I spent the morning on one of the best museum trips I’ve ever taken. In Prague’s old town, there is a Jewish Quarter. There are at least five synagogues within a stone’s throw from each other, and a massive, yet tiny, cemetary that was quite impressive. I’ll get back to that seemingly oxymoronic comment in a second.

For 480 Czech Crowns (at yesterday’s close, that’s US$28.25) I bought a single ticket that gave me entrance to five synagogues, the Old Jewish Cemetary, a Ceremonial Hall and the Gallery of Robert Guttmann.

These sites were extremely crowded, but the attendants were very helpful in moving folks along, and every artifact was clearly explained in Czech and English. And Hebrew, in some instances. But let me get back to that comment for a minute.

The Old Jewish Cemetary is one of the most important sites on the ticket. It was established in the beginning of the 15th century and the oldest gravestone is that of Avigdor Kara from 1439. The whole area was less than the size of a football field, but has more than 12,000 gravemarkers.

Experts say that there are many more graves than gravestone in this cemetary, though. As the area was “expanded”, the residents brought in more dirt, and the new graves were layered overtop the old ones. Now, the top of layer is more than 15 feet higher than the street level.

It was one of the most haunting and interesting moments on the tour.

Another interesting sight was the Spanish Synagogue. The temple was inspired by Moorish design and was built in 1868. Rich wood panelling is gilded and painted withflowing designs and deep reds and blues. It made me catch my breath.

Continue Reading »

I’ve made my way from Cesky Krumlov to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. Prague is like a beehive. There are so many people here, and lots of them are native, but even more are tourists.

I spent this afternoon on a four-hour tour of the city with a local woman named Helena. We saw the city castle, which is the biggest in the Republic, and - of course - bigger by one square meter than the castle at Cesky Krumlov.

Besides the great pictures I’ve taken, and the short video of the crowd standing before the Astrological Clock waiting for the next hour to strike, this city has taken me by surprise.

It’s hip and young, and yet attracts tourists from every walk of life. From young backpackers to Japanese businessmen in suits parading Prague Square… they are coming from everywhere. This is exciting to me, and no doubt to the folks watching the Czech economy.

I passed some American tourists who casually noticed the Czech-made car, the Skoda. I mentioned to them that the Republic, and the whole region is home to every major auto manufacturer - GM, Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, etc, etc.

That’s the side of Eastern Europe that lots of folks don’t know about.

Continue Reading »

Okay, folks, here’s the chronology of the US dollar (versus the euro) over the last five days…

September 11: Dollar climbs throughout the day, but ends only slightly up at 0.7145.
September 12: Dollar starts a massive two-day slide, dropping from 0.7144 to end at 0.7034.
September 14: Dollar starts falling again, but suddenly shows a sharp correction higher, moving from a low of 0.6919 to a high of 0.7034.
September 15: Dollar swings wildly, but ends only slightly down at 0.7019.
September 16: Dollar oscillates, but is trending higher back above 0.7050

Continue Reading »

Here in Vienna, the only english channel I get is CNN, and I can’t tell you how shocked I was yesterday hearing how the Dow plunged more than 500 points on news that Lehman Brothers is no more.

Asian markets fell just as hard, and investors everywhere are panicking.

Here in Europe, though, markets aren’t reacting as sharply today, though still red for the second day straight. The biggest economies with the most ties to US markets, like Germany, the UK, and yes, Austria. Also, Norway is getting hit hard, because oil prices are dropping quickly as fears of depressed demand keep prices below $100.

What really has me worried, though, is the US dollar. Especially since I’m still here in Vienna. This, of course, has commodity-price ramifications as well. The Fed is meeting once again, and we’re in the “perfect storm” that may have Bernanke - who looked like he was on some really good drugs today - cutting rates to try and stop the bleeding.

That’s great, folks… Let’s try to print our way out of this yet again and put more of the burden on taxpayers after we’ve pretty much assumed responsibility to pay for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

I guess I’m a little miffed cause everything is going to cost me more here… at least in Vienna. Once I get to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, I’ll be doing a little better.

So far that is. We’ll see how the currencies move today.

I’ll be crossing into the Czech Republic today, heading for the picturesque Cesky Krumlov and then on to Prague. I’ll chat with you then, and let you know how much my dinner cost!