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Monday, January 14, 2013

Week 25: Czech Republic

Czech Republic: the Heart of Europe


That's their nickname, "the heart of Europe", so let's learn a little about the Czech Republic.  I am coming into this week not knowing anything about the country, in fact, I didn't even know that it wasn't called Czechoslovakia anymore!  Apparently, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are two different countries now.  Actually since 1993, oops, I totally missed that memo!

Anyway, it's kind of sad that I don't know more about this country since my mom's grandfather immigrated from Czechoslovakia as a young boy.  I guess he didn't want to talk about it much once he was in America, and he's long since dead, so the stories are never to be told- so sad to lose that bit of our heritage.  I'll just have to learn about it myself.  Back to the nickname, since the country is located pretty centrally in Eastern Europe and Prague, the capital, is an amazing city over 1000 years old, the Czech Republic is a starting point for many travellers who tour the area.  It is a beautiful, mountainous country and considering that it would fit in the United States 122 times but that there are 2000 castles and ancient ruins in the country, it's safe to say there is a lot of history!

This week we will learn a little of that history and "visit" some of the castles, especially Prague Castle, which is the biggest castle in the world!  We will eat some traditional dumplings and learn a few phrases in Czech and we will make some puppets and put on a little puppet show because the Czech people are big fans of puppets!!  Having grown up on the Muppet Show, I have to say I love a good puppet myself!!  I'm looking forward to learning a little about the land of my ancestors - just look how beautiful it is!!