for three nights in a row we had a family movie night. This is usually a fairly rare event and we have certainly never done three nights in a row.

Noah picked the order of the movies, and of course he picked the Simpsons first (for Thursday night), even though that was the only of the three movies we have seen. It was funny and I picked up quite a few gags I hadn't noticed the first time in the theatre.

Friday night was Shrek the Third. I loved the first two Shrek movies, but this one not so much (though Kathy thought it was much better than the second). I thought it just ambled along without much of a plot. Also, did anyone else notice that Shrek has gone from a solid green to kind of a pale yellow? Noah liked it.

Tonight was Underdog. I wasn't even aware that this movie was coming out, mostly because it doesn't even open here in Europe until next month. I had no idea what to expect, although I had assumed that it would be a completely computer generated movie like Shrek or Toy Story. I was a little disappointed that it was live action with humans (if Jim Belushi qualifies as human) and a lot of CGI. I didn't care for it, but I doubt 49 year old males were the demographic the movie was shooting for. Noah loved it.

The movie did remind me of the old cartoon. I used to watch it at home during lunch (yes, I walked from school to home every day to have lunch). I never thought of Underdog as a great cartoon in the same league as Rocky and Bullwinkle or Johnny Quest, but it was OK. I had forgotten about the speaking in rhyme, Sweet Polly Purebred and Cad.

So, Noah decided that the Simpsons and Underdog were tied as his favorite, with Shrek not far behind.

Movie nights are a great family activity and I relish them while I can. It won't be many years before the last thing Noah will want to do is spend an evening with his parents watching a movie.

Is this progress? Starbucks coming to Prague...

The Prague post reports that Starbucks will open their first Prague store by the end of January. The location is a prime spot on Malostranske namesti ("small square" that is a short walk from the Charles bridge and is in the cnter of the tourist district. We have heard about this for some time, but this is the first confirmation we have seen.

Interestingly, the restaurant that had been where the Starbucks is going, called Square, is where Kathy and I went with Nick and Mary when they visited in October. Kathy and I were at Square a half a dozen times and always enjoyed the food and the atmosphere (although it was a little too upscale to visit regularly). I think that Square was reasonably successful so Starbucks must have paid a pretty penny to get the location.

Starbucks to open in Prague by the end of January
Chain's first location will be in historic coffeehouse
Starbucks will open its first café in Prague at the end of January, Finanční noviny reports.

The Seattle-based chain of cafés signed a joint-venture contract with AmRest Holdings N.V. to launch and manage its fleet of cafes in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. The Netherlands-based company operates 252 chain restaurants in Central and Eastern Europe, including KFC, Pizza Hut and Burger King.

The first cafe will open on Malostranske namesti in the Gromling Palace, which AmRest plans to renovate and turn into a neighborhood venue. The location has a storied history – it was formerly a popular Old Town kavarna for Czech writers and philosophers.

Starbucks, which has over 15,000 cafes in over 40 countries, wants to open 20 cafes this year in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary and also plans to enter the Bulgarian and Polish markets.

Senators at RFE/RL...

We had four Republican US senators visit our Prague headquarters this afternoon. The distinguished visitors were Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL), Senator John Thune (R-SD), Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Larry Craig (R-ID).

They met with our president, Jeff Gedmin, visited the offices of Radio Free Afghanistan and then each participated in interviews with our central news group as well as Radio Free Iraq and radio Free Afghanistan.


Senator John Thune (R-SD)

Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL)

Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA)

Senator Larry Craig (R-ID)

Senator Craig is recently famous for his arrest at Minneapolis/St. Paul airport for lewd conduct, later pleading guilty to a lesser offense. From Wikipedia:

Larry Edwin Craig (born July 20, 1945) is an American politician from the state of Idaho. As a Republican, he has represented the state of Idaho in the United States Senate since 1991. In addition, Craig served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Idaho's 1st congressional district (1981–1991).[2] Including his service in the House of Representatives, Craig is the second-longest serving member of the United States Congress in Idaho history, trailing only William Edgar Borah. In addition to serving in Congress, Craig has been a member of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association since 1983.[3] Craig has also been selected for induction into the Idaho Hall of Fame.[4] Although he was selected in March 2007, the announcement was made in October 2007.[5]

