On Weddings and Wedding Parties

This weekend, I have attended a wedding of my former Cub Scout leader and a Girl Guide leader - both of them very nice and kind people, and frankly, essential to keeping our 35. Scout Group afloat.

I wanted to share some thoughts on what happened, even though I am afraid there isn't anyone who is actually reading this. Nevertheless:

Friday: I met up with three friends, one of them being a driver and a car owner, who offered to drive us there. A traffic jam on the D1 highway had us stop in a shopping mall, but waiting didn't help. Luckily, the jam was not very long. It grew darker and after some time we got lost. No problem, we noticed it and found a way to get back on the right track. But due to many factors, the driver didn't quite make the turn and we ended up in the field instead of being on the road, luckily unhurt but shaken. The car was damaged, and because we weren't sure what was wrong with it, we tried to stop passing vehicles to help us. Somebody did notice us after a while, and helped us get the car to a gas station, from where we phoned another wedding guest who was able to arrange a free pickup for us. But there was more to come.

Saturday: long sleep, lazy preparations, wedding start at 1 P. M. Nice venue - the castle in Jindřichův Hradec is lovely and their wedding hall is quite adequate for the occasion. The speech was a little strange, but who cares, really - I can hardly imagine that couples ever concentrate on what the celebrant is saying. Then, they had a family-only wedding reception, while us (=friends) continued to the pub where the full reception with everyone was to take place. There were loads and loads an loads of food in all shapes and sizes, and it was our job to actually transfer it to plates and dishes in order to create a decent celebration. This party started at 7 P. M. It included all the food, loud music, dancing - you name it. You might know I'm not exactly the party type. But after some time, my activities also included dancing, talking to people and drinking - but no alcohol, just 3 litres of Kofola. And then the list got even longer, quite to my disappointment, because the majority of the guests was drunk. So, I did things like removing a friend of mine from the dance-simulating grasp of a local alcoholic (of course I was far too late to claim any merit whatsoever, but she thanked me anyway - I guess she really didn't like it), watching people pass out, wake up and drink again, and at about 4 A. M. I carried two drunk people out of the pub and could finally fall asleep myself.

Sunday - most of it was mentioned under Saturday, but all of my activities were strictly mechanical - walking to the bus stop, changing trains now and then, sleeping, eating.

Overall, I have had one hell of an eventful weekend, and however happy I am for the newly-weds, I still can't quite forget the other parts which sort of spoiled the fun.

Maybe you are used to things like this, but for me it was a bit of "Kulutrschock" - that's basically why I'm writing about it.

WTYL.

On Holidays

Here it comes - another boring post with nothing to say... whatever

A brief summary of my summer holiday activities, if you are interested:

Scout Camp - two weeks, cool thing. Weather so-so, mild nerve stimulation - Some of the Boy Scouts - whom I found myself leading - can get annoying. Really annoying. And I don't remember, and neither does my leader - a scout actually leaving the camp because he didn't like it (...)

"Orko Camp" - officially titled In Watermelon Sugar - 10 days, organized by our Religion teacher Marek Orko Vácha (mentioned in one of my older posts) and friends (Probably more by his friends, he really doesn't have that much free time, but what do I know). Perfect. Cool people, much better than I expected, cool program - games, talks, religious things. And, of course, nature. I feel like it would deserve much more describing, but it somehow doesn't form into words. Sorry. But it was really great.

Family vacation - Four days driving through France - to O Cebreiro, Spain (border of Galicia state). Stops on the way - Strassbourg, Equisheim, Lyon, Vienne, Avignon, Carcasonne, Some Pyrenees, Burgos, Leon. Hihlights - Strassbourg: lovely town centre; Equisheim - village, probably even better than Strassbourg, perfect houses, compact center; Avignon - the papal palace; Pyrenees - nature, views, mountains; Burgos - nice large cathedral with attached monastery.
Seven days of walking to Santiago de Compostela - 20-26 km a day, done usually between 6 AM and noon, to avoid the sun and secure a free space in the pilgrim shelters. Best thing: people. All sorts, but somehow set to be friendly - There is something indescribably positive about the pilgrimage.
One day trip to Cape Finisterrae - "end of the world" - a nice place, worth a visit. Some people carry on and walk here from Santiago.
Four days return drive to Prague - stops - Bilbao, Bordeaux, Tours, Chartres, Troyes, Metz.
Highlights - Bilbao: Guggenheim museum in the evening sun; Tours: quite a nice city centre, similar to Strassbourg; Chartres: BIG cathedral; Metz - Early morning empty cathedral

Happy BackToSchool everyone!