[Karlovy Vary]Hot hot hot

It's so hot here, I can hardly think, but I will try to write
something since I am at a computer. I'm here in this medium-sized
spa town in western Bohemia. Steve very kindly looked up a hostel
for me to call when I got here, but unfortunately it was full. I
looked for another place for about 5 minutes, and then took a room
beyond my price range (and twice the price listed in my guidebook
for) for only one night. Tomorrow I will probably backtrack to a
little medeaval town in the south (Cesky Krumlov) because there are
lots of hostels there and I am not ready to leave the Czech Republic
yet.

This is a lovely little place which reminds me of Ashland, OR. Tall,
beautiful buildings line a little river with lots of pedestrian areas
and bridges across (but no sidewalks on the streets). I tried the healing water, and it tasted
horrible (sulfer?) and made me cough, which I think is the idea. Here,
everything is in German and Czech, not English. I went to the
museum, but since I don't understand either of those languages, I didn't
learn much. I did, however, take some cool pictures of the light
fixtures.

I am tired of walking. My left hip has been hurting. But the show
must go on. In a minute, I'll see if I can swim in the pool. That
should cure me.

My last night in Prague was very nice. I met Steve in a beer garden
near the center and watched the light fade blue and the red moon rise
above the terracotta-roofed city. I had my first meal in a
restuarant since starting this trip (and the first in a while bf that
too, since I have been trying to save). I ordered grilled salmon,
which came with grilled veggies as well and totally rocked. The
waiter kept bringing us beer because we didn't ask him to stop (the custom here, says Steve).
Since I've been in Europe I find I sleep really well after a beer or so.

The Last Day in Prague

So, I bought a bus ticket to Karlovy Vary (Charles's hot spring), a spa town in western Bohemia, leaving tomorrow morning. I have chosen this place because my guidebook says it has a nice thermal swimming pool open to the public. I am dying for a swim. The spa isn't really available to the general public (only for those with a doctor's perscription). I might go to Baden Baden in Germany next bc the general public actually can enjoy the spa there (assuming they can afford it). However, I am a little worried about finding a place to stay on a Saturday.... I guess we'll see.

Steve says that vandalism of the cows has been a problem. There are billboards I have noticed at bus stops that probably say something like "vandalism of the cows is a national outrage. These cows are installed in 18 cities and they have not been vandalized anywhere else...." There used to be a tank in one plaza, and a local artist painted it pink to protest war. The city repainted it green immediately the next morning. So, one of the cows is by the same artist and he painted it pink with a symbol of a tank on it. This cow was vandalized, which may indicate that the vandalism is politically motivated. [See Steve's comment re: this issue below. However, to Steve's credit, I should mentioned that it is much more likely that I remembered this story wrong than that he is propagating misinformation as Olga accused him.]

Yesterday I went to the 17th Century Vysehrad Citadel south of the center. There is a gorgeous church and cemetary there, and the edge of the citadel is a park with a view of the city and river. The entire inside of the church was painted in an art nouveau style and the outside had a variety of decorations including more of these paintings, and what is it called where you make an image out a lots of tiny different colored chips? The cemetary was also beautiful in similar ways including lovely scultures. I took pictures so I can show you later. Then I meandered back towards the center, enjoying seeing the "real Prague" away from all the crowds.

[Prague]Cows are everywhere.

Yes, you read that right.  Just like the hearts in SF, there are cows all over Prague painted in various designs.  Some of them are really cool.  In general, I think they are better than the ones in SF.  I keep taking pictures of them, but it does seem a bit silly. 

I am liking it better here today.  Actually, I felt much better yesterday after I put on my pilsner tinted glasses.  Today, I went up to Prague Castle mostly to see Kafka's house and pretend Elizabeth is with me doing research.  It's a tiny turquiose house, not more than 12 x 8 feet in total.  There is a whole row of them on "Golden Alley" that used to be guard houses.  I also saw the changing of the guard and couldn't help but think these young men must be about to burst out laughing. 

I finished reading Amsterdam by Ian McEwan this morning.  It's a bleak view of friendship and relying on another person.  In some cases, I understand that view, but I really hope it doesn't have to  be that way.  The book is cruel.  It displays hypocritical characters, and maybe we all have this quality to some extent, which means to me that we should all live more self-counscious lives.  The book follows his usual structure of one significant event in the beginning guiding all subsequent actions.  I sort of wish he would try something else.