On August 27, 2007 the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call revealed that Craig had been arrested for lewd conduct in a men's bathroom on June 11, 2007, and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct on August 8, 2007.[6] As a result of the controversy surrounding his arrest and subsequent guilty plea, Senator Craig announced his intention to resign from the Senate at a news conference on September 1, 2007, which was to become effective on September 30, 2007. After failing to withdraw his guilty plea, on October 4, 2007, Craig released a statement refusing to resign as Senator for Idaho. Craig has stated that he will not run for re-election in 2008.[7]

More Noah soccer...

Yesterday was the first Jaro soccer since before the holidays. Jaro is the Czech coach, and he is well known enough that his soccer classes/camps fill up quickly and have waiting lists. Noah loves it, but (as I posted before) when he started he was made fun of because his skills were so underdeveloped compared to the European kids (I don't think there are any other Americans in the group).

Noah had his new soccer uniform (more correctly known as a "football kit") consisting of shirt and shorts that we had bought at a market in Rome for 25 Euros. He loves getting new soccer clothes - this kit is from Inter Milan and it has the name of the club's star, Adriano, on the back.

Here is a short clip showing Adriano in action.


The kids do warm ups and drills for about 25 minutes and then spend the rest of the time in a game. Noah has had success recently both as a goalie and a scorer, but today his team went down to a 6-1 defeat. He spent about 1/3 of the game in goal and gave up two goals.

Noah and the rest of his football mates warm up with some skill drills.



Noah (far left) is the goalie and this shot that got by him couldn't be stopped by his defense (in blue).


Noah deflected this shot up and off the metal - the ball is visible just hitting the crossbar. It was a highlight in a game filled with lowlights.

Picture from St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Christmas Eve...

Here are pictures from our Christmas Eve adventure at the Vatican. The story is below.

Chrstmas Eve at the Vatican...

On Christmas Eve day we all walked from our apartment to the Vatican. It took about 50 minutes and is a walk of about about 2 miles. We got there at about noon, and after looking around the square for a few minutes we began to look for the office where we could get the tickets to midnight mass that we had reserved. I had my letter from the Vatican that confirmed our tickets and gave the general location of the office.

It became apparent that we would have to go through security to reach the office so Danny and I got in a line of about 100 while Kathy and Noah waited in the square. I had assumed that just about everyone in line was there to get their tickets to midnight mass as well, but after going through the metal detectors everyone else proceeded into St. Peter's basilica, and that's not where we needed to go. After asking another security guard about the office and showing him the letter, he pointed to its location, just to the right of the basilica as you face it. There was a double glass door at the top of a long set of stairs, with two Swiss guards in full regalia standing watch.

I first showed my letter to two Italian guards who allowed me, but not Danny, to head up the stairs. There, one of the two Swiss guards examined my letter and then opened the glass doors and into a long hallway where he pointed me to the third door on the right.

I entered the office and found a relatively small room - about 20 feet square - manned by a single individual. He stood behind a row of tables upon which sat boxes and boxes of envelopes. There was a nun in a white habit talking to this gentleman and I waited for her to finish. On my right there were two chairs where a man and woman sat patiently. It appeared that perhaps their paperwork was not in order (maybe they forgot to bring their letter) and were waiting to acquire tickets to mass.

The nun finished her conversation, in Italian, with the man behind the tables and I stepped up. I handed him my letter from the Vatican and it took him about 30 seconds to find an envelope with my name from one of the several boxes. He handed it to me and I went to leave, pausing just long enough to open the envelope and verify that it contained four tickets. It did.

I collected Danny at the bottom of the stairs and we went to find Kathy and Noah to continue our sightseeing. It was not quite 1 PM so we had a full day ahead of us before returning to St. Peter's at the recommended time of 9:00 - a full three hours before the start of midnight mass.

