Tuesday, November 14 - Presentation on Life under Communism, Free Time, and Concert

 At breakfast another group member and I agreed to visit the Old Town together and remain there until the 6 PM concert. These buffet breakfasts are feasts; one can eat sufficient and a wide variety to cover the entire day.

  We met Vladan for his presentation on life under Communism. He began by differentiating Capitalism and Socialism and Communism concluding no country has ever had Communism according to Marx. He shared examples from his family's experiences in Serbia and mentioned often greed and fear as means of a government's control of the people.  We asked lots of questions. 

  Vladan and Agi traveled with us on the Metro across the river into the city center. Vladan exited the Metro with Juanita and me to make sure we knew how to change from the yellow line to the green. How thoughtful.  The escalators move rapidly and some are very long. 

  Our destination was the National Museum, a formidable presence at the terminus of a long and rising avenue,  which was one of the sites of the so-called velvet revolution in 1989, a few months following the fall of the Berlin Wall. The National Museum contains most enlightening and interactive presentations on natural history, focusing on the evolutionary process. Recreated forms of dinosaur skeletons, giant squid, and mammals in their natural settings was engrossing.

  The museum also had a large display of minerals and replicas of gemstones. I thought I would not be interested, but I was wrong. Then we were engrossed in The history of the country and people. From prehistory there was a lot of movement of people's and leaders. The Czech children have centuries of names and places to learn.

  A friendly guide invited us to explore the cupola and fire Ted us to the elevator and stairs to vlim yo reach the glass floor over the cupola. Disconcerting at first I adjusted and focused on magnificent views of the city: Old Town and New Town, the Vltava (Moldau) River, the Castle Quarter,and the Lesser Town.

  More than three hours we were in the museum and happy we had decided to visit it. We walked down the long avenue to the Old Town center enjoying seeing people and quite elegant shops, and stopping for a falafel sandwich. This was a good transition from the museum to St. Nicholas church 6 PM concert of classical music presented by an organist, and oboe player, and a mezzo soprano. The chuch had a very strong echo, and the melodies were less clear than those to which I am accustomed at All Saints, Pasadena. Six from our our group attended the concert and traveled back to the hotel by tram.

  After a brief stop at the hotel three of us walked to the nearby three-level mall which held a grocery store. Many small shops and ice cream carts tempted us. However it' was dark and chilly.  

  Our time on our own was happy. This might be the final blog. Tomorrow I depart the hotel at 4:30 AM. We shall see.

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