Time, Time, Time

Time,
Time,
Time,
See what's become of me
While I looked around for my possibilities.

I was so hard to please.
Look around,
Leaves are brown,
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter.

Hang on to your hopes, my friend.
That's an easy thing to say,
But if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend that you can build them again.
Look around,
The grass is high,
The fields are ripe,
It's the springtime of my life.

Seasons change with the scenery;
Weaving time in a tapestry.
Won't you stop and remember me
At any convenient time?

Funny how my memory skips
Looking over manuscripts, Of unpublished rhyme. ~ Paul Simon

As this old year, ticks away, wishing you a Happy Silvestr.. a Happy New Year. and onto a better year.
with even greater possibilities,
and greater fulfillment of wishes and dreams....
Happy New Year, enjoy, be safe... Cau

One Last Look at Christmas in Prague....

...then onto the New Year and 2010.

Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square

Time is a brisk wind, for each hour it brings something new... but who can understand and measure its sharp breath, its mystery and its design? ~Paracelsus

The Astronomical Clock, or in Czech, Orloj, dates back to 1410 when it was made by clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel, a professor. It is built into the southern side of the Old Town Hall in Old Town Square. Around 1490, the calendar dial was added and clock facade decorated with Gothic sculptures. At the strike of each hour, figures come out and circle(and dance) as little bells chime the hour.

The astronomical dial is a form of mechanical astrolabe, a device used in medieval astronomy. In fact, One may consider this Orloj to be a primitive planetarium, displaying the current state of the universe.

The astronomical dial has a background that represents the standing Earth and sky, and surrounding it operate four main moving components: the zodiacal ring, an outer rotating ring, an icon representing the Sun, and an icon representing the Moon.

It is quite a beautiful piece of craftsmanship and holds a place amongst Prague's most stunning pieces of art-work. It was covered in "gold-leaf" and is radiant when the sun's rays strike it. One can not help but marvel at it's intricacy, antiquity and beauty.

Porsche ...coming.... part deux

This is also a Porsche(design). The Fairly new version of a Tram currently in service throughout Prague. So yes, Porsche coming...
(I loved that phrase...when I first heard it last March; it still resonates nicely)

Porsche ...coming....

Great Lines, jo?...

A sculptor is a person who is interested in the shape of things,.. ~ Henry Moore

Thank you Ferdinand... Your Porsche's are superb. but, I bet you are rolling over in your grave now that Volkswagen owns the company you built from scratch... Volkswagen!! Pity...Porsche no longer controlled by the Family who started it all.
Geez.

...had to end the year with my Favorite Car Marque.... as parked in Mala Strana this past October, in front of a really fine French Restaurant.

A shop window in Lucerna Passage, Prague 1.

Merry Christmas

Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance - a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved. ~Augusta E. Rundel

Christmas in ones heart is about forgiveness. It does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.

Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts. ~Janice Maeditere

Christmas is about friends and friendship, old and new, about forgiveness if needed and about Love; Love in the present, as well as remembering those who touched your heart throughout your life, whenever it occurred...

I wish a Merry Christmas to you all....

Veselé Vánoce - Czech Christmas Day today

Vesele Vánoce & Happy Christmas to my friends in the Czech Republic

Today is Christmas day in Praha, in Usti nad labem, in Olomouc, in Korycany, in Šumperk, in Libeznice, in Palmovka, in Liben, in Dobříš, in Budínek, in Kobylisy, In Mukařov, in Vinohrady...and in the whole of the Czech Republic and in Bratislava as well.

and it means an evening enjoyed with family, when after the Traditional meal of Fish Soup, Potato salad, fried Carp (or white sausage, in Northern Bohemia, north of Prague) and special cookies(cukrovi) and sweets, a small Christmas bell will ring to signal that Jezisek (Baby Jesus) has visited the household and people will then gather around the Christmas Tree to see what he has brought them.

It is a time of Vánočka, a sweet braided yeast bread studded with golden raisins and sprinkled with Powdered sugar as well as many other types of small assorted highly decorated Christmas cookies and gingerbread.

After dinner on Christmas day, every person present at the table cuts an apple in half, crosswise, across the stem. Anyone whose apple core shows a five-pointed star is considered lucky and can expect health and happiness the next year. A Czech Christmas celebration is filled with many other Traditions as well.

Vesele Vánoce pro vás.

Home....

Prague was lovely as I departed Friday morning. Snow had fallen during the night and the roads were slushy, but Prague looked nice under the cold snow as it reflected the lights of early morning. Got to the airport fine. A seemingly unusual event after boarding the aircraft...we had to go and get de-iced!! since it was still snowing during boarding, and runways were all being plowed as we taxied....

Got into New York on time on Friday afternoon and my flight to Rochester took off on time as well, with no waiting in line...taxied directly to the runway, turned and off we went, 45 minutes later I landed in Rochester. My kids were there to meet and greet me.

So, I missed the BIG snowstorm here in the East this year by ONE day. I was lucky. JFK was bright, sunny and clear as I landed. I understand that Europe is currently in the grips of real Winter as I sit here.

The ground is white here in Rochester as well. It will be a white Christmas and I think in Prague as well. I hope so.