We arrived back to St. Peter's square a few minutes after 9:00 and there were already thousands of people in the square. We saw a line and started walking towards its end to take our place in line. We walked and walked and didn't see the end, and then noticed that it went all the way around the large square and then coiled inward, like a spring. We found what looked like the end but weren't quite sure so we asked a group of people in front of us, who were Americans. They thought it was the end of the line, but they weren't 100% sure. Then another group of Americans took their place in line behind us and asked us if this was the line for people with tickets. Danny decided to go out scope things out and returned a few minutes later confirming we were in the right spot.

The line was not moving forward but people continued to line up behind us until it had circled the square a second time. We chatted with those around us and Noah went to sit by the fountain that was in the middle of the square. I found it interesting that there did not seem to be anyone from either the Vatican or Italian police to help with the organization of the line. Everything just seemed to happen on its own (quite amazing, really).


With this satellite picture of St. Peter's you can see the fountain in the middle of the square and picture how the line went around the outside of the square and coiled inwards.

A little after 10 PM we could see that people were now going through security and entering St. Peter's basicila. Finally, the line started moving - very slowly. We moved towards where people were being screened for security but we then the line moved away to make the second trip around the square. By 11:15 we were moving closer to getting in but we could tell it would be close. Also by this time there were at least a thousand people, and maybe lots more, behind us.

We continued moving until we got about 30 feet from the entrance to security when the line stopped. At first we weren't concerned since the line had stopped many times over the last 90 minutes. But the line didn't move for 15 minutes and then we noticed that people were no longer entering the basilica. One of the Americans in front of us walked up to check and came back with a report that they weren't letting anyone in now as the church might be full, but they may allow more people in later. By the way, the capacity of St. Peter's basilica is 60,000 people.

After another 10 minutes, at about 11:45, Danny went up front to check and came back to let us know that no one was in the security line and that metal detectors were not manned. Others around us said that no one else would be allowed inside as the church was full.

I finally went to the front myself and confirmed what Danny had found - it certainly looked like they were done processing people through security. There were a few police/guards inside the security area and they were getting harassed by people waiving their green tickets, asking why they couldn't get in if they had tickets. Someone with a red ticket caught the attention of one of the police and he motioned them to a separate entrance where they entered after showing a second guard their red ticket. Obviously, the red tickets were for VIP types.

There were three large TVs set up in the square and they came on about 11:30. A choir sang hymns and a cantor, in English, asked for those inside to pray in preparation for the start of the service. The mass actually began a little early, about 11:55.

The square was filling with people who were coming just to watch the mass on the big screen televisions. Literally hundreds were pouring in by the minute. But even at 12:15, and well into the mass, the line of green ticket holders was still formed and in place. Even those a hundred yards and 1,000 people from the front of the line did not leave the line. There was absolutely no evidence that more worshippers would be let in, but it appears that hope springs eternal, especially at St. Peter's on Christmas Eve.

The four of us eventually left the line to sit on some stairs at the back of the square and watch the mass on TV. Our legs were exhausted from standing for over 3 hours and from the walking we had done all across Rome all day - we probably walked 10 miles that day.

It was a beautiful mass, with angelic music and all of the pomp you would expect of Christmas Eve mass at the Vatican.

We walked the 2 miles back to our apartment and were amazed at how many people were on the streets. This was nothing like Minnesota (and the entire US) when everything is closed after about 6 PM on Christmas Eve and doesn't open again until the 26th. It was after 2 AM and restaurants were open! We didn't stop, though. We were too tired. We were very disappointed not to have gotten inside for the mass, but really what can you do? We were in Rome for Christmas and life was good.

Happy New Years from Prague...

It's about 12:20 am here and we have just spent a few minutes on the top level of out house watching the fireworks in the neighborhood. Czechs love fireworks for new years, and there were plenty tonight. They are still going on.

We would like to wish each and every one of you a very blessed and prosperous 2008!

The three of us went to a new years eve party in Nebusice and we just left the party to come home at about 11:45. This is the first time that Noah has stayed up for the new year so he is pretty proud.

Last year I was here by myself, having arrived back in Prague on new years eve day, and Kathy and Noah returned several days later. So this is the first (and possibly the last) new years that we will celebrate together in Prague.

