East Eats West

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.  

 

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.