In Prague along with everyone else on the planet

 
It's true that Prague is an incredibly beautiful city.  It's also true that everyone knows it.  They really need to restrict cars from the center, because there isn't enough room for all the pedestrians (tourists)  even when there are no cars trying to drive along these narrow streets.  Walking from one end of a street to another is difficult in the mob.  

Steve's place is far from the center in a quiet little neighborhood, once a village that got incorporated into the larger city.  It took about 30 minutes on tram and the metro to get into the center including riding the tram in the wrong direction at the beginning (it went to another metro stop, but I had to transfer again).  The apartment is huge -- what we call in SF a full four.  Except that the dining room is used as an office and the living room (my room) has almost nothing in it except a futon (it's a big room). 

Prague is overrun with expats too, Steve tells me.  There  used to be 60K of them, but now there are only (only?) 20K.  Everyone speaks English.  I wandered around for a long time looking for some reasonably priced food (it is more expensive than Berlin with the tourist prices), and finally ordered a "hamburger" (because I knew how to say it) at a stand near a metro station.  A "hamburger" is apparently a thick slice of deep fried ham with sour craut (sp?) and ketchup on a bread roll. 

I fould the place I stayed when I was here in 95.  The little cafe down the street looks much the same, but the restaurant where we fought with the waiter is gone.  (Justice exists.)

My ride here (50 euros, yikes!) was very slow considering it was a premium, intercity express train.  We went through Dresden, beautiful, and Saxon Switzerland, with lovely rocks and cliffs along the river.  I took a couple pictures from the train, but they didn't really come out.  There was another lady in my compartment who spoke English (altho I think she was Danish).  Every time there was something pretty outside, she would nudge me with her foot. 

Steve had a fabulous story about his ride back from Berlin with 4 bikes and a dog.  apparently the dog needs to have a childs ticket, and he isn't allowed to use the "weekend" deals that everyone else used (altho children are allowed to use it).  So, it cost 15 euros for one leg (of 4) of the trip, where the rest of them paid 30 euros total for 5 people for the entire trip.  He was a big yellow retriever who would bark whenever we clapped at the conference.  I won't try to do the whole story justice here.

The buildings here are intricately designed with art nuveau design and paintings.  The churches elaborate.  (The prices inflated.)  the transit system seems to work and is only about $0.50 per ride.  I have seen lots of people on transit both times I've ridden it, and I've never waited more than about 5 minutes for a train.

All that having been said, I have seen very little of Prague so far.  I am going to check out some museums that Steve recommended, then depending on the time either go to a beergarden nearby for a break or head back via the grocery store.  I said I would pick up some pasta and fruit.  I should get some things for myself as well.

Just one more word about Steve -- his highschool sweetheart is Cayce Raine, who I went to grad school with.  His parents are German, he was born in Boston, and grew up in the East Bay.   He is fluent in at least 3 languages I know about, and makes his money (when he isn't at the Carfree Cities office) as a translator.  He lives here bc his girlfriend is Czech.

I imagine my postings will be more frequent now that my days are no longer filled with people and presentations.  So, stay tuned.

[Berlin]Biking in the Sun

From Friday...

> Today was beautiful. It is the day of the general
> meeting, so instead of attending the conference i
> biked to the other side of town for a mojito by a
> canal with Dave. We talked about drugs,
> relationships, transportation, activism in SF, and
> bicycle planning. From the Canal we watched people
sunbathing and fishing -- neither seemed like such a
good idea in an urban canal.

Last night a small group of us
> (Maya, 2 Swiss guys, Eddie and Bennie, who work for
Green Peace in Zurich, and an Aussie, Elliot from
Melbourne, who is a podetrist
> who will be doing bicycle planning in Bogota for the
> next while) walked a ways to a hip neighborhood for
> a beer. This city rocks! It is so pretty and
vibrant and multicultural.

Walk isn't quite the right word for what I did to that
other neighborhood because my feet are useless. A few
days ago I went for a walk with Maya in those shoes
Carolyn gave me and got terrible blisters. Then, of
course, I accidently pummased one of the blisters
making it much worse. Now I am almost handicapped,
but fairing OK. Just a bit of a limp, really. So, I
road Elliot's new Bike Friday that he takes with him
everywhere bc he couldn't get it insured.

