He didn't see her that night after all. He got involved in a discussion with a group of the students, mostly guys and it seemed important to make himself available. He was all prepared just to knock on her door, but thought better of it. The same things she had told him the other night were likely to be the same things tonight. Not much had changed really, yet, he was sure in a way it had. He did not want to be wrong and he did not want to seem anxious. Drinking together was one thing, but a knock on the door when completely sober, no that would not be appropriate.

She sat in her room. Waiting. She thought he would magically appear. After all those small re-buffs, it still seemed that somewhere she wanted him to appear. It occurred to her that she might be losing her touch, and after all, she was who she was. That in itself was the real problem, he didn't know who the hell she was, and after she thought about it from the point of view of a student and a professor, even her attitude changed.  She decided to take a shower, wash her hair and do her nails. Why not? She certainly had the time and with all her running around the last few days and night, she could use some beauty sleep.

Oddly she dreamed fitfully, mostly about the Golem and the attic of the synagogue it was said to be stored in. On the back of that building was a set of rungs like a ladder. The last two had been removed to discourage people from trying to break into the attic from the outside door of it and see if the Golem was really still there. The Golem was created from the clay of a nearby river, it was said it could be activated with the Hebrew word for Truth on its forehead, and deactivated by removing one of the letters which made the new word Death. It responded to messages stuffed into its mouth and literally, very literally did what was asked of it. Here is Prague it was made by Rabbi Loew hundreds of years before, creating it to stop anti Semitic attacks in the ghetto. When it went a bit out of control and starting killing gentiles indiscriminately it had to be stopped. It was stored in the attic. A very recent legend about it told of a Nazi agent ascending to the synagogue attic during WWII and tried to stab the Golem, but died instead.

"Thanks Zelly" she had said to herself. "Thanks for cramming my very good mind with such stuff. I owe you one bad dream when I get home!" 

She had thought Zelly made the whole thing up, but when she saw the rungs to the attic and read about it on the guide sheet from the museum, she realized that the tale had perhaps a hair of truth otherwise, why tell people? So instead of getting her beauty sleep she worked on solving the Golem mystery in her mind.

Morning came and it was time to get down to breakfast. Since they were leaving she brought her suitcase down with her to be ready for the ride back to Salzburg. They would be stopping at Karlstein.

She made her way down and noticed mostly everyone was absent. It occurred to her to check her watch to see if she was late again. No, she was on time; it was everyone else that was late. It seemed that Golem dreams had not prevented her from actually waking up on time. She made her way to an empty table of six, and dropped her bag nearby. Almost immediately a stampede of students came down the stairs and rushed into the room. Suddenly the whole place was bustling with activity and noise.

He had seen her take her seat and when all the kids rushed in, well, he thought about just running to get a seat with her. He was still feeling like one of them, not above them. His behavior last night had been more reserved. This time he turned in early. After all she wasn't around, he might as well sleep. It would be a busy week with a couple of gigs, teaching and everything else he was dealing with, namely Elsa, his girlfriend.

At the very last moment, he decided he wanted to sit next to her, to smell her perfume again, to be close. As the room settled he made his entrance and there was still one seat left at her table. She was laughing and chatting when he approached. He could feel her mood change. Instead of laughing, she turned to him with a warm smile, "Have a seat with us Professor, it hasn't been sat in all morning!" The girls giggled and one other hopeless romantic at the table, Jim, grinned sheepishly. He found himself next to the girl he was kissing the night before and the night before that.

They walked out together. After all the suitcases were loaded on the bus, she boarded the bus first, and he followed. She sat down and he sat next to her.

This was easy he thought, I can sit next to her and talk. On the road, Hans, kept a watchful eye on them for some reason. Kurt started to notice it and brushed it off.

It did not seem to be lost on Sari. At one point all three of them were looking at each other, Sari and Kurt in the mirror at Hans and Hans looking back at them. He shot them a twisted smile. Sari began to wonder if Hans always looked this way at women, or if it was her paranoia. Suddenly she wondered, did Kurt have a history of sitting with the coeds? Was Hans jealous, or was there something more sinister? Oh, bad dreams will do that to you, the next thing will be Hans is the Golem. Ugh.

 Rear of the Old New Synagogue Attic Rungs

Karlstein or Karlstejn Castle Founded by Charles IV

 They made it to Karlstein and it was beautiful. It was a paradise from a perch, medieval style. High on a hill overlooking a wooded valley that was probably unchanged since Charles IV had hunted there in the 14th century. There was so much serenity in and around it. The air was cool and crisp, the sun bright and the sky very blue. White, whisping clouds floated by and instead of being dark and medieval, it was breathtaking. It filled up your senses.

Among the many rooms, there was a treasury and the atmosphere of a retreat, as that was the original intention. The castle had three chapels. In the Central Tower was the Church of our Lady with its faded 14th century wall paintings. Then a small passage led to the Chapel of St. Catherine. It was tiny. Its walls had semi precious stones mounted all over it. It reminded one of the inside of a jewel box. The Chapel of the Holy Rood (Cross) also was in the Great Tower, here the crown jewels had once been kept and replicas were in its place. It had a gilded vaulted ceiling studded with glass stars. It was probably breathtaking in candle light.

