ST. SOMETIMESPrague Weekend

Skiing Zermatt, Switzerland

Vol 157November 2014

Oh Prague, Why haven’t we

met before? Hey Greg, we’re going to Prague. You can come along. That’s it for a weekend journey. Jump on a plane and suddenly your are in another country. (I think this is number 51 or so. Lost track when I started traveling in the EU because I

don’t get visa stamps anymore.) Any who, Prague is now on my Top 10 Cities list. It is historical, easy to walk around, modern, and full of ancient secrets. The bars and restaurants are numerous and it is most widely known for its BEER. What’s not to love?

Pam and I have traveld a lot together. This time, Sarah stayed home in Switzerland because her new husband Todd arrived in the middle of our weekend. Great for her!! But Pam allowed me to tag along

with her friend Sandra, with a firm warning that Sandra is ultra religious. And when Pam means religious, she means RELIGIOUS.

Pam and I met Sandra at the apartment. Pam is an alpha planner, so everything was all set. Our little apartment was easy to find, easy to get to, and very comfortable. The first thing Pam and I did was go shopping at a mall around the corner. We bought Sandra some ginseng, bread for all of us, and a few other things for breakfast.

Sandra and Pam with me at a restaurant made famous by the

Knights of Malta.

“FROM

CHURCH

TO

CHURCH,

ON WE

GO”

Churches, Statues, and Classical Music This was, by far, one of the best trips in Europe so far. My heart has been aching for some Culture- meaning liberal arts culture - ever since I lived in Venezuela. There is something about Museums, classical concerts, old churches, and century old buildings that really captivates me. This city has it all and we had three days to explore.

Just imagine though, we planned our three days around what times the different catholic churches had public masses. Sandra has a strict schedule that she adheres to on a European vacation: hit as many masses as possible each day. Everything else will fall into place. It’s very similar to my bar theory - hit as many as possible.

Charles Bridge 1390 This is just one of the night-time shots I took on the Charles bridge. What a sight to behold! We must have walked across that bridge four times. From what I understand, the statues on the Charles Bridge, along with the rest of the major churches and statues in Prague were all restored a few years back when the Pope came for a visit. But either way, this city is spectacular. I probably took just over five hundred photos during this trip.

Garage Doors n’ Castles Of course, this trip would not have been complete without my dad’s door opener. I made sure to pose once in a while in honor of dad! The Prazsky Hrad - Prague Castle is across the river in this shot. The vast complex contains museums, churches, palaces, and gardens. We had the chance to get concert tickets for a violin piano duet on day 2. Listening to classical concerts within a 9th Century castle complex is just the thing to do in Europe.

GARAGE

DOOR

OPENER

in the left

cuff?

Yes, dad, that

is the one. It

just so

happened to be

here in Prague

while I was

visiting. This

is a tribute to

Franz Kafka’s

“Description of

a Struggle”

THE

FAMOUS

MATTERHORN

SKIING AT ITS

BEST!

Zermatt - Population of 6,ooo and just about as

many skiers!

Nice Helmet! Mr. Why Are You Wearing Jeans? The day before we left for the ski trip, I went downtown to rent my ski equipment. The only things I own after fourteen years in warmer weather are a ski jacket and awesome gloves. Each of those were purchased from the NorthFace outlet just before I departed for Europe (a year and a half ago). Do you see the pattern? Planning isn’t always my forté.

The bus left on Friday morning and traveled West. The plan was for two full days of skiing. The school hires a specific Ski Instructor company to teach the students at different levels. Each of the traveling adults - teachers, dorm parents, specials - tag along with the different groups during part of

the day and free ski part of the day. That’s a pretty awesome deal. A nurse comes along and a few staff that don’t ski stay with sick students in the hotel. Night duties and evening activities are also divided up to ensure a little free time at least one night for each of us. It’s a good system considering none of the cash came out of my pocket. All I had to pay for is Christmas gifts.

Haste Makes Waste Getting my rentals at the last minute before closing time turned out to be a terrible mistake. Instead of just trying the boots on in the store, I should have tried to close them completely and walk around in them. Even though they didn’t have my exact size, I could have settled for a size too big rather than too small. These boots were so poorly fitted that I had to take them off after the first run. That was ok.

They shut down the mountain due to wind. We had to wait until official opening day, as long as the windy weather calmed down. Too bad my boots hurt so much.

Day two was amazing. From the bottom, it took us three separate gondolas to reach the main ski lodge. From there, we took six person lifts around the main upper slopes. Kelly and I tagged along with the intermediate skiers and then Patrick wandered away from his group and skied with us. Soon the three of us left the student group with the instructor and we got a chance to explore some of the slopes.

The snow base was not the best (according to regulars) but I just didn’t care. All I could do was look around in awe. The Matterhorn was to my left. The sun was in the sky. The snow was glistening. There were only a few people skiing so the lift lines were virtually nil. Rarely do I get to ski on an Alpine mountain where it takes forty five minutes on a six person lift, half an hour skiing down, or virtually no wait time to go back up.

It wasn’t a ski trip with a close knit group of childhood friends, but skiing Zermatt with staff and students I enjoy was a real treat. Mj mentioned I might get to go to Davos. Fingers crossed.

HANGING WITH A

Middle School Skiing Imagine taking a busload of middle school students and all of their ski equipment to a world class ski resort. Yep. This school does it twice a year, every year. It’s just one of the perks of living in the Swiss Alps. Believe it or not, the first day was so windy at the top that they closed the runs. It was actually the day before the official season opened. Not many people were there. I got a kick out of going up in a gondola with 70 other people! Imagine that!

Kelly and MJ MJ (right) is the Canadian academic dean of the Middle School and my unofficial boss in the dorms. She and I share the experience of earning a degree in German, although neither of us really knows much any more. MJ planned this whole trip.

Kelly (left) is a dorm parent with me and a teacher in elementary. This was a sweet and sour trip for Kelly because she had to leave her son Jack behind with her husband. Kelly is an awesome breath of British fresh air. Both are great to work and ski with.

Tom Lil - The “Pro” Tom Lil is my dorm boss, one of the upper school PE instructors, and coach of a million different sports. I didn’t even see Tom at all. He told me later that, according to his new iPhone ski app, he hit a personal downhill speed of around 68 miles/hr. No wonder I don’t ski with him. He always leads the best ski group and I tag along with the medium level groups.

STILL HAVEN’T RIDDEN MY

NEW ROAD BIKE.

Living in Lugano is living on a mountain. Everywhere you look there are bike

riders pedaling up or down the mountainous roads. Cars steer clear of the

bikers. So why not? I sold all of my dive gear. I sold my boat. Now I have

rental ski gear and a new road bike. All I have to do now is ride it. The last

time I had a bicycle was for my paper route in seventh grade. This didn’t

even include pedals. Who thinks of such things? How do you ride with your

feet connected to pedals? Even more importantly…How do you stop?

“