The Czech Republic -- October 21-27

A friend of mine from high school, Jess, is living in a small town 35 miles outside of Prague teaching English. I have spent the past week with her, visiting her high school and elementary classes, spending time with her gracious host family, meeting her friends and (soon to be) fiancé, and exploring Prague. Jess has lived here, in the oh-so-small and oh-so-charming town of Nyburk, for about a year and a half.

Coming from a stay in the gigantic, cumbersome, and generally unpleasant monster that is Istanbul, Nymburk felt like a dream town, like a swab of deodorant on a hot day, like a place that with the addition a few snow-capped rooflines and a smattering of glowing lampposts would be inches away from being a real life Thomas Kinkade image. Historically, there‘s not much to write about but with its blackened and acid rain softened town center, medieval city walls and moats, cobblestone streets, and cafes, Nymburk is a refreshingly European hamlet, growing from the disrepair caused during its Communist past.

I visited with Jess’s host family, the Bashas (incorrect spelling, I’m sure), a friendly family of four + 1 athletic parakeet (he ran around the living room each day, tossing and chasing a small mesh ball). Martina, the mother, prepared a traditional Czech lunch for us on Saturday: schnitzel and whipped potatoes, a mushroom and tomato soup, and cold shredded cucumber in vinegar and sugar. We washed down -- though it felt a bit more like burned down -- the meal with a shot of Becherovka. I’m not a drinker so I initially declined the offer to throw back what Martina described as “an aid for digestion.” As it would be, everyone in the family, including the 16 and 12 year old Basha boys, take a shot in the morning to, as Martina elegantly described, "get the system going.” Martina absolutely insisted I try a serving, especially since I hadn’t drank much of the prized Czech beer served with lunch (I mine as well have spat on the Czech flag), and I couldn’t say no any further without being impolite. So I threw back a shot of the cinnamon and licorice flavored gasoline. If you call burning a hole through my stomach down to my bladder “an aid for digestion,” then sure, it helped settle the meal.

Jess, her boyfriend Ondra, and I spent a day at Kutna Hora, a picturesque medieval village in Central Bohemia. Next to its impressive gothic cathedral, the number two destination is the Sedlec Ossuary, a Catholic church dating to 1400 that is decorated with the bones of 40,000 Black Plague and Hussite War victims. The result is a macabre sight: garlands of skulls, pyramids of legs and arm bones, and a central “chandelier” containing at least one of every bone in the human body. I looked around with grisly fascination for about 10 minutes before a large wave of “Creeped Out” washed over me. Before leaving I got a few good shots that I might use with holiday cards, however.

Great week in the Czech Republic! Thanks Jess for letting me tag along for a week and showing me your new home, the Bashas for a great meal, and Ondra and Ladia for hosting me.

See more pictures from the Czech Republic here.

Christmas card backdrop.