Countdown

I've been swamped marking papers from all my students this past week, so I've been on a blogging hiatus. This week I'm giving their final exams, so I have another grading marathon ahead. I fly home in two weeks, and it's going to be hectic finishing everything, packing, and shipping things I have accumulated that won't fit into my suitcases. The only bright spot in the collapse of the dollar is that I have not gone on any shopping sprees here. But I have collected many precious souvenirs, books, and papers that I want to get back to the U.S. Alas, I have a long list of places I have not yet visited in Bratislava, but I will squeeze in what I can.

I did see something fascinating while walking back from Billa's a few days ago. The "tow trucks" here are actually cranes that can lift a car out of any spot, swing it high above the others, and lower it onto the truck to be taken away. Maybe they have tow trucks like that in the U.S., but I've never noticed one.

I'm paying close attention to the U.S. primary elections - easy, thanks to videostreaming on the Internet, along with CNN-International, etc. A few months ago one of my students here asked me the correct pronunciation of someone that he had been reading about on the Internet: "Obama" -- accent on the second syllable, I said. My student was really impressed with him. Is it significant that university students in central Europe are excited by his candidacy?

NOTE: Click on any image in this blog to see it full-size.

New Year's Day

The temperature is a few degrees above freezing today, so the ice and snow are melting off - a nice day for a walk.

The booths on the plaza are finally being disassembled. Most importantly, the portable toilets have been removed, a sure sign that the holidays are really over.

Over on Main Square, the last of the booths and stage are being cleared away. I don't know where they stashed all the benches that used to be here, but presumably they'll be brought back soon.

I thought this might be a good opportunity to look inside the Jesuit Church on Main Square, which dates to the mid-17th century. (It's in the center of the pictue above.) Big mistake! The place was packed for a New Year's Day Mass. Just inside those massive doors is a sign in four languages requesting that visitors not sightsee during the services. It has a gorgeous interior, so I'll have to go back when it's not busy.

I also saw something on Main Square that I had not noticed before. This marks the location of the Town Guardhouse, which stood here from 1767-1860. On the backside is a modern water fountain for visitors, something you rarely see in this part of the world. The building in the background is the Japanese embassy.

While I was Googling to find out more about the Jesuit Church, I learned something interesting about the Maximilian Fountain in Main Square, viz., that it dates to 1572 (two centuries before the Declaration of Independence in the U.S.!) and is the oldest preserved fountain in Bratislava. I took this shot on Christmas Eve. The blue panels are temporary protection from the winter elements.

As for the rest of my day, I discovered that KTLA, a local Los Angeles television station, will show the Rose Parade in Pasadena on video streaming, starting at 10 a.m. PST. All the comforts of home, halfway around the world! That's the channel that rebroadcasts the Parade all day long, without commercials, so you can catch it whenever you wake up.

NOTE: Click on any image in this blog to see it full-size.