East Eats West

Prague in one hour

If you want to see Prague in a short amount of time you have various options. First, by a tour bus. Should you appreciate being herded around, go ahead. Second a classic car tour ride. This gives you a unique open-air experience but costs 1200 Czech Kronen for 40 minutes and you are limited to noisy and crowded streets. Third, you could also walk but with the castle sitting on a hill this is a rather strenuous choice. By far the most efficient and fun way of sightseeing in Prague is by Segway. The Segway has two wheels with a platform to stand on. An electrical engine stabilizes and propels the device in any direction and the steering is very intuitive as one only has to lean in the direction one wants to go. The top-speed is about 30km/h and the battery lasts for eight hours. And last but not least it is absolutely fun to drive as it is fast, silent and very nimble. Particularly driving uphill is astonishingly fast and easy. 

PS: I recommend a one hour tour only as a beginner as one hour will leave your feet screaming for a good massage already! 

http://www.prague-segwaytours.com/ 

Monastery charm hotel

Picture: The courtyard with a view of the new monastery. 

Most of Prague's hotel are of the three or four-star variety that cater to the bulk-bracket tourists that roam around town in packs. One could safely say that Prague has never been a hot spot for boutique hotels. However, this has changed with a new kid on the block, a hotel that offers style, history, seclusion and athmosphere. Enter the The Augustine Hotel. It opened three months ago after a meticoulous six year refurbishment period. The hotel consists out of seven joint buildings of which one used to be a monastery. The monks have moved next door but share with the hotel the seclusion and tranquility. Should you have  deep pockets I recommend you stay in the three floor tower suite with a direct view of the Prague castle. It used to be the monastery's observatory. Visit the hotel website here: http://www.theaugustine.com

Pictures: The exclusive Tower Suite that used to be the observatory.  

 

Prague, the cradle of beer

Most of you might be aware that the original Budweiser beer hails from the Czech Republic (by the name Budvar) and not from the US. Beer in Prague has a century old tradition and is mostly of the Pilsner/Lager variety. Apparently the original lager beer was invented in a monastery in the Czech town of Plsn (or Pilsen), about 80 km from Prague away. Should you crave some truly original beer from Prague then I highly recommend you go to the bar of the sparkling new and pleasingly reclusive The Augustine Hotel. The hotel has its own dark and very rich "St. Thomas" beer based on a 13th century recipe from the local monastery. Enjoy!

PS: Drinking beer also helps with the budget as beer is considerably cheaper than soft drinks or water.

From Zurich to Prag

Picture: Arrival at Prague main station. 

I haven't been to Eastern Europe in ages and I felt it was time to visit it again. The first step in planning our holidays was to see if there are any good train connections. There is. An overnight train brings you in thirteen hours from Zurich to Prague via Vienna and Budapest. The train-ride is actually very enjoyable and relaxing and I got a good night's sleep. In contrast to the new double floor train coach I had from Vienna to Zurich, the old single floor coach from Zurich to Prague was more spacious and comfortable. We arrived in Prague at 11.40am well relaxed and right on time. Prague is a time-tested tourist destination and maneuvering across the Charles Bridge means dodging hundreds of school-children on school trips and dozens of street vendors. Prague offers amazing historical architecture combined with tourist contraptions one normally sees in Turkey or Italy, just at a higher price. No, Prague is not cheap anymore but still reasonably priced. 

Social engaged Buddhism from the USA

In July Roshi Bernie Glassman, the Dharma-father of the Glassman-Lassalle-line of Lassalle Haus, came to visit Switzerland. He celebrated his 70th birthday at the center. Bernie was born in the USA of Jewish origins. He was attracted to spirituality early on and first discovered his Jewish background. He then spent time as a monk in a Catholic monastery, studied among Muslim Sufis and became a Sufi himself, before turning to Zen-Buddhism. As a Zen-Buddhist he pioneered social engaged Buddhism in the USA first and then all over the world. He became renown for his street retreats where he and his followers lived among the poor in the USA and around the world. He even did a street-retreat in Zurich at the "Platzspitz", the formerly notorious "needle-park" and center of the Swiss drug scene. Together with Pia Gyger and Niklaus Brantschen of the Lassalle-Haus in Schönbrunn he then founded a Zen-Buddhist school in Schönbrunn. Nowadays he is particularly interested how Zen-Buddhism can be combined with Christianity and he is a strong proponent of inter-religious dialogues. For Bernie Zen is life. And how one should appreciate life. 

Bernie wrote a few very insightful Zen-Buddhist books like "Bearing Witness" and "Instructions for the cook". His students open 'peacemaker centers' around the world and soon there will be one in Berne, Switzerland. His worldwide peacemaker foundation can be found here: http://www.zenpeacemakers.org/ 

Handmade leather bags from Berne

In a small shop in the historic town of the Swiss capital, Berne, three ladies have been producing for over ten years handmade leather bags. Obviously all bags are only made to order and one can choose between different sizes, colors and linings. The leather comes from Germany and no toxic substances are used in their production. The founder of the shop, Fiona Losinger, is a trained saddle-maker and so are her co-workers. The best thing about buying bags from her is that not only are the bags of  superior craftsmanship and individually designed, the bags are also considerably cheaper than any high street fashion label. 

Visit her website here: http://www.fionalosinger.ch/index.html  

meApple

I had my sturdy and reliable IBM thinkpad laptop for over five years and it has never failed me until recently when the wireless antenna broke. So I decided to look for a new laptop that is easy to use. After having a careful look at Windows Vista and Windows 7 I went to the Apple store in order to have a look at the legendary Mac computers. The most striking thing about the Macs are the incredibly built quality that Lenovo nowadays lacks. I was surprised by the incredible screen quality and the ease of use. Particularly editing and uploading pictures for website is very easy. So I decided to get a new MacBook Pro. But actually what surprised me the most about getting an Apple is that people start to react enthusiastically towards me being now also a member of the Apple family. I realized that buying an Apple is a lifestyle change. Well, not everyone is so enthusiastic that I spend hours with my new companion.