Good morning, everyone. I would have greeted you in Czech right now, but with all the hard consonants and "Ka" sounds in this language, I didn't want to coat the computer monitor in spittle. Czech is a strange language that looks a little like Russian, a little like Polish, and makes no utter sense to me. But thank the Lord that pretty much everything is translated in English here, which seems a little bizarre since we are nowhere near an English-speaking country. I would have thought that German would be the secondary language here since Germany is nearby, but I guess after WWII, these Czechs here didn't want anything more to do with those stinkin' Sudetenland jerks and just kicked out any German they laid their hands on.
Prague is a unique place indeed. It feels like you're walking through an alternate universe here, where things feel somewhat like what you're accustomed to, but then you realize that things are slightly off...like the time when Homer Simpson traveled back in time, screwed things up by clubbing dinosaurs over the head with a bat, and then it started raining doughnuts. I haven't seen doughnuts fall from the sky yet, but I wouldn´t doubt it if it happened. Prague feels like a mixture of so many different styles and eras...some Gothic here, some Renaissance there, some drab Communism here, and capitalism just bursting all over the place. If I threw a rock, chances are it would hit a McDonald's around here. Or a KFC. Sad to see that our country's impact on the Czech Republic tends to be strictly fast food joints nowadays. I guess that's the price you pay for a capitalistic society.
Prague is a city lost in time that feels like it's trying in spurts to come up to speed with everyone else. There seems to be so much history and things to see here, and yet, you look all around and there's not a whole lot of tourists...or people for that matter...crowding the streets or rushing around in a hurry. Not much traffic here, either. This is the first time in Europe where I haven't been afraid of getting knocked over by a motorized vehicle. Prague has a minimal underground subway system and tram system that most people seem to use here, and it works just fine.
This hostel that we're staying in, the Boathouse, is a real treat. To you, it probably sounds like we're sleeping in somebody's barn amongst the rats and the rowboats, but that's not the case at all. The hostel is located along the southern part of the river in Prague in what used to be a boathouse at one time. If you can imagine a large mobile home-like structure up on stilts with long ramps leading up to it...that's our hostel. What makes this place amazing are the women that run the show here. Two women in their 50's check you in, make you wonderful dinners in the evening for cheap, will do your laundry for a small price, and will give you advice and treat you with the greatest respect. It's like having your Mom here. Oh, it's so wonderful! Nothing beats having a home-cooked meal. And the backpackers coming through here have tended to be pretty nice. It's a very social hostel where the crowds and the dynamics change on a day-to-day basis. Our first night here, we met a few Canadians and Americans and tried to play the Czech version of Monopoly, where Boardwalk and Park Place are now unpronounceable names that you've never heard of in your life, and instead of dollars, you're now working with Kroners. Like I said, it's like you're living in an alternate universe here, where things aren't quite right.
Coming here to Prague after riding on a 16 hour bus ride was a little tough. We came into the city about 6 am in the morning on a Sunday, and it took a few hours to jump start ourselves and figure out how things worked here. The first problem was acquiring coins to plug into the automated ticket machines, since they only take coins in this country. That's been one of my biggest complaints in the countries I've visited...how they never accept bills in their machines. If you're a local with a lot of spare change in your pocket, it's no big deal. But as a tourist with lots of big bills, you're constantly screwed and have to go buy small items to get some change to buy your tickets. And that's where McDonald's comes into play. Although I hate saying it, McDonald's IS our embassy here. What other place in the world can you go into and get cheap food, change, and a FREE public toilet ALL within minutes??? McDonald's has saved our asses on many occasions here in Europe when everything else is closed or not catering towards the tourist's daily dilemmas. I may not like their food or their philosophy, but McDonald's is quite the savior.
Prague is also a country that can take advantage of you if you're not careful. When we arrived here, we were so hungry, so we went to one of their hundreds of sandwich stands scattered throughout the city. Sandwiches are dirt cheap here. As we were ordering two sandwiches, the lady at the stand started pouring shot glasses of cheap lemon whiskey and was urging us to drink with her. We declined, but she was so insistent that we drink with her. We thought that maybe this was just what they do here, and we didn't want to be rude. So after we received our change, we partook in raising our shot glasses, saying "Cheers!" in Czech, and drinking with her and the 3 other patrons gathered around the food stand. Everyone seemed so happy, and we were highly amused. And that alcohol...oooh, it burned. I felt like it was Rotgut or something and would eat through my stomach. So we sat down to eat our sandwiches, and as Eric was counting his change, he realized that he was missing about 300 Czech Krowns. The lady had not given us the right change, even though it appeared she had. So for two sandwiches that cost about $3.00 USD, we had paid about $20 for them. We realized that we had been hosed. Oh, we were definitely hosed on that one. That lady knew we were right off the turnip truck and took full advantage of it. So we basically paid for a whole round of shots we thought were on the house. Not only were our stomachs burning, but our minds were after that screw-up.
Time to go explore the city some more today. I think I'll check out the Museum of Communism today (I know...it sounds hilarious, doesn't it?) as well as the Mucha Museum, and then see where the day takes me. Probably have a few cheap beers since they are so plentiful here. And I gotta have the REAL Budweiser (Budvar) here. Tasty beer, that Budvar. Those Czechs really know their beer.
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2 comments:
It really sounds like you two have been moving through the country on a timely manner. I can't wait to hear your stories in person, although you do very well with your typing, I can easily envision your story telling!
Just to let you know Brian, Polly has began sleeping on your bed and she is still shedding!
I hope that by the time I come home, you've knitted a nice Polly afghan for me. Oh, I miss my...sorry...YOUR cat. I've had to adopt some poor substitutes over the past few weeks. In Prague, Miki the Hostel Kitty was OK, but she was slow moving like a bassett hound and wouldn't jump on you. Then there were the nasty feral cats I've seen at some of the campsites I've been to. You pet those and you can probably catch Monkey Pox.
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