Another day trip to Telč

Having done a quick one day trip to Třebíč, we got into the mode of driving around to small towns around Brno. The next destination we chose was called Telč (by the way, when you see the inverted hat like haček mark on a letter "c,"  it is pronounced like "ch" in English). Telč is further to the west of Třebíč, about 100+ km away from Brno. In fact, we passed Třebíč on the way to Telč, but we (well, at least I who was just sitting in the passenger seat) didn't mind that. What "travelling" brings to you is this special feeling that connects you to "the" air, wind, people, or life in general you pass through as you travel. We enjoy that pretty much.

Telč, unlike Třebíč, seemed to be very popular among the tourists (and bikers ^^). The town is famous for its chateau and the town square surrounded by a series of beautiful Renaissance and Baroque style houses that have been well preserved since the 16th century. The historic center of Telč was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1992.

The town center is very small. It is surrounded by lakes and has a very unique atmosphere - almost as if you accidentally stepped into a movie set of the 15th century European movie (or... as if you walked into a part of Universal Studios ^^). Well, it certainly is not cheesy looking like a studio set, but somehow an array of beautiful houses brings a surreal feeling.

The chateau is one of the must-sees here. It was originally a Gothic style castle which was built in the 13th century, but later in the mid 16th century it was rebuilt in the Renaissance style by a nobleman named Zachariáš of Hradec, who began to rule over the Telč estate in 1550. He was a young, humanistically educated nobleman, who turned this castle into one of the most beautiful chateaus in the area. There are a couple of tours you can take, and you will find what a significant amount of work Zachariáš of Hradec did to the chateau. Cameras are not allowed inside the chateau, but we were able to take a couple of pictures from the outside corridor which connects two buildings.

The sad thing was the family died out on the male side. Zachariáš of Hradec's first wife, Kateřina of Valdštejn, died after giving a birth to their first son, who unfortunately died around the age of five. The second wife, whom Kateřina chose even in the course of her serious illness, had a daughter, but they were not gifted with a boy. Consequently, the lords of Hradec only owned Telč estate until 1604.  But, it was also Zachariáš of Hradec who gave the orders to rebuild all the houses in the town in Renaissance and Baroque style. You can sense that Zachariáš was a great man with great appreciation in arts and beauty just by looking how Telč is even now.

One day trip to Třebíč

July 5th and 6th were Czech holidays, and we decided to rent a car again and do a couple of short trips around Brno. Our destination was Třebíč, but typical of my hubby, we took a detour and ended up driving through the middle of nowhere land again, which I have to say we enjoyed pretty much :-)  You would be amazed to all the little villages with rather gorgeous houses here and there.

Anyway, Třebíč is a small town located west of Brno. This little town started to grow when the Duke of Moravia built a Benedictine monastery back in the 12th century. And, it became one of the most important cities in South Moravia after St. Procopius' Basilica, which is listed as one of the UNESCO's World Heritage sites, was rebuilt in the 13th century. 

This town is also famous for the old Jewish Quarter, and used to be the most important Jewish settlement in Moravia region. In the mid 19th century, many of the rich Jews left for Vienna and other big cities, and there were only 281 Jews left at the time of WWII, all of whom were taken to Auschwitz (only 10 of them survived). 

The quarter spreads along the north bank of the Jihlava River and up the side of a hill.  It has a lot of character with narrow and winding cobblestone streets.  If you go up to the top of the hill, you can enjoy a beautiful view of the Jewish quarter.

Unfortunately, I heard there is no more Jewish community there. In fact, at some point, there was a plan to destroy the quarter and build a new fancy town with modern buildings. However, the plan was cancelled as they found out the nature of soil there was not particularly suited for the high-tower buildings. Luckily the quarter was saved, and during the years 1995-1999, the town invested 40 million CZK to build a technical infrastructure (like electricity, sewage, etc), and it was then designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site along with the Basilica in 2003.  Since then, people have been moving back into the quarter.

Two synagogues (old and new) still exist, and the new one is being used for community concerts as well as a museum where you can learn about the history of the Jewish quarter.

Brno-Tuřany Airport

When I heard about Brno-Tuřany Airport, the image that I created in my head was a single runway running through the middle of nowhere land. Well, I was WRONG. The airport was very modern looking with a silver capsule like building.