Photo: My parents Christmas Tree in their Family room, with the smell of Gingerbread in the air...

Flying Delta to New York...

Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance - a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved. ~Augusta E. Rundel

Leaving this morning for Christmas in the states with my Family. Vesele Vánoce!

Since Czech Airlines no longer flies to New York, I am heading home for the Holidays on Delta this morning at 9:30am. Should be in JFK by 1:00pm New York time and then will catch a Jet Blue flight to Rochester arriving around 6:30... just in time for dinner!

So as I depart Prague for the Holidays, I wish my friends who remain here and live here in Prague, a Vesele Vánoce, A Merry Christmas.

and to my friends in New York, I hope we bump into each other this holiday season while I am home for the Holidays...

See you in the new year, on the 3rd of January 2010! to be exact when I once again touch down at Ruzyne on the first Sunday of the new year.

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and Look forward to seeing YOU in the new year...jo? Cau.

Remember
This December,
That love weighs more than gold!
~Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon

Photo: Advent wreaths, Advent candles...for Advent.

...Christmas Tree in Náměstí Miru

...In Old Town Square

For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas. Christmas means fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving, a time of good cheer, home.
~W.J. Ronald Tucker

Outside my favorite Café

>

This picture is in Lucerna Passage, taken directly outside the entrance to my favorite café, the one I seem to frequent...alot; for coffee, cappuccino, wine, Svařek and sherry ;a nice place to sit and read.

I go there so often, that lately, in the morning, when I stop by, they automatically bring me a cappuccino... that is so nice.

By the way, Lucerna is an open air passage, with each end open to the street, so although these tables look like they would be a great place to sit... currently, it is like sitting outside..in THE winter!

Lucerna, and it's offshoot passages, are home to a myriad of shops, cafés, restaurants, and a 100 year old, stunningly beautiful old Theatre which shows Artistic Movies, and is one of the main theatres that supported the Recent French Film Festival. (Kino means Movie or Cinema)

Red Tree....

The Tree in Staromestska Namesti, Old Town Square, has an unusual aspect to it this year...every once in a while, it turns RED... I have only seen this happen once and that was the first day it was lite... but I did capture a picture of it that day.
...so, I thought it would make a nice holiday photo as the days wane to Christmas...

Snowmen fall from heaven... unassembled. - Anon

Photo: The Center pieces in Pankrac Arkady Mall

Hope, like the gleaming taper’s light,
Adorns and cheers our way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.

-Oliver Goldsmith, The Captivity. Act ii

Photo: Alleyway behind the Cathedral of our Lady of Týn, with the Old Town Square Christmas Tree in the background, and a pub in the foreground.

Photo: Christmas Tree in the Dresden Banhof(Train Station)

The Christmas tree is a strong symbol of Christmas. It serves as the family’s center of attention. In fact, it is the center of most Christmas ceremonies all over the world. Christmas is about traditions and memories and family and Friends and about that special Christmas tree that we watch sparkle...

Křivoklát - The Town

The Blue Train to Křívoklát

Note: I must apologize for these Train photos. My camera is biting the dust slowly but surely and these shots came out unfocused and over or under exposed. I hope to replace this camera this month. e-gads. These are terrible, but wanted to give you a "flavor" of the annual Christmas train.

Normal Train to Křívoklát

Křivoklát - Advent Festival

Today I went to Křivoklát Castle to a special Advent Festival. Křivoklát Castle is located about an hour south of Prague by Train, near Beroun, set off in the valley of the Berounka river. A special steam locomotive was part of this special celebration as well. The Blue Albatross Steam Train pulled 11 old passenger cars which were packed full with families. It took about two hours to get there.

It was a cold day at 0 C, a gray as well, but cleared up a bit in the late afternoon. It was a really nice time. Plenty of Food, hot spiced wine, Hot honey wine, Hot chocolate, sweets, crafts, music, and snow.

The day ended by a nice soft fluffy snow fall as the train departed, and along the route, the housetops and fields were covered with a dusting of new fallen snow as the sun set. It was a fitting way to end this Holi-day.

Křivoklát is one of the oldest royal castles in Bohemia. It was built as a power centre and rural residency of the royal family, probably around 1230. King Vaclav IV became fond of this ancient hunting castle. It had an extensive Late Gothic makeover in the years 1473–1526 by King Vladislav II. But was seriously damaged by fire several times. It was also a feared prison and with this, its importance sank rapidly.

"Let your hook be always cast. In the pool where you least expect it, will be fish."
~ Ovid

Hope so. Time to believe it!

Photo: Night shot of Our Lady of Tyn

A Christmas Tree with the Blues

New Flat - New Address

When I return to Prague on 3 January 2010, I will have a new address. I will be living in Prague 5; Smichov. My own flat. The new address will be:

Holečkova 119
150 00 Praha 5
Smichov
Czech Republic

Two tram(#10) stops from Anděl Metro Station on Plzenská ulice.
The flat will be close to a major Mall, Cineplex Movie complex and many other nice diversions. Plus the flat has a Washer AND a dryer! Almost unheard of here; the dryer that is.

The Palladium Shopping Center in Namesti Republiky, early morning.