Veletrzni Palace

The Czech National Art Gallery displays its art works at six main galleries in Prague. The Modern and Contemporary art collection is at Veletrzni Palace (Trades Fair Palace) which is a 4 floor Functionalist building built in the late 1920's. You pay by the floor, NanJan and I did two floors: C19th Czech on the fourth floor and Czech Art 1900-1930/C19th-C20th French Art on the third floor.

The Czech artists were obviously influenced by the styles that were popular throughout the rest of western Europe - Fauvism, Cubism and Impressionism in particular. One of my favourite Czech artist from the day was Frantisek Kupka(1871-1957) , in particular 'Ballad: Joys of Life'.

Nan Jan Arrives

Nan Jan arrived the evening of Thursday, 21st of April.

Day 1 - Friday

While M & N were working, J & J hit the town

• Wencelas Square
• Old Town
• Jetlag

Day 2

The whole Portman entourage went sightseeing

• Charles Bridge
• Marrionette shop on Kampa island
• Lennon Wall
• Obecni Dum http://www.obecni-dum.cz

Day 3

Visited Prague 7

• National Technical Museum http://www.ntm.cz/
• Giger (http://www.giger.cz/) Exhibition - the artist who created 'Alien' & backgrounds
• Home for the afternoon

Below is collage of our travels.................

M, J, N and Nan Jan.

Karlovy Vary Day Trip

140 km West of Prague is Karlovy Vary. The history like that of Jed Clampett started "one day" when Charles IV "was huntin' for some food(chamois).....when up through the ground came ...... hot mineral water". The town is famous for its health spas and its springs housed in colonnades along the Tepla River. It is fashionable to drink from the springs using the souvenir cups you can buy at one of the numerous tiny shops along the way. Each spring has a plark with the name and temperature of the water nearby - I tried Mlynska (The Mill) which I think was around 50deg - it had a taste reminiscent of .... best described as.. well ... you know when you've just been dumped by a wave and some of it's goes up your nose .... like that ... sea water warmed in your nostrils. I don't think I could expect any health benefits from the quantity I consumed!



We were invited out for a day in the country by Ansgar (McK) and Nadine. It made a nice change to go somewhere in a car. On the way back we stopped at the ruins of a ancient fortress built in 1405 on top of Angel(Andelys) Mountain (situated by the road from Prague to Karlovy Vary). We walked through the ruins following a tangle of paths which weaved in and out of the remaining standing structures until we reached the keep with magnificent 360deg views of the environs including the Krusne Hory Mountains.

Fine Dining - Cihelna

Senior management in town................nice restaurant

http://www.cihelna.com/en/

Terrace with Charles Bridge in background.



M

'No' really does mean 'yes' in Czech

A common question I get asked from my friends and family in Australia is, "How is the language difference going?" To which I reply something to the effect "Not too bad!" or "I've had my frustrations/or caused some frustrations!"

The single most commonly misunderstood word has got to be "no" I mean "yes" I mean "yeah". The Czech word for yes is Ano, and their version of yeah is No. Misunderstandings happen all the time - coming out of a fitting room, the attendant puts out her arms to take unwanted clothes and obviously says in Czech "Do you want me to take those for you?", instantly I answer "No" and a battle ensues until I realise I'm saying "no....no..."(which she is interpreting as "yeah, yeah")"Oh ne!ne!...nerozumim...pardon...Anglicky"; asking someone "Do you speak English?" "No" they answer, which of course means "yes" but we automatically think they are saying that they don't understand (this happens ALL the time). It doesn't matter how many times you say to yourself no is yes your brain is so conditioned to no being no that it will always mean no. It's one of those security words that you're taught from birth, like stop, it can save your life and is a reflex vocalisation, you don't think about it, it just comes out.

Most of the time I can get by without trying to speak Czech. I have a wonderful understanding with an older Czech lady that lives below us since taking her garbage downstairs for her one day. We have passing conversations with each other, she speaks Czech, I speak English, we understand each other instinctively. It started the garbage day, I was saying that I was going to the bin and that I'd take hers, she was saying something like it's very kind of you, I was going to leave it near the door for my son to take down later(my summation) but that would be great....it wasn't til I got back upstairs that I realised that we were having a little conversation that neither of us knew what the other was really saying. We still have these conversations. Very strange, but friendly.