According to the wiki, the airport was actually built back in 1950's. During the communist era, the airport was used by the air force, but it is now owened by the government for the civilian use. Most of the flights from the airport are charters except a very few scheduled flights going to Prague, London, and Moscow.

And, during the summer time, there are a whole bunch of charter flights going to some of the popular vacation destinations like Greece, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Spain, or Egypt. I wouldn't mind taking a charter flight if I don't have to travel with our cat gG, but the chance that would happen is probably zero :(

On Sunday, June 13th, Ko-chan left from the airport to London and finally to Mexico by stopping in SF and LA en route. It was good to have you, Ko-chan!  Come back soon--.

Prague Day 2 (Part 2): Strolling around Jewish Quarter

We chose Jewish Quarter for our evening stroll. Jewish Quarter, known as Josefov, or formerly known as Jewish Ghetto, is located north of Old Town. It dates back to the 13th century when the Jewish community in Prague was ordered to vacate their homes and settle in this area.

The area is now very polished with lots of beautiful buildings, shops, and cafes, but it used to be crowded with insanitary houses and narrow streets. It was also chosen to be the place all the Jews were gathered before they were sent off to the concentration camp by the Nazis during WWII. The peace in the air suddenly felt heavy when I read that in my guidebook.

The record shows there was the worst pogroms in 1389, and approximately 1,500 Jews were massacred on Easter Sunday. Over the centuries, the area became more crowded with Jews as they were not allowed to live anywhere else. And, towards the end of the 16th century, when the Jewish Mayor, Mordecai Maisel, became the Minister of Finance and thus a very wealthy man, he invested money to help developing the "ghetto."

Then during the late 18th century, Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor emancipated Jews. He renamed the area "Josefstadt" (Joseph's City), which is the origin of "Josefov." And shortly after that, during 1893 and 1913, the quarter was demolished as a part of initiative to model the city like Paris, which left only six synagogues, the old cemetery, and the Old Jewish Town Hall, which you can still see now in the Jewish Quarter.

One of the synagougues in the quarter called Old-New Synagougue (picture on the left) was built back in 1270 and said to be the oldest synagougue in Europe.

Most of the synagougues were closed by the time we went there, but we found out it was what's called "Museum Night" in Prague, and all the museums, churches, synagougues had their special exhibitions and events. We got the brochure and decided to go into the Frants Kafka Cafe in the quarter to take a look at the brochure.

The one we were interested in was supposed to be held at a synagougue, but later we found out it was not open until very late, so we decided to just go to the Old Town Hall to take a peak at Prague view from the top.

Before doing so, we went into this restaurant called "U Golema" to have dinner. We weren't expecting too much after the bad experience from last night at the touristy restaurant in Old Town, but this restaurant was excellent! My favorite garlic soup was amazing, and so are the main dishes. If you ever go to Prague, check this restaurant out. If you want to learn more about the legendary story about "Golem", see here.

Being happy with the good food, we headed to the Old Town Hall. Inside the hall was unexpectedly modernized. There is a spiral staircase going up to the top of the tower, and in the middle of it, the glass case elevator runs up and down. My hubby and I took the elevator (^^), while Ko-chan ran up the stairs. The result - the elevator won :)

The view from the tower top was just beautiful. It was already past 9pm, and the sky was adding a shade of dark blue. The yellow city lights illuminated here and there which gave the perfect contrast to the dark blue sky. Lovely evening in Prague!

Prague Day 2 (Part 1): Strolling around Prague Castle

It was again a beautiful day in Prague. Less humid and less hot (whew!). Since we walked around the old town section of Prague yesterday, we decided to head towards the Prague Castle by crossing the famous Charles Bridge. We were staying right between the old town and new town, so the walk made more sense than the tram approach.

Charles Bridge is a stone bridge built in the later 14th century to early 15th century during the era of King Charles IV. It crosses the river Vltava (Moldau), and it was the most important connection between the Old Town and Prague Castle until 1841.  The bridge which is approx. 520m in length and 10m in width is totally closed off for pedestrians only, and you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the Prague Castle side of Prague along the bridge.  A part of the bridge was under construction, which interfered with appreciating the total beauty of the bridge and view, but it was still a great place to be. I was wondering how many people have crossed the bridge over the last hundreds of years and enjoyed the view of the castle from the bridge.