This city is much more bicycle friendly than it is
pedestrian friendly. Bicycle paths are likely to be
painted at the expense of sidewalks. Everyone is very
tolerant and nice about it, but there is definitely a
shift in the dynamics between the modes. Drivers
never flip out when you bike right in front of them,
but pedestrians are expected to get out of the way.
We think it is because everyone here rides a bike.

Speaking of speed, social interactions move at a much
slower pace here than I am used to. it takes hours to
come to a consensus or even leave an event. No one
ever just takes off -- they meander about a bit,
talking pleasantly with one another and fiddling. You
can imagine that I find this a strain, but I am trying
to be tolerant. Did you know that someone did a study
about the speed of cities based on social
interactions, travel time, etc? They found that San
Francisco was one of the fastest cities, along with
Zurich, NYC, etc. (it must have been Eddie or Bennie
who told me this). I also learned about a Slow Cities
movement, like Slow Food, slow travel, etc. I guess
it doesn't have to be this fast, but I like to keep
moving myself....

Saturday...
Last night was the conference closing party, but I
just couldn't get in a celebratory mood about it. I
felt more sad. They had a Salsa band and then a Ska
band, lots of lovely space lit up with tea lights, and
medioccre but cheap drinks. I haven't completely
kicked my cold, but I feel basically fine, just not
like partying.

Another thing is that a lot of people here smell bad.
2 reasons: lots of hippies, hard core and a general
difference in personal hygene expectations. I was
hard for me to get into dancing when the dance floor
smelled like stinky unwashed armpits. I am bad.
Actually, that was my first impression of the
conference when I walked into the door. Fortunately,
it faded (the impression or the smell, you decide).
The rooms were rather stuffy.

But I had an excellent conference. I have come away
with several ideas I want to pursue, and a renewed
enthusiasm for my field. I said that at the
conference evaluation this morning.

This afternoon lots of people when to a lake to swim,
but I went to a co-op that used to be a squat for
video training. It was very much geared towards
documenting police brutality at protests, but I
learned a few things about video production in general
-- another thing I am thinking of pursuing in the next
year (my first year of retirement). There certainly
won't be time for it all, darn it!

I walked back (I should say limped) via the wrong
directon with Mel, an Estonian Medical student and
natural ham. Now it is Saturday night I can't find my
friends, which is actually fine because I have hardly
had a moment to myself since I got here.

In other news, I have determined what my next
destination will be: Prague. I will be staying with
one of the conference organizers, Steve. He said I
could stay until Saturday, which sounds good to me.
I'll head over that way sometime on Monday. Tomorrow
a small group of us are going to an area near here
that is only accessible by boat (thus car-free) with
little rivers making up 'roads' to connect the
buildings. We may swim. I am excited.

On the other hand, I am very sad to be leaving Berlin
soon. I could imagine staying here for a long time,
but I can't really imagine learning to speak German.
So, there you have it.

That's probably enough for today.
love,l

[Berlin]I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle.

Today we biked in the pouring rain all over Berlin,
which was actually fabulous once I got a wool sweater
on and my bike-rain coat (mid afternoon). Then it
cleared up. The idea was that we were following the
line that was the Berlin wall -- it was supposed to be
a Greenway, but like most Greenways I know, it is a
work in progress.

I realized today that bicycling makes me feel the most
present --
the journey is the destination kind of thing. it is
so much fun just to ride, and then you are traveling
somewhere, like at every other time in life, at the
same time. One of the conference speakers pointed out
that since the time of Isaak Newton we have known that
there is no stillness. Only motion. And that is what
I study. Bicycling is Zen, you could say.

Damn it, this key board has a Z where the Y should be.

Of course, I know people at this conference.
Specifically Dave Snyder and Jason Meggs, altho Jason
didn't remember me. And I have made new friends too.
My best conference buddy is
Maya Ruggles of Windsor Canada -- she happens to be
staying in my same room at the hostel. She gave a
talk on the theoretical structure of car culture that
I acccidently slept through on the first day.