She made her way to an open window in the Central Tower, it was just at the right height to look out and almost touch the sky. No thought could interrupt this beauty and with her feet firmly on the ground, she felt herself almost a bird about to take flight.

 by Frode Inge Helland, 1976

Today    

Suddenly from her right someone was squeezing in for the view. For a moment she was miffed, and then realized it might be Kurt. She was wrong. It was Jack. He was pushing his way in, nearly bumping off his glasses in the process. Jack and she were almost like two peas in a pod. He was an artist, a theater type and had a snarky wit she loved. They constantly traded barbs and banter at school and in the lunch room. Of all the people there, he probably knew more about her than most and she seemed to almost believe he knew her. Jack was something else.  It took her only a few days to figure out that they had a very similar sense of humor and that he was gay.

Jack would be very famous someday. He had all the right stuff. He was fantastically original. Jack knew what he wanted and why he was here. He had already changed majors twice and had said that when he went back to school in the states, he would be changing schools. It was like he had figured it all out for himself and she liked that about him too. He was, well, on a mission. Even so she didn't tolerate him pushing into her view. She gave him a quick shove and he nearly lost his glasses down to the valley floor. No doubt they would have careened over a few boulders and landed in some fir tree.

At this point the two of them were laughing very hard. Jack was clutching his side where he was shoved in mock pain, she was blushing and breathless. Someday she would tell him why she would not share the small space with him, he was not Kurt! 

 Kurt was more determined than ever. He was engaged with her laughter and looks. The sunlight dancing through that window onto her hair and how freely she was herself, it was very attractive to him. He began to see her as someone whom he could just be with, someone who had no pretensions. What was it about these Americans that made them so free? He knew Jack, and he liked him. He knew Jack had his eye on someone else.

While it was all really over in a minute, it left a huge impression on him. With his body breathing in the scene, he walked right over to her and asked her if she wanted to step out and have a glass of wine in town. Surprised, but not really, she agreed. They were all to meet back at the bus by 4:00 pm and it was only 2:30 pm, enough time to get down there and meet the bus later.

He was almost startled with her reply. "Yes, great idea!" She didn't seem to hesitate a moment. It was as if she had been waiting for him to ask her. Well, he had been waiting, and well, she was waiting. So, now together they will have a glass of wine and well, wait; for the bus. Right.

They found a cozy stube and walked to the back, into a quiet corner. It was a bit smoky, but that seemed to add to the atmosphere. They ordered the wine and sat. At first, they were both just silent. Then all at once, chatting and laughing and talking about a million things all disconnected but in the universe of knowing. Knowing that somehow it was going to begin and continue. It was not going to simmer too much longer.

He reached for her hand and she did not pull it away. He asked her what her schedule was the next day. He said he wanted to take her somewhere that he loved and well, he knew she would too. He asked her if she would visit the top of the Grossglockner with him.

She did want to go, and why not, it was almost the end of the season, she did not pause more than a second. "Yes, I would like to do that. I know some people have already gone up from school and said it was a fantastic view. Yes, I do want to go, what time?"

He told her that he would pick her up after her late morning class. He would not be teaching tomorrow and if she could leave before lunch, he would be there. He would meet her outside of the school walls. They would head out and grab some currywurst at an imbiss in town.

"This is really the most natural jewel of Salzburg, you will be amazed. I want you to see it." He squeezed her hand. Glancing at his watch he realized they were almost late for the bus. So it was the last two seats in the front again.

The drive back to Salzburg was fairly uneventful, that is until the students who had also hit a number of the beer stubes needed a bathroom break in the middle of the Czech countryside. Hans stopped and the girls went to one side to the field and the boys to the other side of the bus. Just as the girls were all squatting, an open army truck of Czech soldiers passed. The last guy noticed the girls and let out a yell, whereupon the shrieking of the girls commenced and the guys on the truck were all standing up and waving, but their driver did not stop. Thank G-D. 

By the time they came back into the city it was dark and the driver dropped her off at her student house and left the others at their bus stop steps away. Kurt looked at her as she left the bus, she turned and said goodbye to everyone, and gave him a quick  smile.

Copyright 2011 by SheilaTGTG55 Photos Wiki  

 You can follow the story here:

   http://open.salon.com/blog/sheilatgtg55/2011/01/26/love_and_the_grossglockner_-_part_one

 http://open.salon.com/blog/sheilatgtg55/2011/01/31/love_and_the_grossglockner_-_part_two

 http://open.salon.com/blog/sheilatgtg55/2011/02/02/love_and_the_grossglockner_-_part_three

 http://open.salon.com/blog/sheilatgtg55/2011/02/04/love_and_the_grossglockner_-_part_four

The actor Vin Diesel has done the film XXX or Triple X mainly in Prague. It has some great scenes of the town, the river and outskirts. You can read about a recent visit of his there here:

 http://www.abcprague.com/2006/11/30/action-hero-vin-diesel-is-coming-to-prague