Crossing the bridge which was full of tourists and souvenir shops, we arrived in an area with lots of cute houses with bright orange brick roofs.  I just loved the sight of them.  I felt like time slipped back into the medieval era with witches, magics, buffoons, dragons, and all that - yep, had rather surreal feelings.  I was for a sec in the wold of children's book that I used to read when I was a little kid. :-)

From the bridge to the castle is not a short walk.  You actually have to walk up the hills for a while. Found Starbucks(!!... have to say it has been more than 6 months since I last had Starbucks coffee) on the way to the castle and got ourselves some coffee and continued our walk.  By then the sun was higher and the humidity was increasing again, and the cold Ice Latte felt so good.

There are lots of lovely looking shops and cafes along the streets up to the castle.  Enjoying the sight of pavement, bright flowers, cute little shops, and people sipping outside enjoying the coffee and sun, it ironically reminded me of the busy life I had back in Tokyo and LA.  Life can be much more relaxed, if you choose it to be so.

The final hill to the castle was rather steep, but the sight from the hilltop was gorgeous with an array of orange brick roofs and greens here and there. We were there just in time for the ceremony, but we could already see that the entrance to the castle was amazingly crowded with the tourists wanting to see the ceremony.  After a while, we realized that it was not worth while being there, as all we could see was the mass of people holding up the cameras to take videos and pictures. 

We found a side path to the castle and went in. Prague Castle is one of the biggest castles in the world. Construction began in the middle of the 9th century, and it continued to expand throughout the years, and thus the castle buildings represent virtually every architectural style of the last millennium from Romanesque, Gothic, to Baroque.

Once you go through the second courtyard, you will be astonished at the magnificent sight of St. Vitus's Cathedral. It definitely has a big "WOW" effect. The building used to be a simple looking Rotunda when it was first built around 925, just like lots of churches were back then. Then during time of the King Charles IV, it was turned into Gothic style by two architects. 

The first one was a Frenchman Matthias of Arras from Avignon. Matthias designed the overall layout of the building with French Gothic style: a triple-naved basilica with flying buttresses (which is beautiful!!), short transept, five-bayed choir and decagon apse with ambulatory and radiating chapels. After he died, the second one, Peter Parler, at that time only 23-years old, took over the work. 

Parler worked according to the plans left by his predecessor at first, but once he finished all that Matthias left unfinished, he started to apply his own ideas. Parler, unlike Matthias, was also trained as sculptor and woodcarver. He treated architecture as sculpture, and thus came up with very innovative designs throughout the cathedral. The famous one is called Parler's vaults or net-vaults which have double diagonal ribs that span the width of the choir-bay. The crossing pairs of ribs create a net-like construction which considerably strengthens the vault as well as a dynamic zigzag pattern down the length of the cathedral.  Unfortunately the line to the cathedral was unbelievably looong, and we didn't get to go inside to see the vaults. Maybe next time.

We walked around the cathedral and decided to head to the Strahov Monastery instead of exploring further into the castle, which was all crowded with the trourists (I guess summer is not the time to visit Prague). Starhov Monastery was okay. The part of the library was under construction and wasn't exactly what I expected.  I also got sick by the time I got there, and just wanted to head to the hotel to rest and to feed gG.  We took a tram back to the hotel and took a quick rest before heading back to town in the evening.

Prague Day 1: Old Town Square and Old Town Hall

Prague was hot and humid beyond my imagination even after 5pm. Occasionally a truck with a sprinkler device would drive by and sprey some water on the street. I know that's what people do to reduce the heat in the air, but with the humidity in the air, additional water particles didn't seem to help me that much.

The old town part of Prague is not that big. We thought it would be easy to find the square, but again we had to stop occasionally to check our map. After walking through several winding streets packed with tourists from all over the world, we finally came to the square. There was some kind of event sponsored by Hyundai with loud music and shops all around. It wasn't exactly the expected sight of old and beautiful Prague center, but we took a seat at a cafe and treated ourselves to some beer, which seemed to just evaporate with sweat and humidity.

The sight of Church of Our Lady before Týn against a huge blue advertising mast of Hyundai semi saddened me, but it was also a realization of us living in the 21st centry of capitalism with its massive advertisements and campaigns.

We finished our beer and walked towards the Old Town Hall, which was established in 1338 after the agreement of King John of Luxemburg to set up a town council. A part of the chapel was reconstructed after being destroyed by the Nazis during the WWII.

The most popular part of the tower is the Orloj, Town Hall Clock, which consists of three components: 1) the astronomical dial which is based on the Ptolemaic theory representing the position of the sun and moon around the earth and displaying various astronomical details; 2) "The Walk of the Apostles" which is a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures; and 3) a calendar dial with medallions representing the months.