I have taken a lot of notes on the various talks that
I would like to write about, but I don't feel like I
have time. I only bought an hour on this computer and
I have lots to do and talk about. Highlights include
a talk on Hypermobility by John Adams of University
College London, who is a great speaker, and one on
Mobility experiences of 3-6 year olds living in urban
and suburban areas -- they found that children who
walk to school learn math better because they develop a better understanding of
the spatial world. We knew it was true, but now there
is proof!

I have decided not to go to Poland. Instead I will
meander back towards France. there is a bike tour I
may tag along with for a few days, and I am hoping
someone who lives between here and there will
volunteer their couch for my sleepy head. No luck so
far despite many likely candidates. I definitely have
too much stuff with me for ambitious travel of any
sort. Once we stop off at St. P, I plan to only carry
a nap sack.

I have had tons of ideas for things to do from hearing
these talks. I'll tell you about them later.

Finally in London

I had to be diverted from my orginal flight, SFO-MN-London, and instead fly 5 hours later via Amsterdam, which is much closer to my actual destination of Berlin, because the SFO-MN leg was delayed indefinitely it seemed.  The flight to Amsterdam finally took off, they gave us dinner, and I slept most of the way.  I think I missed some decent movies, but that's OK.  Anyway, then I flew from Amsterdam to London (backwards, as it were) and here I am. I also slept all the way on the bus between Heathrow and Stanstead.  So, I must be tired.  
 
I am at the Tilfords.  It beautiful here -- pastoral and very very English with historic tutor buildings everywhere you look.  Even their house looks historic but with gorgeous modern conveniences.  The little bed they have for me looks delicously cozy.  I can't wait to get into it!  And I feel so sad that I will have to get out or it again before dawn for my flight to Berlin. 

Just tired

The countdown is on, although there isn't much left to do. I just feel kind of tired, and I don't think it is because of those two maitais I had just before bed. They were just like desert. Elizabeth and I spent a lovely evening eating a yummy dinner she cooked and then reading a new short story she wrote to each other. It left me with such a vivid image of a stringy-haired guitar guy like the ones who would have hung around our moms when were were kids in Berkeley.

I had lunch with Kevin Ottem today, one of NN's very talented publications staff. Turns out he writes for the theater, among other things. I thought he was an actor. Like the 6 degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon, he is reading biographies, each one having some relationship to the last. We discussed my disappointment with the beginning of Bill Clinton's autobiography (which I did not read) beginning with the moment of his birth rather than some character forming or building moment that might have been more meaningful and less literal. Writing, like everything else, is a series of decisions. I am sure he had a reason.

Expectedly and unexpectedly spending time with all these creative language people leads me to beleive I am being given a message.... It isn't a bad time for that message either.

The Good Body

Last night, Kevin, Alison and Jo and I saw Eve Ensler's The Good Body. That a single person can be entertaining for 2 hours straight is amazing. Most one person shows are shorter. The show didn't really inspire any deep thoughts in me, other than that it is OK if I don't lose another 10 lbs like I planned. Isabella Russalini really is the most beautiful woman in the world, and I can understand how she feels walked all over because of it. She is.

My doctor yesterday said I have a heart murmer. This is totally new information. It may be nothing, but they want to check. There were a few times on the eliptical where I felt like I was about to die. So, I took a break, my pulse slowed a bit, and continued but made it a shorter workout. Maybe that isn't related.

I saw Carolyn Carr, who used to be the art director at USENIX, at the theater. She is one of the most inspiring women I know the way she lives her life, her sense of humor, her creativity and warmth. She said she is focusing on her photography now, taking pictures and teaching. I didn't think of it until afterwards, but I could find out more about her photography classes for when I get back. I am thinking everyone can be found through the internet. If not, maybe the Poiriers know where I can find her.

Atonement

I finished reading Atonement by Ian McEwan last night -- one of the best books I ever read! It's structure is similar to Enduring Love, with one significant event at the beginning setting of all subsequent events, but it involves multiple points of view. Characters evolve more because of the passage of time rather than anything that happens in the book. It's also like The Little Friend (Donna Tarte) in that it explores the unreliability of a child's point of view, but unlike Little Friend, the narrator is present and takes some responsibility for the reader's ultimate happiness. I appreciate having a narrator who thinks about my needs.