Flying Home – Still retracing history

Our route home took us from Prague to Stockholm, and then across the Atlantic one more time.  Passing over Norway, we could see the fjords that bred the Norsemen, and from where they started their outward journeys.  We passed to the north of Scotland and Ireland, above the remote islands explored by Vikings and (at least in myth), St Brendan.  Next came Iceland, where the result of Mid-Atlantic Ridge volcanic activity is so apparent; just like Fogo, just like Madeira.  Iceland played a key role as a destination and waypoint for those early adventurers, who were navigating primarily on faith. Greenland, with its hostile and forbidding landscape shortly followed.  Finally came Newfoundland.  Somewhere below us was L’Anse aux Meadows and the nearby site of the first verified settlement by Europeans in the New World – Leif Erikson’s Vinland. 

As we journeyed north on our Atlantic Odyssey, we steadily moved back in time.  Darwin, in Tierra del Fuego in the 1800’s followed the footsteps of Cook in the 1700’s, and Drake and Magellan in the 1500’s.  As we moved farther north and east, we found traces of Vespucci, da Gama and Columbus from the 1400’s.  Flying north past the Iberian Peninsula, we could see the homeland of the Basques, who made even earlier forays into the Atlantic searching for whales and cod.

Just as frequently happened to all these explorers, our own little expedition was also blown off course to make new and unexpected landfalls.  Despite our advances, despite our technology, the ocean still wants to be heard. 

How satisfying it was, looking down from our airplane, that our last touchpoint with the Atlantic was the site of the first European steps into the New World; the New Found Land.  Here was the completion of those first steps.  Here also was the completion of our own voyage of discovery.

Ready to go again

Before leaving on this trip – 27 days on a ship with only 5 brief stops, when I would talk to someone about this trip, the typical reaction was, “Sounds great, but you’d never catch me doing that”.  People would mention the monotony of day after day with nothing but an endless ocean.  Being confined to a small ship for that length of time usually doesn’t have much appeal.

I thought I’d end this blog by trying to explain why it did for me.

In our “regular” lives we have innumerable opportunities to receive information.  Television, social media, 24-hour news and sports, etc. provide a constant bombardment of data and entertainment.  Seemingly, we’re wired to seek more and more diversion.  The more we have, the more we want.  We can’t help ourselves in our addiction - an “opium for the masses”.  But, as we seek more information, more entertainment, more distraction, we spend less time assessing its ultimate importance, or reflecting on what it really means to our lives.

We all hear these critiques, but we rarely get an opportunity or the strength of will to truly escape.  This was a way to escape, to recalibrate.

Normally, we seem to be aiming our focus over the head of what’s right in front of us.  Instead, we look beyond the present and are planning the next task, worry or distraction.  On a voyage like this, time gives you the luxury of not doing that.  Rather than spending my time thinking about what’s next, it was more about focusing on what is. 

I developed a steadiness of attention, instead of dashing from thought to memory, sight to sound, plan to regret.  It was about learning to slow, to not live at the speed to which we are addicted.  Without the regular distractions or interruptions, I could give full attention to conversations or thoughts, and let things flow to their natural conclusions.

There was a rediscovered joy in being cut off from Siri and Google.  We all had to recall memories or facts with only each other to rely on.  We had to work out problems, calculations and logic without assistance.  Sometimes things would take minutes, hours or even days to figure out.  It made you use resources long buried.  It was invigorating.

Life was taken at a more granular level:  Watching the pattern of wind on the water; experiencing the dead-calm days and the choppy ones; feeling the rhythm of the ocean; watching a tanker pass in a stately glide until it fell off the edge of the horizon; watching a bird repeating the pattern of gliding along the ship seeking prey.

At home, if I spend a day or even a few hours sitting quietly, reading, writing or simply observing, I feel guilty.  I often feel like I’m neglecting tasks or chores that need to be done, and that I’m letting the day go to waste.  

On this kind of voyage, it was the opposite.  If I didn’t spend sufficient time scanning the horizon; or watching the changes in the ocean, the waves, the wind, the light; or waiting patiently on the bow for a bird, whale or ship to appear; or if I didn’t spend time reading something thought provoking or writing, then I felt like I wasted the day.  Your focus changes.  Your perspective changes.  You become more in tune with yourself and “reality”, and more divorced from the artificiality and blather that surrounds us.

Ultimately, it might not be the person who goes on 62 voyages ravenously gathering data, but it’s the person who goes on only a few, but thinks and analyzes and absorbs the experiences that ultimately makes the most progress.

This is not to say that I want to spend my time back home being inert and to live a life of quiet reflection.  That’s clearly not for me.  But, I have found that as a result of this last month that I’m far more in touch with myself than I’ve been in years.  I want to hold on to at least a part of that.

And, I want to do this again.

A few days in Prague

Impressions of Prague

Why do European woman tour guides like to dye their hair and unnatural shade of red?  Was true in Germany.  Is true here.