The mechanical clock and astronomical dial were said to be made by a clock maker, Mikuláš of Kadaň, and a professor of mathematics and astronomy at Charles University, Jan Šindel in 1410, but later when the clock was repaired by another clock master in 1552, the report mentioned another clockmaster's name Jan Růže (a.k.a Hanuš) as a person who made the clock.

One legend said that Hanuš was blinded by the order of the Prague Councillors, as the clock he made became way so popular that other cities tried to hire him. He continued to be a clock master of Orloj even after he was blinded. It said that when he deceased the clock stopped working.

The clock is definitely a work of art. It is not only beautiful to look at, the exquisiteness of astronomical dial is just breathtaking. If you are interested in learning more about this amazing clock, go to this page.

We left the square behind and headed to the Powder Tower, which was originally built in 1475 and was used to be one of the entrance way to the castle. This is the place the foreign ministers and nobilities were welcomed, and they were led to the castle by a drum and fife band or soldiers. It must had been some kind of sights. By the time we got to the Powder Tower, it was already past 9pm, but as you can see the sky was still bright and the air was still very moist and hot. We walked towards the hotel and found a very touristy restaurant near the Wenceslas Square which the famous Velvet Revolution took place in 1989.

We got two Czech traditional dishes and shared among three of us. They were not bad, but the place was definitely targeting the tourists, and unfortunately we felt rather ripped off.

Ko-chan's visit & Prague Day 1

It's been a while since I wrote the last blog entry.  Things had been a bit crazy around me. Firstly I have been engaged in a short consulting work, and Ko-chan, the younger son of my hubby, came and visited us for... a couple of days.  In fact, we didn't know exactly when he was going to show up here.  Apparently he couldn't contact us as he was hitchhiking all the way from Amsterdam! 

Come to think about it, I hitchhiked quite a bit at college, but it was a much safer world back then. Glad Ko-chan made it through by getting rides from good people. He then made me realize that we tend to create a boundary towards others as we get older. When I was younger, I was definitely much more open towards relationships, talking with strangers wherever I went even thought I knew I would never meet them again (back then, we didn't have what's called email, IM, or social network ^^).  Now, how many times would I speak to the strangers?

Anyway, he showed up on Thursday evening around 8:15pm.  We had a good chat on our balcony (yep, finally our new balcony set was in good use) until VERY late. But, we had a lot to catch up.  My hubby for sure was happy to have the opportunity to talk with him.

Next day, we were supposed to leave for Prague around 10am (well, the original plan was based on the assumption that Ko-chan would get here on Wed instead of Thur), but we decided delay that a bit. We rented a car and started our journey to Prague by firstly stopping at a pet store to buy gG's food ^^;   Yes, he always comes along with us these days.  I remember the first time I took him to a drive (back in Calif).  He was not happy at all back then.  Nowadays, he is very relaxed in the back seat.

We got to Prague really smoothly.  No heavy traffic, and the GPS helped us find our way to our hotel.  It was around 3pm already, and my hubby who had been working almost 24/7 (and just got back from Berlin) needed a nap before doing anything, so we all rested for a while and decided to head out to an evening stroll to explore a part of Prague.

The plan was to head to the Old Town Square, which is the center of old town, but we ended up heading towards Vltava River - you must know why if you have been to Prague. The streets are not at all going straight! 

It was rather humid and hot which reminded me of a summer weather in Japan, but we enjoyed the view of the Prague castle along the river before heading towards the Old Twon Square, which I will write in my next entry.

Applying for Czech visa - 2

Finally! My visa application has been successfully submited to the Embassy of Czech Republic in Bratislava. Thanks to my hubby, Jana, and others who helped me throughout the process!

I already wrote about a set of documents we needed to prepare for the application, but there were additional facts that were not written anywhere on the web. 

Firstly we had to translate our marriage certificate, which I wrote about last time. So, we made a copy of our marriage certificate with apostille from California government.  Then we had them translated into Czech, and had the copy and the translation notarized.  The embassy lady was satisfied with it this time. 

But, there were two new things this time.  

Firstly, she asked me to submit the second photo.  All the documents that I read on the web or on the paper never mentioned that I should have two photos.  In fact, it says one photo.  But, luckily, just in case, I had the second photo ready. :)   I suspect the embassy lady didn't expect that.  I could hear a subtle challenge in her voice when she asked me the second photo, and when I gave it to her, she looked rather reluctant.  Boy...

