It's not a purse, it's European!

"Officer, he's got my European carry all!"
"Your what?"
"It's a leather case with a strap and..."
"You mean a purse?"
"Yes, a purse! I carry a purse!"


Parisian fashion on display at Notre Dame

Europe sure is strange. If not for the tiny cars or the funny license plates, the street signs on buildings instead of hanging over the road, or handles that suggest doors should be pulled when it is necessary to push, Maggie and I have had some interesting encounters that have left us scratching our heads and locals chuckling in our direction.

These cultural differences have not waited long upon on arrival in a new city to manifest themselves. The Parisians were rude, the Berliners entertained us at a Beerfest, and when we got to Prague, it was all I could do but say, welcome to Eastern Europe. Maggie, of course, slapped me upside the head, but on first sight of Prague on a dreary day, it sure looked like all the stereotypes told me it would.

And then we got on the tram. After getting burned in Berlin with an all-inclusive public transport card that we barely used, we decided to just pick up a one-way ticket, figure out where the hotel was in relation to what we wanted to see, and go from there. So after transferring from the undergroud to light rail (the last form of public transport I hadn't used) we hadn't gone more than a few stops before culture caught up to us.

On the DC metro, the best seats are reserved for the elderly, handicapped and travelers with children. It is actually federal law that those seats be available whenever needed by someone of those three groups. Usually, people will rise and let someone who needs the seat more have it, but I have seen some people look across the aisle at a fellow passenger taking up a seat as if to say, "who's budging first?"

It seemed from simply walking around in Paris, London and Berlin that the cities were made up of baby boomers and younger generations. However, in Prague, the opposite is true, and many of the elderly of Prague use the public transport system with ease. With this in mind, a young woman began to rise and offer her seat to an elderly woman as she climbed aboard. There were plenty of seats on board the tram, but this woman was sitting adjacent to the door, a prime seat and one I would assume was reserved for the elderly, if I could read Czech. However, the elderly woman did not seem to notice the gesture, and tried to matriculate her way past, cane and all. The younger woman stopped her, gestured to her seat, and (I assume) asked the elderly woman to sit down. She did not like this.

Her face contorted into one of extreme insult, and she began to scream in Czech. She motioned wildly with her arms, flinging her cane in the air and berating the girl as she marched past. She sat down right behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and continued to spout off in Czech. Maggie, sitting across the row, merely smiled as I nodded and prayed I didn't get Sumner-ed upside the head. After exiting the train, Maggie exploded in laughter, and translated best she could, since Czech and Polish are closely related.

"She was just going on about how she's not a feeble old woman and she still has her strength. But you looked horrified."

Hey, these women have dealt with a lot: world wars, dictators, communists, I figured some young punk would have been nothing more than another notch on the belt. I was impressed by the woman, but not surprised by a stubborness and toughness that is often synonymous with Eastern Europeans. It reminded me of an old, terrible joke a former teacher of mine used to tell about a city in Northern Va.

"I'm not dead, I'm just Reston." Eastern Europe is only 20 years removed from the tyranny and oppression of the communists, but its beauty and history are unsurpassed, and it is truly moving to see how much has survived the brutal 20th century. Prague is a beautiful city, and it mostly survived the Nazi and Communist invasions. The architecture of the city is famous, combining Romanesque, rennisancese, and even a style only seen in Prague, cubist.

Prague is not world famous for any one thing, but it does have the largest castle in Europe. It currently houses the Czech president and offers beautiful panoramic views of the city. The city also began the 30 Years War, a battle between the Catholics and the Protestants. The had a great deal of religious uprising and is one of the Protestant havens in a Catholic continent.

I will save Krakow for Maggie, as it marks her return home to Poland, and I will get some more pictures up from our trip to the Catacombs, since I accidently deleted them off of Flickr.