Building Bridges

The weather is turning quite hot again. Makes me think back to cooler times...

The Charles Bridge is one of the most popular sites in Prague. It is said that in high season, the bridge can be packed end-to-end with tourists. December is not a bad time to visit.

Karlův Most

There are many statues which line both sides. The martyr Jan Nepomucký did not suffer defenestration but was thrown into the River Vltava instead, and drowned.

Jan Nepomucký

Touching this statue is said to bring good fortune, and eventually bring the visitor back to Prague. Of course, with the tourist crowds, the plaques on the base of the statue have been hand-polished to a gleaming shine.

At night

During the day, the vendors are out in full force. We stop at a couple of them, which offered real arts and crafts. At this point, on our second full day in the Czech Republic, I decided to try saying děkuji. The proprietor immediately responded with ahoj. [An informal Czech greeting, pronounced as if greeting an incoming ship. Like aloha, it can be used both coming and going.]

Aww - he said ahoj!

Leçons en Informatique

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin...

French to English:
rehaussement (nm); rehausser (vt) = upgrade; to upgrade
mise à jour (nf) = update
réseau (nm) = network
passerelle (nf) = (network) gateway (lit. a foot bridge)
transparence (nf) = (network) connectivity

English to French:
IT Architect = Concepteur en technologie de l'information
Advisory IT Specialist = Spécialiste-conseil TI
Senior IT Specialist = Spécialiste principal TI
Consulting IT Specialist = Spécialiste consultant TI
Senior Consulting IT Specialist = Spécialiste consultant principal TI

Advice from Mummy

Back in the British Museum, there was a 3-D (glasses included with admission) audio-visual exhibit on Nesperennub. Narrated by Sir Ian McKellen, it is a significant technical and academic achievement, but it is also a very human story, of a middle-manager/priest at the Temples of Karnak.

Rather than desecrating and damaging the mummy by unwrapping, it was placed in a CT scanner in sarcophagu. The resulting visualisation reveals details which could not otherwise be known, including various health conditions and special ornamentation. In an ancient case of "just cover it and maybe no one will notice," the embalmers appear to have accidentally left a clay bowl of resin permanently bonded to his head.

In the exit hall, where the original sarcophagus is displayed, there is an Egyptian proverb written on the wall:

Life on earth passes
    it is not long;
Being remembered is the only success.

Time to go

It's already been six months since my last vacation in Europe, and a full three years since Iceland. Tempus fugit - time is just flying by, and I need to be doing something more worthwhile, more fulfilling.

I haven't had to travel for work since early June. I'm glad to be home for a while, yet I feel like I should be going somewhere. Not to disparage any genuine sufferers of a partly manufactured condition, but it seems I need to keep moving.

Happy Canada Day!

Recent statistics show that tourism spending in Canada is up overall, but the number of visitors from the US and abroad has actually declined significantly, the reasons being primarily political (passport entry requirements) and economic (high Canadian dollar).

Continental Divide

Political Divide

To complete the set

I've seen a lot on this trip, some of it straight out of the high school history books: the arduous path and construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, or names and places like Craigellachie. The other aspect is the richness of culture in this country, past and present. Something too often forgotten in the daily grind of big city life.

From aboriginal First Nations collecting ceremonial ochre, to a Japanese garden in the middle of Kelowna. From gritty logging roads to modern highways. From frontier cattle ranches to fine wines. A sense of this is captured in the Heritage Murals of Vernon, BC.

A Mari Usque ad Mare Usque ad Mare