Then, she started to go through the documents, and asked where my name was on the apartment lease agreement. We only had my hubby's name on it, as I was not even here in Czech Republic when it was signed.  Plus it was never mentioned anywhere that my name had to be on the lease.  I am not sure if we really needed to have my name on it, or if she was just giving us a hard time (I have a suspicion it was the latter). Anyway, after my hubby debated with her, she told my hubby to sign my name, DOB, and passport number on the lease agreement and put his signature below them.  Okay, so he did it. 

After all, I understand that it is her job to make sure to inspect all the applicants and applications, but I also have to say that the required documents for the application have to be clearly stated somewhere.

By the way, you also need to prepare a copy of all the documents that you will be submitting.  When you go to the embassy, you need to have your passport, application with 1 photo (well, it was 2 photos in my case), a set of original doucments, and a set of copied documents.  And, if you are a Japanese citizen, the application fee is free, but depending on your nationality, the fee will be applied (I think it was 95 EUR for American citizens).

Applying for Czech visa

I seem to be applying for visas all my life... Starting out with the F1 visa that I got for the US college, I once had J1 to teach Japanese in Allegheny College. Then H1 to work in the US, etc.  Now I need to apply for a spouse visa in order to be able to stay in Czech Republic with my hubby. 

The process has been rather cumbersome, and unfortunately the information regarding the documents that I need to prepare for the visa application has not been very crystal clear. We thought we prepared all the documents necessary and went to the Czech Embassy in Bratislava to apply for a visa last weekend, but we failed to do that as we didn't have the translation of certain documents :-(   Hopefully by next week, we will have everything, so that I can apply asap.

In order to apply for a visa here in Czech Republic, you have to present the following documents to the Czech embassy:
- Passport
- Application form (for Schengen Visa) + 1 photo
- Proof of funds to cover the cost of stay in the territory
- Marriage certificate
- Copy of rental contract or the document confirming the availability of accommodation
- Police record proving that you don't have a criminal record (in my case both from the US and from Japan)

With regards to the US police record, it was easy. You can simply sign the paper claiming that you never committed any crimes in the US, and go to the notary office and get the paper notarized. 

However, for the Japanese police record, you actually have to go to the police station where your last "Jumin-Hyo (registration of residence type of official goverment record)" was registered, submit the application with required documents, and wait for a week for them to get a police record in a sealed envelope (you shall not open it!).  Then, you have to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo, submit the envelope to get an apostille from them.  It typically takes only one day, but since I had to leave the next day, I called them in advance to arrange a quick turn around. The envelope is again sealed. But, not yet done! Once you have that, then you have to go to the Japanese Embassy in Prague (or have someone go there on behalf of you by writing a letter explaining why you cannot go by yourself), and have the document translated into Czech. This process typically takes up to 3 days, but we contacted them in advance and managed to get the translation back in 1 day (well, someone from my hubby's office kindly went there for me for this part of the process). The final sealed envelop after all these processes is the one you have to take for the visa application. You can also get the Japanese police record through theJapanese embassy in Prague, but it will take up to 2 months.

What we didn't have was the translated marriage certificate. We got the apostille from the California government, but apparently we needed to make a copy of the certificate/apostille, have them translated into Czech, and get a notary on the translated documents. 

Fortunately and very luckily, we have people from my hubby's company helping us on preparing the translation and notary. Thank you!!!  I should be very close to apply for the visa!

Devín Castle in Slovakia

Devín Castle is one of the most significant archeological sites in Slovakia. The castle is located in a town called Devín, which is about 10km west of Bratislava and almost right on the border to Austia, where River Danube meets River Morava. It was the ideal place to control the important trade route along these rivers. It says that the site was first settled in the Neolithic age(!) and was fortified in the Bronze and Iron Age.  During the 1st and 5th century, it became the fortresses for Romans. And in the 9th cntury, it became the most important fortress for the Great Moravian Empire.

The stone castle seemed to be built in the 13th century and continued to be expanded until Napoleon destroyed it in 1809.

From the parking lot, you climb up the hill for about 15 mins to get to the ruin (yes, it is a good exercise!). The ruin sits on top of the cliff looking down the beautiful rivers and surrounding nature.  So magnificent!

