Showtime, NBL Style

And father had had such hopes
For a son who would take the ropes
And fulfill all his old athletic aspirations
But apparently now there's some complications
But while I am lying here, trying to fight the tears
I'll prove to the crowd that I come out stronger
Though I think I might lie here a little longer

- From "The Sporting Life," by the Decemberists

This song makes me laugh when I think of my earlier athletic endeavors. I've been pretty good, but never good enough to take it to the next level. (I used to be convinced that I should have become a NFL punter, if only FCDS, my high school, had had a football team, but I digress...) Well, now the dream has been reborn - I am utterly, absolutely convinced that I could (and should) join the Czech professional basketball league.

Our friend Tim Lyle plays professionally here, in the Czech National Basketball League. He played at James Madison in college (go Dukes!), and has traveled Europe playing professional ball in a number of countries. Here, he plays for a team located in Podebrady, a really nice town about 45 minutes outside of Prague, that is called Sadska. He had a game against USK Praha last weekend, so we took in the action. Let me tell you, it was intense. Some things you should know:

1) tickets were three dollars, and the gym looked like a medium-nice high school gym in the States;
2) the crowd was very pro-Podebrady, and loud - like soccer games, supporters wear scarves and carry drums into the arena. The Podebrady fans chanted and banged their drums constantly;
3) we suspect this enthusiasm was partially fueled by beer. It was cheap at the arena, and I swear we saw thirteen-year-olds drinking. Needless to say, we weren't surprised;
4) each team was allowed to have two Americans, and players from other European nations also filled out the rosters. One of Tim's teammates played for the Croatian national team...against the original Dream Team (think MJ and Charles Barkley)! Sure, he's the wrong side of 35 these days, but he was crafty and could shoot;
5) actually, everyone could shoot, and the whole game is geared around three pointers; the style is very different, very physical, and this led to the one negative thing about the game: the officiating.

Although Tim's team lost, he led all scorers with 18 points. He would have had 30 if it weren't for the fact that he got assaulted every time he touched the ball. Tim is big - probably 6'8" - and is a really, really good post player. Unfortunately, his skills couldn't prevail against the hometown refs allowing the other team to grab, scratch, and otherwise hang all over Tim. This officiating, however, has given me a new sense of calling: I am giving up academia, and becoming a professional ref in the Czech Republic. I certainly couldn't make the league as a player, but I'm definitely better than the zebras over here! Tim's last game is tonight, and Sadska needs to win to make the playoffs. We're pulling for the yellow and black, and hope everyone else will cheer them on to victory!

This our friend Chris and Laura's son, Owen; he's Tim's biggest fan!

Burned at the Stake, Thrown Out a Window, or Beheaded – Why Phil Loves the Hussites

The reason we are in Prague for this year is because of a man named Jan Hus. Well, we’re really here because Phillip (for the sake of clarity - see below) is a talented scholar, but we’re in Prague because he studies Jan Hus, a 15^th century reformer who preached in Bohemia and was executed for his beliefs. Since we arrived in September, we’ve been extremely lucky to find a church community that makes us feel at home, Faith Community Church. We’ve become friends with many people in the community and been truly inspired by these incredible people in Prague! Many people at church have been interested in learning more about Jan Hus and the pastor, Phil (another Phil!) asked Phillip to give a talk for the church. So over Easter weekend, Phillip gave a lecture on Friday night and led a walking tour of important religious sites in Prague on Saturday afternoon. In short, it was extraordinarily successful.

Friday night’s talk was entitled “Burned at the Stake, Thrown Out a Window, or Beheaded: the True (and often bizarre) History of the Hussites”. Leave it to Phillip to come up with a catchy title and make 15^th century history exciting;) There were about fifty people in attendance. Both friends and complete strangers in the audience came up to me after the talk to tell me what a wonderful teacher Phillip is. In particular, one woman marveled at his ability to speak to an audience containing people who barely knew who Jan Hus was and those with Divinity school degrees. On a personal note, it was special for me to be able to see Phillip engage the crowd and teach about the life and death of Jan Hus, a subject about which he is so passionate. After the talk, we went to dinner and enjoyed an evening with good friends and great beer!

On Saturday, Phillip led a crowd of thirty-five people on a walking tour of Prague. We began at Bethlehem Chapel, where Jan Hus preached from 1402-1412, walked to Old Town Square, on to the Church of Our Lady of Snows, and ended at New Town Hall. Each of these sites is significant in Prague’s religious history, and Phillip kept the crowd interested by telling stories of the crazy defenestrations (being thrown out a window), beheadings, and battles that took place in Prague’s storied history. This was not your ordinary tour of Prague…

Because of the crowds in Prague, Phillip thought it would be funny to carry a pomlázka (the Easter whip - see the Easter blog for details) so everyone would be able to follow him. This is hilarious because everyone in Prague is familiar with tour groups lead by guides with an umbrella held high in the air. The pomlázka was a big hit with the our friends’ kids, and it kept the group together. All in all, Phillip’s “Jan Hus Extravaganza” was wildly successful. I think it gave everyone the unique perspective of Prague as a city with a tumultuous religious history. He really shed light on the importance of this rich past in this complex, storied city of Prague. Everyone came away knowing a little more about the city we call home.

