Valerie – Page 59 – Valerie's Voice

The Old Jewish Cemetery

On of the most unusual sites we visited in Prague was an old Jewish Cemetery in the Jewish Quarter in Old Town.

The land is only the size of one or two large city blocks, concealed behind a wall, but there are 12,000 tombstones crammed into this cemetery.

The oldest gravestone recorded dates from 1439 and the final gravestone is dated 1787, with many dates unknown. The inscriptions are mostly eroded and written in Hebrew. During this time the cemetery was the only place where the Jewish people of Prague were allowed to be buried. Because of this, it struggled with lack of space so they would add another layer of soil to add another burial…it is said there are as many as twelve layers in some areas and 85,000 people are buried in this small radius. The land inside actually became higher than the land outside of the enclosed cemetery because of adding layers of dirt. (Graves were never relocated because of Jewish belief that once buried a body should not be moved.)

The tombstones are described as a “dense forest” of stones. They are crooked, leaning this way and that, and are piled right next to each other designating several people buried in several layers below.

It’s hard to describe the feeling as we walked through the Old Jewish Cemetery. It was an impressive sight, yet melancholic as we reflected on the people buried in this cemetery, and those burying loved ones, layering one on top of one another.

Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.”

Prague Castle

Prague is home to one of the largest castles in Europe and we went to see it along with hundreds of other tourists. We took the tram to the top of the hill…most castles are on a hill because they are fortresses. We arrived, along with many others, and took our turn “oohing and aahing” over the hugeness of it. It dates back to the 9^th century.

What impressed me the most were the cathedral, the vistas, and the tiny houses.

Another side of the St. Vitus Cathedral…to get a flavor of the Gothic architecture and the hugeness of the cathedral.

On the castle grounds is the Gothic style St. Vitus Cathedral. There was an earlier church on this site in 952 but this cathedral’s construction began in 1344 and was not completed until 1929. Even today, the Cathedral is steadily being restored. It has two tall spires, 270’ high, and is very impressive. It has spectacular stained-glass windows, and one amazing window painted to look like a stained-glass window and it’s hard to tell the difference. There is so much history and opulence inside these cathedral walls.

One of the stain-glassed windows of St. Vitus.

Inside St. Vitus…note people in foreground of photo to get perspective of how big this cathedral is.

There were great views of the picturesque city of Prague from the castle on the hill. Prague is a beautiful city with the Vltava River running through it and diverse, beautiful architecture everywhere, complete with burnt-orange clay tiled roofs.

And then there is Golden Lane.

Golden Lane is a row of tiny houses built into the castle wall. It was a medieval merchant street and it captured my interest. The houses, I’m guessing, were approximately 8′ X 10′.

In 1484 a fortification of the north wall of the castle formed some kind of vaults that were used to house “lesser goldsmiths” until the revamping of the wall in 1591-94 when repairs were made to the vaults. In 1597 artillery men at the gate of Prague Castle asked permission to build little houses within the newly repaired walls which would take up only the depth of the original niches (vaults). The King agreed, however, the dwellings were not given to the men, they had to build them at their own expense. The houses were occupied until WWII, when the government bought them and now are a part of the history of the castle.

Even though the lane was overcrowded with tourists, it was quaint and fun to see these tiny houses that were built so long ago (and I thought the concept of tiny houses was a new one.)

One house on Golden Lane – you can walk in a few feet and look through plexiglass to get an idea of how the tiny houses were arranged inside.

What I find amusing is that we were surrounded by the opulence and magnificence of the castle and I was intrigued by one row of tiny houses built into the castle wall.

Seeing the grand castle and the tiny houses made my own modest home back in Minnesota feel “just right.”

Annual Pie Night

We didn’t plan our European vacation around the annual Faribault Flyer’s bike club pie night, but we sure are glad it was this week so we could participate! There were six homemade pies, one fruit tort, and one sweet potato-maple-pecan cheesecake, homemade Czech Sauerkraut Rye Bread with different cheeses and a variety of other goodies people brought to share. I’m not sure any of us rode our bicycles enough miles beforehand to consume all the calories we took in from the fabulous pies and goodies…

I had slivers of blueberry pie, peach-blackberry tort, lemon-raspberry pie and the sweet potato-maple-pecan cheesecake. Yum!

(O ya, and a taste of the delicious bread with some cheese…)

The Hills Are Alive and So Are The Flowers

We had so many adventures during our time in Austria it’s hard to know where to begin…”Let’s start at the very beginning, A very good place to start”…well maybe not…my postings of our trip will not be in chronological order.

I’ll begin with the beauty of Austria…the mountains and hillsides, the streams and waterfalls, the wonderful alpine chalet-style homes with flower boxes dotting the green landscape.

It was a treat to be in a vehicle driving across country. Our friends had a small, white Renault with plenty of room for four people with just enough space for our luggage in the back… it was a puzzle each time we had to repack our luggage but it worked. In the cities we would leave the vehicle parked for days and walk.

