Blog #7: Fun & Heat in Praha

Blog #7: Prague, Czech Republic (5/28/2005 to 5/31/2005)

So this has been my most delayed blog. I like to say that I am just relaxing and really getting into this European, laidback attitude. To be honest, I am just getting lazy. There is a reason why they call it “good old American work ethic.” The rest of the world, for better or worse, does not share our pace of life.

I was still traveling with Dana when in the Czech Republic. We arrived on the night train at about 5:30 on Saturday morning. What a glorious train ride it was! If those engineers ever figure out how to drive a train, it will be a cold day in hell. They have verily mastered the art of the five-meter stop. At least I was only thrown into the wall instead of onto the floor as I lay trying to sleep. One thing I will give to Prague is that it is still awake at 5:30 a.m. The down side is that it is far easier to find a beer than a coffee at that time of morning. We were surrounded by two groups of people, all of whom looked and smelled surprisingly similar: the drunk homeless and the drunk Limeys.

Visiting Prague was an unusual change from my other travels in April and May. I had been out of the States for two months and was unaccustomed to hearing English. Everywhere I went in Prague, I heard English. At first it was surprising, then it just got annoying. I do not know how I will cope when I get home… it will feel like I am eavesdropping on everyone. I know the first person I see in the States I am going to ask, “Sprechen Sie Englisch?” Prague is the first of the cities I visited that is quite touristy.

In Prague we stayed with a friend named Pavel. He had just graduated from high school, so he had some free time to show us around. He cooked some interesting, authentic Czech dishes for us, so that was quite a treat. The first night Pavel gave us a guided tour around the city. The castle and the city lights were nice because we were able to see quite a bit without being surrounded by tourists. The castle was great at night. I was most impressed by the church in the castle because the mosaics and stained glass are only about 70 years old, were recently restored and have retained much of their color.

On Sunday and Monday we actually toured the different parts of the castle, visited the National Museum and walked across the Charles’ Bridge. All of these were worthwhile sights, even if we were tripping over tourists at every turn. I have since grown accustomed to that. On Monday we were forced to seek shelter because of a storm that came in quickly. There was hail like I have not seen since living in Texas. It was bouncing all over the place, quite a welcome sight after the 90 degree days, the hottest weather Prague had yet seen.

On our last night we went out to a student bar with Pavel and we met a few of his friends. First of all, they the Czechs obviously do not have as many puritanical hang-ups that most of us Americans retain. There was a large party at the bar for some guy’s birthday and his friends got him a stripper. This was a regular bar. You have to go to special places for this kind of entertainment in the States and, from what I have heard, most places will not let it go this far. Anyway… the more interesting part of the night were Pavel’s pictures of his trip to eastern Czech Republic. Get this: he read a survival book and decided that he needed to “do some of that stuff.” On his Christmas break he and two friends went hiking and camping up in some snowy mountains for 8 days. Actually, one of the friends gave up after just a couple days. Now this was a hard-core holiday. They made it to the top of the mountain and had a great, unbearably miserable time, I am sure. What Pavel tried to brush under the carpet was that, after this 8 day trip, he spent 9 days in the hospital thawing various of his body parts. Now that is a bit too far for me. If it were only 7 days, that would be a little better because at least the vacation was longer, but 9….

Prague and Plzen, Czech Republic: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2125794135&code=16383471&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite