Potomac Fever

The Bohemian Bagel where I am typing this is a great Internet cafe in the center of Prague. Cheap eats and good coffee while you blog. Arrived in the Czech capital yesterday, from Nuremburg where we got off the boat which had just cruised through the Rhein-Main canal that connects the Danube and the Rhein (?). A bus took us from Nuremburg to Prague, about 4 hours. Prague is mobbed with tourists at its most popular sights, and pick-pocketing is Big Business. But the sights are fantastic, original constuctions some as old as 600 years, like the Charles Bridge. The creator of the 500-year old still-working Astrological Clock on a big old tower had his eyes blinded by the good city fathers who didn't want any other city to benefit from his services. Must move on, will have to provide more notes at a later date when I get home

Estimados amigos y queridos, The Red Bull Air Race apparently continues today. We saw more aerial acrobatics this morning on the way to this internet cafe here in Budapest, Hungary. Yesterday we saw the contest performed over (just barely) the Danube river that runs through the center of Budapest. The river separates the old towns of Buda and Pest. The contestants, all flying single-seat small airplanes with very bright markings, flew straight up, straight down, through balloon markers floating on the river, under the bridge, and you get the idea. The weather has been sunny and hot, which might be uncomfortable at the outdoor tables along the river as people eat, drink, and watch the folk dancers on the stage, but is no problem at night as the street festival continues to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Hungary's founding. The celebretory air contrasted sharply with a visit the same day to the Terror House Museum. There were documented the horrors of the Nazi and Soviet occ...