Easter Traditions in Prague

About two weeks ago, we walked through Old Town Square, the oldest square in the city and one of the most visited spots in Prague. Rising out of the center of the square was a huge tree decorated with pastel plastic Easter eggs. In addition, many small wooden huts were being erected all over the square. Ahhhh, the Easter Markets were coming to town.

At Christmas and Easter in Prague, markets spring up in the main city squares for about three weeks around the holidays. The Easter Markets are almost identical to the Christmas ones, except decorated with eggs instead of Christmas trees. The markets are made up of people selling food, drinks, and tchotchkes. We didn’t buy much at Christmas or Easter, just a few ornaments. The real fun of the markets is just walking around and people watching.

While the Czech Republic is nominally Christian, it is much less religious than its neighboring countries of Poland and Slovakia, which are ardently Catholic. The Czech Republic has developed into a fairly secular society with Christian roots and a long complicated religious history (just ask Phil about it). The holidays of Christmas and Easter are certainly still religious holidays, but also have some strongly secular traditions associated with them as well. One of the Czech Easter traditions that has made us laugh has been the popular “pomlázka”. (Keep in mind that to Czechs, the fuzzy white bunny that brings you chocolates and candy is pretty strange, too.) A pomlázka is a whip made of braided willow branches. The tradition was explained to us as follows…In your village or family, men/boys are allowed to carry around the pomlázka and hit the females/girls. The women/girls carry around decorated eggs and give them to the men when they're hit. It is rumored that nowadays, the women can also give shots of liquor to the men, in case they don’t want painted eggs. Only in the CZ. In the afternoon, the women are apparently allowed to carry around buckets of water to throw at the men folk. All of this is supposedly an ancient fertility ritual…hmmmmm. We have at least one Czech friend who tells us that this tradition lives on in her family. I will tell you that on every street corner and in the Easter markets, there were many pomlázka for sale all week. I swear I’m not making this up, so here are links that outline these wacky Czech traditions.

Vesele Velikonoce! Happy Easter!

Jablonec nad Nisou, CZ; a.k.a. Beadville

One of my friends, Joanna, is one of the most talented and artistic crafters I know. She started a Praha chapter of Stitch and Bitch (a knitting group for those outside the knitting world!) and has such a multitude of artistic talents that I couldn’t possibly list them all. One of her many talents is making jewelry, so when she proposed a trip to “Beadville, CZ”, I couldn’t say no to the experience. Let me explain…

If you’ve kept up with our blog, a few months ago, we visited a glass artist friend of ours in northern Bohemia. From him, we’ve learned that glass making and blowing has been and continues to be an important artistic tradition in the Czech Republic, particularly in Bohemia, the northern part of the CZ. Another Bohemian town, Jablonec nad Nisou, has been a center for making glass beads and jewelry. Apparently, Czech beads from Jablonec have been famous since the 17^th century. Who knew? Not me, but Joanna did! So four of us, Joanna, her friend Jessica who was visiting from the States, Sara and me went on an adventure to Jablonec nad Nisou.

The day was a snowy one, complicated by frigid temperatures. We didn’t let that stop us! Sara has the most pimped out seven passenger minivan I’ve ever been in, and along with her expert driving, we cruised through the wintry weather with no problems. Beadville was only 1.5 hours from Prague, so it was an easy day trip. Both Jessica and Joanna are artists who make jewelry, so it was fun for Sara and I to learn a thing or two along the way. We roamed around town, went to the local museum, ate some delicious Czech pastries, and then hit the stores. Because the beads are made in this town, the local stores sell beads wholesale. According to my informants, the beads were extraordinarily inexpensive. I now have lots of gorgeous glass beads, and a wonderful friend to teach me how to make jewelry!

Cesky Krumlov: like Epcot, only real

Every once in a while, something in the Czech Republic is so ridiculously cute, quaint, and old that you can't believe it's authentic. You almost believe you're in Epcot: Bohemia, but then you realize that you're actually in a town that's been standing for 800 years. So, while our friends Mike and Rebecca were here from Charlottesville way back in early March, we headed to south Bohemia to take in the sites at Cesky Krumlov. It is the best preserved medieval town in Bohemia (and that's saying something!), and we wanted to take Mike and Rebecca there for a night as their wedding present - they got married in January, and a night in a romantic medieval town seemed cooler than buying them a place setting. CK is about 3 1/2 hours from Prague, and the train trip was very scenic. The highlight was Rebecca's discovering Fanta Limon in a train station convenience store. Who knew how much joy a citrus soda could bring? She hadn't been able to find it since studying abroad in Spain in the 90's. Luckily, most of the Czech Republic is still living in the 90's, so Fanta Limon probably just hit the shelves here...

