Lennon Wall

A sprawling medieval castle dominates half the view from the bridge, which does not have the throngs of people that it is usually congested with during the warmer months of the year. The castle is punctuated by a great brown Gothic cathedral, its spires and buttresses cutting into the heavy, grey sky above. The stillness of the air, and the slow movements of the smattering of people oppressed by the bitter cold swirling up from the river below trudge through the frozen patches of snow on the cobblestone path below. Ducks rest on fragile ice floes, barely discernible from the frigid water underneath. In the distance, snow covers the antiquated city, throwing all who wander through into a Baroque metropolis. It's all a grand masterpiece, a testament to the greatness of human potential. Yet, this treasured relic of the past is not what I have come to see today.

Prague is a wonder, and it is impossible to not be charmed as you wander through the maze of streets and alleys that somehow always take you to where you want to go. I am here today, though, not to see this unspoiled beauty, but beauty from an often unfairly denigrated practice that shines light all the same on the limitless potential of humanity.

The Charles Bridge leads into the Little Quarter, which, if you follow its main streets, will take you right to Prague Castle, literally and figuratively lording over the entire city. If you go off the main street, however, you will come across a wall like no other you will see in Prague, and when you consider the history behind it, like few others you will see anywhere else in the world.

The Lennon Wall is coated with graffiti art that stretches back to the times when Communism had its hold over the Czech Republic, then part of the larger Czechoslovakia. Lyrics of Beatles songs trail off into inspirational quotes, meshing with peace signs and portraits of Lennon himself. The highest parts of the wall contain scattered tags, including the word "láska," Czech for love. These bits and pieces are the signatures of those committed enough to reach higher to the empty spaces that remain as unused canvas, begging onlookers to help them take their rightful places as bearers of love, peace and hope. The rest of the wall is art blended into art, and times blended into times, creating a lasting and living tribute to not just John Lennon, but the ideals of love and empathy that he lived for, and plead for with his music, which today remains every bit as permanent as the very wall I now stand in front of.

The wall, once unremarkable, became as legendary as the people who inspired and created it during the 1980s. Students would come here, each one expressing their individuality and unshakeable belief in love and peace in the face of a hard-line Communist regime that would not hear anything of it. Annoyed, the police painted over the pleas and poetry and petals, until not a trace was left. The police were even more annoyed when they saw that the job would need to be done again two days later.

Today, there is a massive portrait of John Lennon, in brilliant pink and black, that stands out against the rest of the wall. He is staring out at the few people who have come today, through the biting cold and swirling snow, to celebrate the ideals of love and peace and be inspired to spread those ideals around a world that desperately needs them. There is a quote next to John Lennon. It is from Albert Einstein, but it looks as if John himself is saying it. He says, “Imagination is more important than knowledge, knowledge is limited, imagination encyrcles the world.”

It has been nearly thirty years since this beige wall on a tired side street near the Vltava River was transformed into a monument to human perseverance and the capacity within every single person for love and peace. The police kept painting the wall over, but they were fighting one of many losing battles at the time. Those police have long since faded away into the cloudy memory of history, but the Lennon Wall lives on, and the art of creation has never ceased.

This portrait of Lennon, serenely giving the world he looks out on two thumbs up, did not exist two weeks ago, and in a few months or years will most likely vanish, lost beneath layers of paint that are sure to be added. New people will come, and they will bring their own unique visions of love and peace. They will paint over this masterful portrait, not in beige, but in all colors, and in the process, they will help to create something infinitely more beautiful than any single piece of art on this wall. They will ensure that this monument remains as alive as any person on earth, because love and peace can only survive if we, today and in the future, work to keep them alive. Someday, nothing on this wall today will be seen by passersby. But, underneath all the layers, all the colors, and all the words that will be added from now until then, that portrait of John Lennon will still be there, looking out on the world and showing his approval.

Vegetable Quiche

6 eggs
1 cup cream
½ cup milk
1 cup ricotta
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Paprika
Spinach
Zuchini/Squash
Artichoke Hearts

Mix together room temperature cream, milk and ricotta. Beat in eggs. Add salt, pepper, paprika and nutmeg, to taste. You don't need to use very much nutmeg, in particular. Take a 9'' cake pan, and coat it with vegetable oil lightly. Chop up some spinach, dice one zucchini, and put both, with artichoke hearts, on the bottom of the cake pan. I would use five or six leaves of spinach. You can also use about 10 oz of frozen spinach. If you want, chopped ham, chopped mushrooms, chopped onions, or bacon bits can be good, as well. Pour the mixture into the pan, and put in a pre-heated oven at 325 degreed Fahrenheit. Let bake for 45 minutes. Remove, and let it settle for 10 minutes.

Bruschetta

8 Roma tomatoes
6 leaves basil
4 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
freshly ground sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

2 baguettes french bread
olive oil

Wash tomatoes and remove stems. Try to remove as much of the seeds and juice from the center of the tomato as you can. Dice each tomato and place into a bowl. Mince the garlic and basil separately and add to the tomatoes. Mix. Add the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and mix again. Add freshly ground sea salt and black pepper and mix again. The bread can be served as is or toasted in the oven for 5 minutes at 450 degrees. Either way, slice the bread in about 1/2 inch slices. If you toast it, you can add some olive oil onto the pan before putting the slices in the oven. Serve.