Czechesotans: Letna

Spring has sprung, not in a Robert Frost sense of "darting birds... and happy bees/...dilating 'round the perfect trees". No, for us Spring is slinking out of hibernation and beginning to erect itself through the opening of the beer garden at Letna Park.

Letna Park is a lovely green space (well, brown space right now) that sits atop a hill overlooking the Vltava River and central Prague. It's laced with walking paths, sculptures and bits of playground equipment, and years ago, I saw former President Vaclav Havel strolling there! Today it's most famous for an outdoor beer garden and super views of the city...

...but years ago, it was home to the largest monument to Stalin in the world. See the ticking metronome in the pavilion-turned-skatepark below? That's where Stalin, leading a band of loyal workers, stood for 7 years, overlooking the city of Prague.

Here's a photo taken from the side of the since-demolished statue.

Courtesy of radio.cz

Apparently it was scornfully called "fronta na maso", or, in English, "the line for meat", alluding to food shortages at the time. It was blown up in 1962.

But the metronome wasn't the only thing to stand in the same spot; a 35-foot water-filled rubber "statue" of Michael Jackson was also planted there briefly for the kickoff of his 1996 HIStory world tour. Who's bad?

Courtesy of eurweb.com

A POST BY JAYDA. WOOF.

My little paw pads are used to the cobblestones now. I have adapted to Czech dog food, which has overt chunks of animal parts in it. The city sounds no longer inspire me to bark inappropriately. I've made some doggie buddies whom I see on strolls around the neighborhood. And I'm allowed to go pretty much everywhere mom and dad go.

I am living the high life!

Mom's coworkers gave me my very own chair to sit in at dinner last night. It was even at a fancier place, called Olympia Restaurant, near the theater where mom is directing the school play.