Our little corner shop lady is another story. She takes great pleasure in teaching me the Czech word for whatever I buy. I have gone in there armed with a Czech word like egg. In my dictionary it said egg = vejce (j=y). This I tried out on her,"vejce", "nerozumim?", I drew a picture for her in the air, "nerozumim?", then I spied them in the back corner of the shop and pointed, "vajechna" she said. After a quick search on the web I know that both words mean egg?? I don't know what the difference is, and I don't know why she did't understand. Supermarket eggs have vejce on the carton?

So...does that sound like fun?

Our Place

Zizka the one eyed Hussite leader

We thought about going to the gym this morning but instead took a walk around our neighbourhood. Walking north, our neighbouring suburb is Zizkov(the z's are 'g' sounds), it is infamous for bloody battles and it's namesake Zizka. The walk is down hill until Vitkov hill. Once at the top of Vitkov the views are fantastic and the statue....massive.

The two Churches of St Nicholas

You can visit both Churches of St Nicholas, the parish Church of St Nicholas in Old Town Square, built in C12th, admission free but you have to stand just inside the entrance and the High Baroque masterpiece of the Little Town Square, Church of St Nicholas, 50Kc, built 1700’s.

I tried to take a photo inside the parish church, vying for space against the barrier, leaning over to try and get a shot of the altar with its frescoes showing the life St Nicholas. Surrendering instead to the best view I had, the nave in front of me and the overwhelming chandelier that hangs low over the pews. The church was given to the Hussites after the war and now holds concerts in the evening.


Facing west on Charles Bridge the skyline beyond the bridge towers is dominated by a turquoise dome and bell-tower. These belong to the Church of St Nicholas. To sum up the interior: larger than life white statues, gold plastering everywhere, artificial marble, frescoes on the high vaulted/domed ceilings, and artworks on each of its side chapel walls. Its organ was played by Mozart in 1787. It also holds concerts most nights, mainly on its organ.

Sleepover 8th party

N's big day eventually arrived. She had a few friends over for a sleepover party. Lots of fun was had by all. They played with N's 'Ello' (which does not exist inCR); balloon burst with messages inside; chocolate game - roll dice til 6 is rolled, change into dress ups,start cutting chocolate with knife and fork and eat until someone else rolls a 6..; decorated their lolly bags; watched a video and of course ate lots of food. The "have-to-have" present at the moment is 'Click-its'.

Na Mlate (Piedmont Blackheath)

Just a block away we've found a charming rustic Czech restuarant called 'Na Mlate'.

http://www.namlate.cz/ (click on 'nabidka' text for better pictures)

Reminds us of the good times we used to celebrate at the old Piedmont restuarant in Blackheath - when the food was good & Sally ran the place.

For $24 AUD in 'Na Mlate' you get

• 3 great main meals
• 3 schooners & 1 middy of Pilzner
• Diet coke

We intend to review the entire menu over the next years.

M.

Sugar and spice and everything nice.....

...that's what Indian food is made of.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love Indian food. The spice sections in Prague supermarkets are made up of Cumin(black only), Paprika, Peppers, Cloves, Cinnamon Sticks, Bay leaves, chilli powder and Italian spices like Rosemary,Thyme,Marjoram and Oregano (the only spices that have the same/similar names in English are Paprika, Rozmaryn, Majoranka and Tymian). Which is everything you need for a great Gulas(sorry...goulash), but for Indian cuisine, forget it.

But someone from up above, aware of my misery and uninspired taste-buds, ran an article in the "Prague Post" on the only shop in the Czech Republic that sells .... Indian Spices!!! I nearly cried.

Not building my hopes up I ventured out to 'Capati' in Praha 4 with N. I wasn't disappointed, not only was it stocked with every spice I need, it was run by two of the nicest, most helpful people I have meet in Prague(Mamta & Sumit) and their sweet little silky terrier - Mary. Mary wanted to keep N, I think!!!!We ended up staying for afternoon tea discussing Indian food, Prague tastes, Prague language and playing with Mary. Amazingly the store supplies all the Indian Restaurants in CR as well as other neighbouring countries like Austria. Thanks to Mamta's directions I was able to find "kyprici prasek do peciva" (lightening flour for cooking) or 'baking powder', forget about SR Flour it doesn't exist.

Last night I made Samosa, with a fabulously easy and delicious yoghurt dip(a recipe from Mamta). 1 cup plain yoghurt with 1-2t 'Pudina Chatni Masala'(which is their dry mix of mango, salt, chilli, coriander, cumin, ginger, apple, cloves, nutmeg, cashew and asafoetida). Yummy!