Monday, June 13
Today’s class was on French Absolutism. We focused on Louis XIV, the “Sun King” — partly so-called because he dressed up as the sun god for a dance performance, but mostly just a metaphor for the way the universe revolved around him. I fired off some postcards home; a few people have gotten in touch to tell me they’ve received theirs, so three cheers for Canada holding the most polite postal strike of all time. The stamps here all have Prague’s astronomical clock on them now – a week ago I wouldn’t have known what that was.
Tuesday, June 14
Today’s lecture was on 18th Century Baroque Philosophy. My roommate and I ran into Professor Jure Gantar in the Pension Gardena’s lobby on our way back for the afternoon class; Professor Gantar’s going to teach the second half of the course, and I guess he just got in this morning.
After classes finished for the day, my roommate and I went to Cesky Krumlov’s local history museum, but the woman at the desk seemed reluctant to let us in. Between her English and our Czech we couldn’t figure out what the problem was and finally wrangled our way into the museum. Unfortunately, it soon emerged that they were half an hour from closing (this being the source of the lady’s distress) and we only managed to take in two of the three floors. The first floor was full of old legal documents, which looked very important by virtue of being entirely handwritten. My favorite was a yellowed “book of shame” castigating profligate students for playing billiards while they were supposed to be studying. I haven’t been guilty of that yet although the Pension Gardena does have a pool table.
Wednesday, June 15
Was out in the Pension’s garden early this morning – one of my roommates has started teaching pre-lecture yoga classes, and it’s a nice way to start the day, even if you do have to watch out for snails the size of your fist. Also, today was unfortunately Professor Kow’s last lecture. To mark this sad occasion, I wish to preserve some of his most immortal quotes for posterity. Here are a few of my favorites:
- On Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises: “Spiritual exercises would be a sort of Allen key if the Jesuits were sort of a Catholic IKEA.”
- On Comenius: “The world is a wicked place where we’re tempted by Hasbro and other toy manufacturers.”
- On Versailles: “You go there, you’re supposed to say ‘Wow’, or Louis XIV will have your head cut off.”
Ah, Professor Kow, your entertaining if occasionally inexplicable analogies will be missed. It’s hard to believe the course is half-over already. This weekend is the Festival of the Five-Petal Rose, and the whole town is preparing: there are workers touching up the paint on the castle walls, and a big stage has been erected in the town square, and I’m squirreling away every penny for the street vendors.
Thursday, June 16
Professor Gantar’s first lecture was on baroque Europe’s “culture of festivities” – appropriate, considering that the Festival of the Five-Petal Rose is so near. Over lunch, my roommate and I went to another marionette museum – this one had an excellent collection of animal puppets, including bugs, wolves, and horses (I thought regular marionettes looked tricky to operate until I saw the number of strings attached to the horse-and-rider puppet).
There was no afternoon class today – instead, we got fitted for our costumes for the Festival of the Five-Petal Rose (entry is free if you arrive in historical garb). The women in the fitting room gave me an amber velvet gown and some kind of headpiece. Maybe it’s a wimple, maybe it’s a snood, I don’t know, but it’s definitely renaissance. The costume is beautiful – I just hope I don’t die of sunstroke in all that velvet!
Friday, June 17
This morning we all headed to lecture in our costumes and were immediately swarmed by tourists with cameras. The camera crew reappeared after class and indeed whenever any of us dared poke our heads outside. It was like being accosted by the paparazzi.
They’ve set up an open-air market outside the castle for the Festival of the Five Petal Rose, selling everything from spices to stained glass – I bought a clay ocarina and the geeky Zelda fan in my heart went into silent fits of rapture. Also, the stage in the town square now features performers (I heard what sounded like a Czech folk band covering We Will Rock You) and is flanked by rows of food stalls – fresh-muddled mojitos, garlic soup in bread bowls, potato chips fried on the spot. My roommate and I wandered the town in our costumes, preening for the photographers, before heading back to the Pension. The last thing I did today was make a list of festival events to hit up – fencing, fireworks, jousting … I just hope I can fit it all in (and still study for our exam)!
Saturday, June 18
After studying a little for the exam, I headed to the castle with my classmates to take a group photo in costume. Naturally, the second the last shutter clicked, the heavens opened wide and engulfed us in rain. Really, Czech Republic? After weeks of beautiful weather, you pick the Festival of the Five-Petal Rose to let loose the torrential downpour? We dragged our wet velvet and sopping lace underskirts back to the Pension to dry off, feeling very disgruntled at the injustice of the world.
My roommate and I ventured out again in the evening under cover of umbrellas to view a renaissance dance demonstration (indoors, of course). I’m glad we braved the wet — the dancing was charming, the costumes were gorgeous, and when we emerged back into the street, the rain had stopped and a fire parade was going by! We followed the parade for a few minutes, then grabbed a couple sausages off a street vendor and hiked up to the castle to watch the fireworks at midnight.
Sunday, June 19
Today is Father’s Day and my mom’s birthday, and I’m frolicking in the Czech Republic like the prodigal daughter… ah, well, plenty of time to make it up when I don’t have swordfights to see and photos to pose for. I went back to the marketplace with a couple classmates to try my hand at archery (I’d mention that bull’s-eye I hit, but that would be bragging) and check out the hawks and falcons on display at the castle. I rounded out the afternoon by catching a couple minutes of the live chess game in the brewery gardens, then returned my costume and headed back to the Pension to study… our first exam is tomorrow afternoon. Eek!