Bunking with Communists

North of Prague near the border with Poland we stayed with a young woman and her mother.  This was (as far as we know) the first time we stayed with a staunchly pro-Soviet family.  I am actually quite obsessed with Soviet times; I really love Eastern Europe and enjoy learning about life in the bloc states.  It was really wonderful to hear a new side to the story.  As westerners (especially Americans) we are inundated with anti-communist propaganda for most of our lives.  It is good to hear the other side.

What was most interesting about this family is that the mother knew very well that her experience during communist times was not normal.  Her father had diplomatic status when she was a child, so she received special privileges most people did not.  For example, in former communist states there is a fixation with jeans.  Jeans were a hot item to have, but not easy to get.  If you could get some, they were most likely not the fancy western brand that everyone worshiped.  Because of her father's special status, this woman was able to get the fanciest jeans.  Her privilege got her jeans, but also the envy of every other girl at school.  She was apparently not well liked.

You could say that her pro-Soviet stance was because of the entitlement she enjoyed, but we have met many other people who do not look back on those times with negativity.  In western countries you rarely hear neutral or positive stories of communist times, because the people who have those opinions never left.  We only hear stories from the people who immigrated.

Prague at Christmas: We got robbed!

Our time in Prague was very memorable, but for all the wrong reasons.  It was just two days before Christmas when we arrived.  Although we had sent dozens of couch requests hoping for someone to take pity on us during the holidays, nobody was able to host us.  We arrived in Prague in the evening, and we decided to go to a local Couchsurfing meeting at a pub.

Hoping to find someone who might take us in, we spent the whole night making acquaintances.  Unfortunately nobody offered to help us out, even though we made it clear we had nowhere to stay.  When we were leaving - already rather depressed - we found our car had been broken into and much of our stuff had been stolen.

The people we had spoken with during the meeting were helpful, but not very supportive or sympathetic.  Although they helped us call the police, they felt no shame in standing there discussing how we had done everything wrong and how it was our fault we were robbed.

Despite these people I don't consider this a bad Couchsurfing experience, because we weren't surfing with them.

We spent a couple hours with the police filling out paperwork.  We were fortunate that nothing of serious value was stolen, but it did cause some serious issues for us.  All of Javier's eye medication was stolen, as well as his clothes.  They took both of our backpacks, and in a sad display of desperation took what they thought was a briefcase.  I'm sure they thought it was something important, but it was just a camping stove.

I was nervous about what we would do with the car for the night.  The thieves had drilled into the driver's side keyhole, so anybody could open the locked car with a screwdriver.   We eventually went to find a hostel.  It was very late, and the hostel we went to would not have normally been our first choice.  We were so tired it just didn't matter.

The next day we began the process of getting the lock on the car fixed.  We had no interest in exploring the town until we could leave the car with more confidence.  At the Volkswagen dealer it took only a couple hours for them to replace the lock.

By the time we were done, we decided to find a new hostel.  This second hostel was okay, but the next day we changed to a third.  The third would turn out to be one of the greatest hostels I have ever had the pleasure of staying in.  After two anxious days we were greeted on Christmas eve by a delicious free feast and beer in the basement of the beautiful hostel.  It was a comfort for us.

Now that we had fixed the car lock and were a little more at ease (we really would never be at ease with the car again) we could finally explore the city.  Prague is very beautiful.  It is truly a grand city.  If not for the bad circumstances of our arrival it would probably be one of my favorite European cities. 

Western Czech Republic: Carlsbad, Ceske Budejovice, and Cesky Krumlov

The western and south western part of the Czech Republic has some simple but very charming little towns.  We toured through Karlovy Vary, Pilsen, Ceske Budejovice, and Ceske Krumlov. 

Karlovy Vary is a famous spa town known for its hot springs.  The town is situated along a the banks of the Tepla river.  With its colorful facades and quiet promenades, the city definitely feels fit for the many famous names that have gone there over the centuries. 

Cesky Krumlov is a UNESCO town located on a tight curve of the Vltava River.  It is really a very cute town, though it is quite small.   It is very well known for its castle.

Dresden

Dresden is a beautiful city, but at the same time is strange to visit.  It seems to be an old city, but the reality is that it isn't.  The whole city was leveled by the British and American Air Forces during the Second World War.  The bombing of the city is well known, because although the city was a center for communications and manufacturing, the level of destruction was excessive.

If you look online for photos of the city after the bombing, you will see that the entire old city center was flattened.  There was no differentiation between military and civilian zones.  Nothing was left untouched.

Today you go to the city and it is hard to tell that everything was reconstructed less than 100 years ago.  Many of the buildings have been rebuilt as they were before, and the center of the city has the feel of an old city.

You can see here on the Frauenkirche which parts of it are from the original church.  Any dark colored blocks were salvaged from the rubble when the city was flattened by the British and American forces.

Berlin

The best part of visiting Berlin is its history.  For a city in Europe it is not really very spectacular, but there are so many wonderful museums about the war and the separation of Germany.  Our favorite museum - the main museum I would suggest to anybody visiting there - is the German-Russian Museum.  It is a small museum and is not normally suggested by tourist offices.  At the time of our visit this museum was free to visit, though I do not know if it still is.  This museum covers the war relations between Germany and Russia during the Second World War.  There are numerous exhibits covering the battles and propaganda of both sides.  I don't think any other museum in Berlin covers the Eastern Front so thoroughly.

We stayed with two different hosts in Berlin.  One was a native Berliner who grew up in West Berlin.  We stayed in his lightly furnished and coal fire heated apartment for a couple nights and really grew to enjoy his company. 

Our other host was a man from Uzbekistan who lived in a beautiful little apartment with his two canaries.  The canaries lived free the the apartment and were super affectionate with their owner.  They were very cautious of us, but they were also very curious.  Every morning I would wake up on the couch with the two of them staring down at me from the top of the cushion.

This Uzbekistani worked remotely as a computer programmer for a company in Austria.  One night he began to tell us about his awesome boss who had a huge house near Salzburg with an indoor pool.  Remember when I told you to remember the house in Salzburg we stayed at?  Well I wanted you to remember that place, because that was the boss of this Uzbekistani!  By complete coincidence, just weeks apart, we stayed with both of them.  It was a wonderful surprise.

What little is left of the Berlin Wall is covered in graffiti.  Much of the wall was torn down, some of it was shipped to other cities as memorials, but there are still some large chunks left.

Romantische Strasse

The Romantische Strasse (Romantic Road) is a route going north-south from Würzburg to
Füssen.  This route is pretty touristic and possibly most interesting to middle-aged married couples, but we drove it as an interesting way to get from München up to Berlin and Dresden.  The route is composed of numerous castles and cute towns.  After a while it may become a bit repetitive to see timber framed houses and citadels, but it is a wonderful way to cross Germany.

This family was singing Christmas songs on the street.  The crowd that had gathered was enormous.  Everybody was amazed by this little boy playing the drums singing his heart out.