CK is a gorgeous town; it is situated on an S-curve in the Vltava River, and comprises an old town centre (for a medieval town, I'll go with the olde worlde spellyng) and a section built around a chateau and fortified castle which is the second largest in the Czech Republic. The entire town is a UNESCO world heritage site, but the castle is the gem. It was built mostly by the Schwarzenberg family in the eighteenth century (on foundations begun in the 13th c.), and features beautiful gardens, a Baroque tower, and an arched walkway to the castle that looks like a Roman aqueduct. It also (theoretically) has three bears that live in one of its moats. We did not see them, and think the "moat bears" might be a legend. Not seeing them was the one disappointment of our trip.

The town is, in a word, gorgeous. The river was running high, and rushed under a quaint wooden bridge in the middle of town. In the summer, you can canoe on the river, and there are pubs on the banks with places to tie up and stop for a drink. There is also a local brewery in town, Eggenberg, and we visited their on-site restaurant for a taste. They brew about eight different types of beer; stick with the basic lager or the dark - everything else went down hill. We also distracted ourselves during the day by fooling around at THE COOLEST PLAYGROUND IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. Sure, it was 25 degrees, and sure, we're thirty, but the playground equipment there was pretty awesome. It was also the first and only place we've seen in the Czech Republic with signs prohibiting alcohol - that just goes to show how rad this place was.

We stayed at a quaint little hotel by the wooden bridge, but the real highlight of our trip was our dinner in Cesky Krumlov. On a recommendation from our friend Dustin, we made reservations at a restaurant called Tavern Krčma v Šatlavská. Wow. It is a basement restaurant with waiters and waitresses in medieval period dress, and they cook their meat on an open fire in the middle of the dining room. We ordered combo meat platters that featured: pork, beef, turkey, sausage, and roasted veggies and potatoes. I made the mistake of ordering garlic soup to begin (it was spicy, in a bread bowl, but unnecessary given the ensuing carnage), and Mike and Rebecca split a pretzel. We all ate so much (plus beer, of course) that each of us either a) went into a meat coma upon arriving at the hotel, or b) got a wicked case of the meat sweats. It was worth it.

We headed back to Prague the next day, after another walk through town and a leisurely walk through the castle (still no bears, though). It was an amazing side trip, and I hope a great wedding present for Mike and Rebecca.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

My Mom kept reminding me, "Don't forget your Irish heritage" this past week as Saint Patrick's Day approached. In honor of such a celebratory day, Phil and I hosted a Saint Patrick's Day party at our flat on Saturday night. Just a few friends, some Irish music, yummy food, and green beer! Czech beer is tasty, even when it is dyed green.

Of course, some friends did bring Becherovka so we wouldn't forget we were in Prague, but we did manage to find real Irish cheddar and sausages. It was a great night in Prague, but a wonderful way to remember the Waldron heritage: Galway Bay, Dublin, Danny Boy, and Counties Mayo and Cork (via the Bronx!).

Sláinte!

Just Another Saturday Night in Prague

Phil and I have to laugh at the funny things that happen to us here in Prague. I’m not sure whether it is just “city life” or that we spend a lot of time out and about and are bound to run into things that make us laugh. It could be a mixture of these things, but I really just think that it’s Prague. This city has some wacky things happening on a regular basis, and our Saturday night was just one example.

We spent most of the day doing very typical things that we do on any relaxing Saturday afternoon. I went running, Phil did some work writing and translating, we made brunch together and drank some coffee, nothing too out of the ordinary for us. Later, we stopped by Brooke and Dustin’s house and saw a few friends at their place. We decided to go to our favorite Indian restaurant, Beas, for dinner and had some excellent matar paneer. Mmmmm. Just a regular Saturday like any other. Then, a horse walked by.

On our way home, we walked by the Estates Theater and heard some sort of music playing. A minute later, a man in knight’s armor on a horse trotted by. What?? On closer investigation, there were three knights on horses that lead us to a medieval festival. There were five people playing music, something like a flute/recorder backed up by multiple string instruments. Next came the people twirling fire, eating fire, and spitting fire (one of them was no older than 12 years old.) Lastly, the band stopped and an “MC” announced a king and queen (everyone is in FULL costume) and they mounted horses and rode away. All of this was happening smack in the middle of the city with a pretty sizable crowd of people watching, drinking, and generally being amused by the whole thing. I guess what makes me laugh is that I just don’t expect to come across Medieval re-enactors when walking through the center of a city, much less at 9 pm on a Saturday night. It seems more like a “somewhere outside the city on a Sunday afternoon” kind of event. But maybe I’m just being closed minded. Medieval fun is fun anywhere, anytime. Please see the short video clip below for fire twirling accompanied by a bitchin' lute solo...

After getting back to our apartment, Prague had one more surprise for us. At around 11 pm, we heard some loud noises outside the window. To our surprise, there was a fairly impressive fireworks display visible from our window. This wasn’t just some guy on his roof setting off fireworks, oh no. This was a full on 10-15 minute display that we could see high above the rooftops. We’ve seen fireworks once before from Legii most, the closest bridge. But we had not seen them from our window. I guess I could try and figure out why they were happening last Saturday, but I don’t really want to. I’m happy to think that they were the perfect ending to an ordinary Saturday in Prague: Phil, me, a medieval festival, and fireworks.