Outside the cities, it was wonderful to have the freedom of a vehicle, and having drivers who were used to driving in Europe. We relied heavily on the GPS system. It took us through rotaries (round-abouts) and often took us off the main road unto narrow back roads for a short-cut – sometimes we wondered why – but it added to the scenery and always brought us back to the main road…well, almost always.

The Grossglockner moutain peak is 3,798 meters (12,461 ft), and is the highest mountain in Austria.

One of our planned routes was the Grossglockner Alpine Drive in the Austrian Alps. At one viewing point you could see ten mountain peaks over 3,300 meters, (10,000 feet). We were blessed with a beautiful, sunny day. There were lots of cars, some buses, motorcycles and bicycles climbing switchbacks up to the end of the road, to see the glacier. There were many places without guardrails and the roads were narrow and we wondered how the bicyclists could dare pedal up the mountain, especially in all the traffic. Whew…

Austrian Alps: The plaza where you could stop and look at 10 peaks over 10,000 feet.

Austrian Alps with glimpses of the Alpine Drive road.

The flower boxes on homes and business added even more to the beauty of the Austria countryside…they are abundant, overflowing, colorful, often multi-tiered, and just spectacular. Even though I was unable to get many photos of them, much to my dismay, the professional photos we see of these chalets with flower boxes are real. The flowers are that stunning. Here are a few photos but my photos do not do them justice.

Small restaurant along the Danube River.

Even this chicken coop had flower boxes! I love it.

Another Wonderful Trip, Another Interruption of Service

One of many homes with incredible flower boxes.

When we traveled to Portugal over a year ago we experienced an interruption of service. We were on a packed, standing-room-only, bus when it stopped part way to our destination and the driver told everyone to get off the bus…he said it was an “interruption in service.” We got off the bus and the driver drove off leaving all the passengers stranded. We managed to hail a taxi to get back to our apartment.

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We just returned from a delightful trip to Austria and the Czech Republic and experienced another “interruption of service”.

On Saturday we parted ways from our travel companions and Gary and I took the train to Munich, Germany for an overnight to catch an early morning flight the next day from the Munich airport. We were weary travelers going home after two weeks of touring with our friends. It was not a restful night and we woke up at 5 am to catch the shuttle to the airport. Once there, we checked our luggage all the way to Minneapolis and got on the plane and flew to Amsterdam for our connecting flight.

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Once off the plane, we grabbed a cup of coffee before heading to the next gate since we had four hours in-between flights. When we went to check the gate number it said our flight was cancelled!

An “interruption of service” I’d say.

We set into high gear wondering what ‘s going to happen. After a series of events (and this is just our story – there were hundreds of passengers on that cancelled flight) we ended up on a flight to Chicago, and a much later flight to Minneapolis.

A young woman in the line next to me who had been scheduled on the same cancelled flight did not have any options for her destination so she was told she had to stay overnight in Amsterdam and catch a flight the next day. She was crying. She told me she had worked on a project for eight months and was to present it to a Board o Regents on Monday. She had to be there, but she wasn’t going to make it.

I thought of giving her my seat but we were immediately whisked away to catch the flight to Chicago…We ran through the Amsterdam airport and a flight attendant came to meet us and escort us to the 747 with only two seats remaining. They reopened the doors for us and we took our seats with a sigh of relief…next thoughts, where in the world is our luggage?

Once in Chicago we were surprised to find our luggage on the carousal. We retrieved it in hopes of getting an earlier flight to Minneapolis. We had to go through customs and that is not a fun thing to do in Chicago. Plus, we needed to go through security again and that is even more not fun in Chicago.

We were put on stand-by for an earlier flight. I said to myself as the plane was loading…it would be a miracle if we get on this flight – so many people are trying to get to Minneapolis… and then I said to myself, but I believe in miracles. Then… our name was called. I was grateful.

Our luggage never did make that flight…the airline delivered it to our house the next day, but we were home safe with many wonderful memories.

We will never know why our flight was canceled but it wreaks havoc for so many people. I do know flexibly and gratitude are helpful attitudes to have while traveling.

Reentry

Over the years, we’ve learned that when we come home from traveling, especially traveling abroad, there is always a reentry period, time needed to step back into life, readjust back to “normal” routines. It’s not a negative thing, its just life.

So as I reenter my life back in Northfield from our amazing trip to Austria and the Czech Republic reality sets in and there is jet lag, travel weariness, and house chores…laundry, groceries, weeding, going through mail and email, cleaning the house. It gets done, slowly.

Part of reentry is wanting to catch up with family and friends… to see what’s been happening in their lives. And then I wonder…did anyone miss me? And then I wonder… what did I miss? And soon realize life back home usually doesn’t change much in sixteen days. I think it’s the other way… we change from our travel experiences. And I’m still trying to articulate in what ways. I know I have been blessed: my eyes have been opened to new sights and I have been reacquainted and exposed to other cultures.