Our arrival in Rome...

Our arrival in Rome did not go completely as planned. Our flight was two hours late leaving from Prague and this caused the van that we had hired to take us form the airport to our apartment to not be waiting - however the company replaced the van with 2 cars. I had hired the van because it was a lot cheaper than 2 cars, and you would think I would still get the lower van price because it wasn't our fault that the flight was late. But you would be wrong. The 2-car 30 minute ride from the airport to our apartment cost 120 Euros ($175). Ouch. That was about $75 more than I had planned.

Our apartment was in a four story building on a very narrow street (typical for Rome) about 4 blocks from the Colosseum in the oldest part of Rome. The owner of the apartment was supposed to be there to open the apartment and give us the keys - but no owner in sight. The two cars drove away leaving us on a back street in a strange city at night. We waited a few minutes before I called the company that we had booked the apartment through. He was supposed to be there, they said, but they would call him on his mobile phone and get back to us. 20 minutes later I called back and they said that they had left a message on the apartment owner's voicemail. I wasn't impressed with the progress, so I asked what Plan B was. They said they would start looking for another apartment to put us.

Another 15 minutes went by and I watched the luggage while Kathy, Danny and Noah went exploring the nearby streets. An Italian couple carrying shopping bags walked up to the main apartment door and opened it. I figured we looked strange waiting by the door with several suitcases so I said that we were waiting for the owner to let us into one of the apartments. They motioned us inside and it turned out that the man was the brother of the owner and he had the keys. Apparently the owner was out of town for Christmas. They were nice but there was no explanation as to why they showed up 2 1/2 hours after our scheduled arrival time. I was almost glad our flight had been late.

They showed us around the apartment, which was quite nice, and then left. A few minutes later the phone rang and it was the apartment company telling me they still hadn't heard from the owner and had arranged another apartment for us. I informed the company that we had been let in by someone else and it was news to them. It seemed that this is the Italian way of life - letting things happen as they happen.

We did some quick unpacking and then went to find dinner since it was now after 7 PM. There were many restaurants in the vicinity and we ended up picking one just down the street from the apartment. It had outdoor seating with space heaters - and since the temperature was about 50 to begin with we decided to eat outside. The service and food were both very good and by the time we finished we were tired from the travel and excitement of being in Rome so we went back to the apartment and got ready for the next day - Christmas Eve.

Danny heads home...

We just got back from the airport after dropping Danny off. He flies to Munich and then connects to a flight to Chicago where his dad will pick him up and drive him back to Milwaukee, about an hour away.

It was a full and fun trip that included a wonderful 5 days in Rome. It was good to have a real family vacation. The last family vacation was to Colorado about 5 years ago.

For our last dinner we went to a place called Bar Fontana, which is near Dejvicka circle. So we drove to the circle and parked and then walked the three blocks to the restaurant. Kathy and I have been there twice before and both times the food and service were good. It is a small restaurant with only a half a dozen tables. It is in a cellar and is lit completely by candles. They specialize in grilled meats, which are cooked on an open grill within the dining room. It's not a place to go in warm weather but in the winter it is warm, cozy, relaxing and with ambiance that can't be beat.


Danny had a large skewer of mixed grilled meat (what else?) oh, and beer. Noah had marinated chicken and fries (what else?). The open grill can be seen in the background.


We have a final dinner together to celebrate Danny's visit.


The interior of Bar Fontana. It's like something out of the Middle Ages.

The Colosseum in Rome...

We went to the Colosseum on Wednesday afternoon. We were a little concerned about getting in since it closes near sunset and by the time we got there - 3:00 or so - there wasn't much time left.

As we neared the ticket line we were approached by an American college-age kid asking if we were interested in a tour. We found out later that there are dozens of these people who round up tourists looking to get into the Colosseum and coax them into tours. The basic ticket price for entrance into the Colosseum is 11 Euros, or about $16. With just a general admission ticket you have to wait in line, which is normally about an hour and can be longer. Obviously, this was a problem for us since it was so late in the day.