This place is really clean! There’s hardly any trash on the streets.  One morning we found a crew literally vacuuming the street.  On a midnight walk over the Charles Bridge, there were several people out sweeping.  Near the monastery on the top of the hill, someone was sweeping with a twig broom.  Guess that’s the Dominican way.

Do NOT come to Prague without having a trdelnik.  It’s bread dough formed into a long, thin roll and then wrapped around a fat skewer.  The skewers fit into a contraption that slowly rolls them up an incline over a heat source and slowly cooks the dough.  It’s then rolled in sugar or cinnamon or chocolate or whatever.  It comes to you as a cylinder of hot bread that peels off in a spiral.  We had to have one every day.  Could even get it filled with ice cream if wanted.

Surprisingly, we didn’t see too much of the Soviet influence left in the city.  One day when we wandered a little farther afield, we got into a non-tourist area.  There were some big block buildings reminiscent of Stalinist construction, but for the most part, you don’t see it.  Of course, we were confined mostly to the central city.

The central part of the city is incredibly easy to get around.  We walked everywhere.  Could have taken trams or taxis, but nothing was more than a half hour walk, and most things were less than that.  Besides, after being on a small ship for nearly a month, walking a few miles felt good.

There’s something about being in a place that draws such a large international crowd.  Everyone here is so happy, so thrilled to be enjoying this city.  It’s easy to talk to people and share the experience.  Also, thankfully, English is the language most have in common, so there’s absolutely no difficulty in communicating.

In the old parts of the city, there are really narrow winding alleys and streets.  Signs are hard to come by, and when you do find them, they’re mostly not understandable.  So, navigating by landmarks is definitely the way to go.

Yes, the Charles Bridge gets quite crowded, especially during the day in nice weather.  However, in the mornings and late at night you can have it almost to yourself.  And with the lighting at those times, it’s better to be there then anyway.

A cruise on the river is marvelous.  We did a dinner cruise with great food and watched the lights of the city come on.

It really is as cheap to eat and drink here as people say.  We had a full lunch at a monastery on a hillside today with several beers.  Bill was less than $20.

Good weather in the Spring also brings out the brides.  The hill of Prague Castle is the in-place to get your photos done.  We saw three within about 5 minutes.

So where did this whole issue of being bothered by heights come from?  Climbed the Town Hall tower, excited to see the view of the square and the rooftops and spires of Prague.  As soon as I got outside on the rail, I was backing away, not wanted to look over.  I miss the good old days.

The Czechs are really nice people.

I hadn’t expected that there would be a “Thai Massage” shop every few blocks all over the old parts of the city.  Some even included some poor Eastern European sap dressed up in a neon-colored Chinese outfit trying to bring in customers.  But, all featured big fish tanks in the windows with customers getting their feet nibbled on by little ravenous fish.

Prague

Many cities boast on “old town”, an original section that dates back centuries.  They’re all pretty much in the minor leagues once you’ve seen Prague.

The old part of the city is built on either side of the Vlatava River.  On one side sitting on a hill is Prague Castle, founded in the 9th century.  On the other side is Old Town which started around the 1300’s.  Prague Castle may be a bit of a misnomer.  What started out as a castle developed into one palace after another, as succeeding royal families, foreign occupiers and liberators all tried to outdo their predecessors.  As a result, buildings range from Romanesque to Gothic to Baroque.  Influences range from German to Russian, French, Austria-Hungarian, Swedish and others.  Don’t ask me the order.  There’s been way too many comings and goings.

Old Town is a true maze of streets, designed either to make you walk in circles or to have you wind up a long way from where you thought you were going.  All streets are cobblestones, some with car traffic, some without, but full of restaurants, shops, bars and galleries.  Old Town Square hosts the famous astronomical clock in the tower of the Town Hall.  The clock has evolved over the years, but dates to the 1400’s and has been embellished in stages.  At the time of its construction, it was renown for its accuracy.  Now, at every hour, crowds gather in the square to watch the apostles parade by two open windows, the skeleton ring his bell, other figures react, and the rooster flap its wings.  The tower bell chimes the hour.  Then the crowd cheers.  And if you’re Italian students, you sing some strange Italian song.

The entire stretch from the Castle, across the river and to Old Town is a continuous sea of tile roofs and church spires.  Oh yes, the churches.  I can’t fail to mention the churches.  Prague is called the city of 1000 spires, or something like that, and it’s not an exaggeration.  You can hardly turn a corner without running into a church.  And they’re not your basic garden-variety churches – all of them ornate, all of them elaborate, most of them magnificent.  Some charge admissions, but many don’t.  They all seem to have regular performances of classical music on almost a daily basis.

In between the old buildings and the churches are numerous parks and plazas.  They range from small open spaces on street corners to a huge green park running up the steep hill beside Prague Castle.  As you work your way up the hill, the views become more and more stunning.

The best thing for me to do would be to insert some pictures here, but with a stunning view on every corner, it’s probably going to take me a little while to distill them down.  So, they’ll have to come in a later post.