We walked multiple miles daily and I am grateful for my health. I often thought of people who would not be able to see what we saw simple because it was tough getting there…mostly steep climbs, uneven roads, cobblestone streets, rugged paths, and lots and lots of steps…most sites are hundreds of years old in Czech Republic and Austria. There are not many handicap accessible accommodations at these sites.

It’s also fun to take some time to recollect, to reread journal entries, and look at photos to remember and relive all the wonderful adventures we had with our friends during our short time away: the special places we went, the magnificent scenery we saw, the delicious food we ate, and the fun people we met along the way.

Looking towards the Kapuziner Church in the monastery behind a wall, in Salzburg.

I delight in thinking about the morning my friend and I went on an early morning hike up Kapuzinerberg (a mountain behind our hotel in Salzburg, on the bank of the River Salzach) to Kapuzinerkloster, a walled monastery. Once inside the wall we followed it and saw wonderful vistas overlooking beautiful Salzburg. We came upon the Kapuziner Kirche (Kapuziner Church) and quietly stepped inside and heard the monks praying in a different room. From their cadence I think they were praying the Lord’s Prayer. In the sanctuary, where we stood, were two stations near the entrance…one for lighting a candle and the other held a basket for prayer requests on a table beneath a photo of Mary and Jesus. I wrote out a prayer request and since then, I have thought many times about the monks praying over my request….praying for a stranger they don’t know, from another country. It warms my heart.

So these are some musings on our first days back…I am grateful…for the many rich experiences…I look forward to writing some of them down. And most of all, I thank God for safety, protection and the health we enjoyed during our travels, and for bringing us safely home.

Sure-Jell

‘Tis the season to make strawberry jam so off to the store I went to buy Sure-Jell only to find two stores were sold out.

This year’s batch of strawberry freezer jam.

But what I found interesting is I had to ask three store clerks where in the store the Sure-Jell was shelved. They were young and not one of them knew what Sure-Jell was. I had tell them it’s for making jam, and then had to confirm the spelling of it so they could look it up on their electronic devices. If they only knew how easy it is to make freezer jam.

Also, ‘tis the season for blueberries. We were able to pick some berries to freeze at Little Hill Berry Farm here in Northfield, before they were picked out by 9 a.m. on their first day of picking. It has become a popular place.

North Morristown’s Oldest Ongoing Fourth of July Celebration

We celebrated our Fourth of July holiday at the oldest ongoing celebration in Minnesota. For 126 years North Morristown has put on a fun, old-fashioned 4^th of July get-together and hundreds, if not thousands, find their way to this small town (if you can call it a town- it has a Lutheran church with attached school and two or three houses) out in the country, close to nowhere.

Interesting, but a little threatening, cloud formations.

However, on our way there, we were threatened by storm clouds that were pretty ominous looking, and yet so artistic. Soon the skies burst open and down came the rain, hard! We passed many cars heading away from North Morristown as we continued to drive into the area, now full of mud. We quickly decided to go elsewhere for our late lunch.

After eating, the skies settled down and we had heard at the restaurant they had put wood chips down to help with the muddy paths on the grounds at North Morristown. So we decided to head back there.

In the “band shell”, Monroe Crossing: a banjo, a mandolin, a fiddle, a guitar and a bass.

We are so glad we did. Monroe Crossing, a talented bluegrass band, was playing under a shelter, and we sat on bleacher-style wooden boards under the trees and listened to an hour-long concert. It was wonderful.

After the concert we walked around the grounds, being careful where we stepped, to look at the old-fashioned children’s rides and games, the bingo hall, the hamburger stand, the beer garden, the pork stand, the pie and ice cream stands and picnic tables strewn about. We tasted some pie and ice cream.

This brought back memories for me. I always liked this fishing game. You attach your ticket to the clothespin at the end of the fishing line and then throw it over the wall. The person on the other side would replace the ticket with your prize. (I asked permission to take this little boy’s picture…he was so excited for his prize.)

Cars were getting stuck in the fields where they parked because all the rain turned the fields to mud. Tractors were recruited to help pull some cars out. Fortunately we found parking on the church’s paved lot….no mud.

One of the muddy parking areas with tractor standing by to help get out.

The air was festive and it was fun to be at the oldest ongoing Fourth of July gathering to celebrate our nation’s “birthday.”

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July.

Flag flying along the river walk in Northfield.

A beautiful flower planter along the river walk.

Another Turtle on the Trail

Last week we were, once again, biking on the new trail in town when we noticed a turtle on the path. We stopped to take a look and discovered this turtle was a different species than the turtle we saw a few weeks ago.

I took a picture, hoping to identify it later. When I first saw the turtle I thought it was a snapping turtle, but I didn’t test it by dangling a stick in front of his face to see if he’d snap. After a quick research, I’m pretty certain it is a snapping turtle. Click here for more information.

I wonder how many species of turtles are in the area along the river, and near the path? Hopefully we’ll see a new and different one the next time.