The price of the tour is 10 Euros ($15) so that brings the total to over $30 each. We decided to go ahead and get the tour and realized only later what a good decision that was.

Tours bypass the general public waiting line and go straight into the Colosseum, so five minutes after paying for the tour we passed by the general public waiting line, went through Security and were inside the Colosseum. [Security was a bit of a joke as they pushed people through the x-ray machine very quickly, yet no one ever set off the alarm. I went through with my BlackBerry, belt, apartment keys and wallet with coins and the machine didn't make a peep].

The tour would have been worth the 40 Euros ($60) just for the time savings alone, but we were fortunate to have a guide who was interesting and knowledgeable. He was not a native English speaker, as most of the other guides seemed to be, but that wasn't a problem. The Colosseum requires hearing devices for groups of more than 8 and since our group was about 20 people we each received a small walkie-talkie on a lanyard that we hung from our necks. The guide spoke into the only transmitting walkie-talkie and the rest could hear fine, even if we were at the back of the group.

The Colosseum is just a shadow of its former greatness, but even in its dilapidated state it is amazing, and one can only imagine what it was like in its prime. The guide gave same amazing facts - that in the several hundred years it was used for entertainment it is estimated that one million people - prisoners of war and gladiators - died as part of the games conducted there.





Here we are as we approached the Colosseum. It is an impressive sight even from a distance. And very large.



Here is a view looking down from the upper level. At the far end they have reconstructed a section of the floor to show how it would have looked. The floor was all wood, covered with sawdust (to soak up the blood). Under the wood floor was a labyrinth of rooms and hallways used to get animals up to the floor using a complicated system of trap doors and pulleys. Wild animals, like lions and tigers, were kept in the dark for up to two weeks without food before being let up onto the floor to attack the unfortunate souls there, who were either unarmed or woefully underarmed. There was another level even under the one you can see under the floor.



Here we are at the floor level looking into the interior.



Another view of the remains of the lower level.



A nice picture showing the cross that has been added in the interior of the Colosseum. There was no religious significance to the Colosseum during its use. It's only afterwards when Rome became the seat of the Catholic Church that it did.





Something that was interesting to me that had not known was that in midieval times the plague (black death) claimed about half of Rome's 1 million inhabitants and when the empire collapsed the population of Rome dwindled to as few as 25,000.


From Wkipedia:
The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering.

Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign (81–96).[1] The name "Amphitheatrum Flavium" derives from both Vespasian's and Titus' family name ("Flavius, from the gens Flavia).

Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. It remained in use for nearly 500 years with the last recorded games being held there as late as the 6th century. As well as the traditional gladiatorial games, many other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building eventually ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such varied purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry and a Christian shrine.

Back from Rome...

We had smooth traveling back from Rome to Prague today, but we are tired after five days of sightseeing and walking - lots and lots of walking. We never took the metro although there was a station a block from our apartment. I guess that we walked 20 miles or more oer the five day visit.

My overall impression of Rome is extremely positive. I had expected to like it, but was surprised when I loved it. Prague is a wonderful city with magnificent sites but anyone who thinks Prague is the most beautiful city in the world just hasn't visited Rome.

My post today will be brief but I will continue to post about Rome over the coming days.









Waiting in line in St. Peter's square on Christmas eve Noah was tired of standing in line so we let him sit by a fountain in the middle of the square. I snapped this picture because I loved the juxtaposition of Noah on his Nintendo and the nun on her cell phone.










Here are the four of us at dinner on the day after Christmas. The food throughout our stay was just wonderful.










Our tour of the Colosseum was one of the highlights of the trip - we all agreed on that. Here is Noah with the interior of the Colosseum in the background.










Here is St. Peter's square on Christmas eve. This ended up being our biggest disappointment of the trip but more on that - and the rest of the trip - over the next few days.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Radio Free Europe...

We are off to Rome, and we will be out of pocket until Friday the 28th. Not taking the laptop since there is no connection in the apartment we are renting (the building is from the 1700s). You can reach me via my work email if necessary since I will have my BlackBerry.

We want to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2008 promises to be another exciting year for the Tischler family, with some potential big changes.