Trip Report - Prague, Budapest, Bruges and Amsterdam - June 2006
Jul 11th, 2006, 01:33 AM
#81
Original Poster
vivi, tiff, lucy_d,
Thanks. I'm glad others are enjoying what I did.
Lucy,
I never really thought of going to the Museum of Communism or the House of Terror in Budapest. I'm not sure why.
An odd thing. While both of these locations are now very westernized and far from communism, nobody ever mentioned the word "communism" while we were there.
The closest was a "change in regime" or "under the old regime". I don't remember which.
I had a conversation with a university professor. The conversation focused on how difficult it is to learn Hungarian and the order in which languages were taught at different times. The word communism was never used.
About the Shoes Along the Danube. I looked very briefly but didn't see any inscription. Maybe I missed it. If somebody else could indicate if they saw one.
Maybe somebody else could comment on this. At the botton of Petrin Hill in Prague, about 100 yards to the left of the funicular, there's an odd scultpure. The inscription had something to do with communism but I don't remember what it read. Anybody?
Thanks. I'm glad others are enjoying what I did.
Lucy,
I never really thought of going to the Museum of Communism or the House of Terror in Budapest. I'm not sure why.
An odd thing. While both of these locations are now very westernized and far from communism, nobody ever mentioned the word "communism" while we were there.
The closest was a "change in regime" or "under the old regime". I don't remember which.
I had a conversation with a university professor. The conversation focused on how difficult it is to learn Hungarian and the order in which languages were taught at different times. The word communism was never used.
About the Shoes Along the Danube. I looked very briefly but didn't see any inscription. Maybe I missed it. If somebody else could indicate if they saw one.
Maybe somebody else could comment on this. At the botton of Petrin Hill in Prague, about 100 yards to the left of the funicular, there's an odd scultpure. The inscription had something to do with communism but I don't remember what it read. Anybody?
Jul 11th, 2006, 07:51 AM
#82
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Thank you, Myer. What an interesting conversation with the university professor. Conversations like that really enrich the experience. In what order are the languages taught currently? Often, what is not said speaks volumes, doesn't it? While I have not seen Shoes Along the Danube, I know it is a memorial to the Jewish victims of the Arrow Cross who were shot at the river, sometimes tied together. I believe the memorial was completed in 2005. Thanks again.
Jul 11th, 2006, 09:39 AM
#83
Original Poster
Lucy,
I know the story about Shoes Along the Danube. What I meant was that there was no inscription or explanation that I saw.
I'm sure that it gets flooded in the spring as it was only a few inches above the river.
Currently, English is taught after Hungarian. There was a time where Russian was in the mix and English got pushed out. He mentioned another time but I forgot. The conversation started when he were looking at an obscure statue in a park (near the Hungarian television building) and he explained it was an American who had done something (good I suppose).
He also said that next to Chinese, Hungarian is considered the hardest language to learn.
Speaking of languages.
When we went to the Opera, it was in Italian with sub-titles (actually they probably weren't sub-titles as they were just above the stage curtain at the top)(super-titles?).
In Hungarian!!! Big help!
If I can add any more....
Photos are at:
www.travelwalks.com
I know the story about Shoes Along the Danube. What I meant was that there was no inscription or explanation that I saw.
I'm sure that it gets flooded in the spring as it was only a few inches above the river.
Currently, English is taught after Hungarian. There was a time where Russian was in the mix and English got pushed out. He mentioned another time but I forgot. The conversation started when he were looking at an obscure statue in a park (near the Hungarian television building) and he explained it was an American who had done something (good I suppose).
He also said that next to Chinese, Hungarian is considered the hardest language to learn.
Speaking of languages.
When we went to the Opera, it was in Italian with sub-titles (actually they probably weren't sub-titles as they were just above the stage curtain at the top)(super-titles?).
In Hungarian!!! Big help!
If I can add any more....
Photos are at:
www.travelwalks.com
Jul 11th, 2006, 10:02 AM
#84
Join Date: Feb 2006
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I read an interesting aricle in a Prague magazine about languages. Time was when Russian was the required second language in Czech schools. That has recently changed and now English is required to be learned by schoolchildren. This led to a sudden need for English teachers. Guess who were available and filled the openings? Yup, the former Russian teachers.
Jul 11th, 2006, 10:16 AM
#86
Original Poster
noe847,
Many interesting stories.
Some years back I knew a family that realized they had a brilliant son. They got out of Russia (Soviet Union at the time?). They moved to California.
The son graduated from UCLA at 16.
He was born on Feb 29th and his mother made him a 4th (16) birthday party at a computer conference I attended.
His mother was an English teacher. When they moved to the US they found little demand for Russian English teachers. So she wrote Russian cook books.
The son started a software business and made his father into a salesman. He soon tired of making wads of money and went back to school and graduated law school.
This kid didn't believe in starting at the bottom. He clerked for Sandra Day O'Conner at the Supreme Court.
I saw him being interviewed on tv during the Bush/chad election fiasco that went to the Supreme Court. As he was no longer there he was interviewed to give his opinion as to how the justices would vote.
I googled him last year and I believe he's a law professor at the UCLA Law School.
Back to the topic.
Photos are at:
www.travelwalks.com
Many interesting stories.
Some years back I knew a family that realized they had a brilliant son. They got out of Russia (Soviet Union at the time?). They moved to California.
The son graduated from UCLA at 16.
He was born on Feb 29th and his mother made him a 4th (16) birthday party at a computer conference I attended.
His mother was an English teacher. When they moved to the US they found little demand for Russian English teachers. So she wrote Russian cook books.
The son started a software business and made his father into a salesman. He soon tired of making wads of money and went back to school and graduated law school.
This kid didn't believe in starting at the bottom. He clerked for Sandra Day O'Conner at the Supreme Court.
I saw him being interviewed on tv during the Bush/chad election fiasco that went to the Supreme Court. As he was no longer there he was interviewed to give his opinion as to how the justices would vote.
I googled him last year and I believe he's a law professor at the UCLA Law School.
Back to the topic.
Photos are at:
www.travelwalks.com
Jul 12th, 2006, 04:53 AM
#88
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