notes on our trip to Prague - Pt. II

Because my childhood in Prague feels like another life almost severed from the one I lead now, as many immigrants' childhoods spent in the "old country" probably feel, going back I always look for the things that have stayed the same and that help prove in some tangible way that my childhood wasn't just a fantasy.

The city, its foundation at least a thousand years old, still stands, of course. Some of the same stores and restaurants are still there and have been for decades. The old trams still run, and men with mullets and man purses can be seen still after twenty years, thank goodness. Those are the things that make me feel I'm home.


The others are the little things - the dumplings; the old Trabant cars (we used to have one - a brown two-door hatch back; see picture); the awfully sugary deserts, such as rakvička (the little coffin similar in flavor to divinities, in other words pure sugar) or punčák (pink rum-flavored punch cake); the fabulous spreadible cheeses; the tasty fresh rolls of many varieties; the ladies with their terrible hair colors; the supermarket cashiers in aprons that look angry at the merchandise; the sales people and wait staff with condescending attitude (one thing I could do without!); and the toilets with a little dry landing area and a flush handle on a rope that one pulls down (one of Jonah's favorites in Prague). Those are just some of the things that scream, "Welcome to your homeland!"