A quick trip to Bratislava, Slovakia

My hubby and I went on a quick trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. The main purpose of this trip was to apply for my visa, which is a very time consuming process (will talk about later).  Anyway, it was of course the first time for me (and gG) to visit Bratislava, and there were again lots of things to learn about the country and its capital.

Bratislava is located approx. 130 km south of Brno, VERY close to the border of Austria.  It is one of the smallest capital cities in Central Europe but is full of historic monuments and culture. And as some people may know, the beautiful River Danube runs through Bratislava.

We arrived at Bratislava too late to do a meaningful sightseeing, but we had a chance to walk through the old part of town.  The old town felt even smaller than the one in Brno.  It only took us a couple of hours to go around the town.  We made the reservation at the hotel called Devin, which stands along the River Danube. From there, we walked towards north to the long and narrow park called Hviezdoslavovo Nam.  The park was just so cozy, charming, and beautiful.  There were a bunch of cafes and restaurants along the park, and people were enjoying the beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon with coffee, tea, beer, or wine.

We walked along the park for a while and headed west to visit St. Martin's Cathedral, which is a 15th century Gothic style church that stands high at 85m.  I heard 11 Hugarian kings and 8 consorts were crowned between 1563 to 1830.  On top of the tower, you see a replica of the Hugarian crown, which weighs 300kg.  The most amusing thing was the crypt outside of the cathedral. It said "Grof Palffy Csalad, Sirboltja" with the dates 1600 to 1845 on the tomb stone. Huh??? He lived 245 years???

Later that day, we went out for a dinner, walking towards the St. Michael's Gate, one of the four gates originally built in medieval era. This gate is the only one survived to the day. At night, it lights up, and you can admire its beauty from the outside seatings of cafes and restaurants on Michalska Street.

We went into a Slovak restaurant called Presburg on Michalska Street. We are getting very familiar with the slovak cusines by now, and we ordered our regulars: garlic soup (which was different from the ones we have been eating in Czech Republic and it was creamy), halušky (a bit different as well, and I do have to say I prefer the one we had at the restaurant near our house), kabab type of dish (we decided to go for it as we were semi getting tired of pork ribs), and a plate of pickled cheese (this is also one of my hubby's favorites).

Good food, good ambience, and good company - what else can you ask in life?

Pernštejn Castle

Forty kilometers to the north west of Brno, a beautiful armour-bearer looking castle called Pernštejn stands quietly overtopped by the neighboring hills.

There were only two trains going to the Pernštejn castle area from Brno in the morning, and we took a later train which left Brno at 10:55am. The train was comfortably packed with hikers, bikers, and families. We rode the train for about 30 mins to Tišnov, and there we switched a train to go to Pernštejn Castle.

After 30 min ride, we arrived at Nedvědice, where lots of people got off. We were wondering why the place was so popular. We kept riding the train. Then as the train goes faster and faster, we saw a castle on our right hand side. But, the train kept going, passed the castle, and never stopped until we were about 5km away from the castle. My hubby who was responsible for checking the station to get off surrendered and said "ooops, we missed the right station." We got off at the next station called Vežná, a nowhere land without any people. We checked the time for the next train going back and only found out it wasn't coming for another two hours.

We could have waited there, but we said "well, we got two pairs of legs. why not walk!" So, we headed to the direction of castle not knowing whether the road will lead us there (although we had a high confidence it would, as it was the only road). The walk was amazingly nice. We walked 5.5 km (it wasn't bad at all) to the magnificent sight of the casltle. It looked strong but elegant and a bit odd like a bunch of different sizes of square and triangular boxes stuck together on one side.  It reminded me of an art homework once I did in college.

Once you go into the entrance, the first thing you notice is the bar and restaurant.  After accidentally ended up walking for 5.5 km without water, we were so thirsty and hungry.  We sat down at the bar restaurant and had a sausage (well, that's the only thing we could order as we didn't know any other foods in Czech) and a couple of beers (well, I thought beer would make me more dehydrated, but I tried beer anyway - I guess I am just trying to be a Czech person).

The castle was indeed sturdy looking. It was first built by the Lords of Medlov in the 13th century on the rock (the rock penetrates the building up to the second floor). The family branch seated at the castle and adopted the then fashionable name Pernštejn, which is the Czech version probably derived of the German name, Bärenstein - the "Bear Rock".

We took a tour (well, the tour was in Czech, so we went along with the English brochure in our hands) through the main part of the castle. The first thing you notice when you step into the castle is the temperature. It was a warm day, but you could tell the significant drop of temperature immediately. I guess the thick wall shuts out the heat coming in from outside. There were hundreds of rooms connected by the nesting corridors and staircases (unfortunately we don't have any pictures of inside, as we were not allowed to take any pictures). I am sure it was meant for the protection from the enermies, but it reminded me of old fairly tales related to the European castles that I read when I was kid. And, it would be a fun place for kids to play hide and seek for sure :)

I had been having very dull pain around my neck and shoulders since I moved to Czech Republic, but they disappeared after visiting this castle.  Is it due to the ghost supposedly appearing in this castle?  :)

Naschmarkt in Vienna

Just outside of Vienna's zone 1, there is one of the most popular markets in Vienna. The market has been there since the 16th century! 

There are all kinds of shops selling fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood, flowers, cheese, and so forth.  There are also a lot of small restaurants and bars which have outside seatings.  People were just sitting outside, sipping a cup of coffee or beer or wine, and enjoying the sun.

I have to say I need to learn how to relax like European.  People seemed to be able to just sit there forever enjoying the drinks, cigarette, sun, and lots of talking.   I think my tolerence level is up to an hour. I know that I adopted much slower life after I left Yahoo and have used to an even more slower life in Czech Republic, but I am not sure if I could ever become like European.

We had a glass of beer. We thought we ordered a plate of sausages, but what was served was completely different. It was a dumpling with meat inside.  Enjoyed everything, but we left in less than an hour :)

Hundertwasser's Kunst Haus in Vienna

I have to say that this was one of my favorites in Vienna.  Hundertwasser was rather a controversial contemporary artist born in Vienna. Kunst House which was designed by the artist is so artistic, organic, and just so adorable.  The house contains 50 or so apartments, and the second floor has been opened to a public as a museum of Hundertwasser.  It said that Hundertwasser had a clear philosophy about the house he wanted to build.  The floor is not flat, as the flat floor is for machines.  He made the garden on top of the building, as the building covers the earth. The walls are made of plaster, so that the kids can draw on the wall and still can be repainted.  He wanted to make a house which grows with people who lives there.

The museum is filled with his paintings. What's noticeable about Hundertwasser's paintings are the colors (lots of very bright colors) and organic lines.  They sort of reminded me of Watt's Tower made by Simon Rodia, which I wrote in my LA blog. Interesting thing is that Hundertwasser's style of painting changed significantly when he was around 20 years old.  Till then, his paintings were just so beautiful and very true to life, which reminded me of Picasso's earlier paintings.  And all of a sudden it changed, as if something inside of him burst out onto his canvas.

It seems like he spent most of his time travelling.  He also spent quite a lot of time in Japan and was once married to a Japanese lady.  Although he has been deceased 10 years ago, his arts still exist all over the world including in Japan nad are being appreciated by local people.

Vienna Boys' Choir / ウィーン少年合唱団 / Wiener Sängerknaben

Vienna Boys' Choir is the most famous boy's choir in the world, and it is almost like an icon of Vienna.  The choir was established by Maximilian I of Habsburg in 1498.  Although it was dismissed in 1918 when Habsburg was destroyed, it was reformed again in 1924. 

The role of the choir was to provide musical accompaniment to the church mass. The boys received the top musical education, and many went on to become professional musicians. Franz Schubert or Clemens Krauss were one of them. Nowadays there ae about 100 boys aged between seven and fifteen who were strictly chosen, and they have been going around the world for the concerts.

Their concerts are being held every Sunday at the Burgkapelle inside Hofburg Imperial Palace. You can buy tickets in advance, or you can line up in front of the Burgkapelle on Sunday morning to get the extra tickets they may have.  The chapel itself is not big, but thy prepared chairs on the 2nd and 3rd floor for people like us to come and listen to the boys (and they have a huge projector showing the boys, too).  Boys will be located at the rear end of the 3rd floor, so if you get a seat facing the alter, you would not be able to see them.  Well... it would be difficult to see them from almost anywhere in the chapel to be honest.  But, at the very end, they would come downstairs and sing at the alter, so you can wait till then to take a picture - like I did :)  Not sure why we want to see them instead of just being satisfied with their singing, but anyway....

Unfortunately the alleged abuses from the past members of Vienna Boys' Choir were reported recently.