Bohemian Rhapsody

So we started our little ten day trip around the Eastern side of Europe in beautiful ol' Prague.

Prague is quite an eclectic little city.  First of all its very antique looking, as it is one of the cities that managed to stay together during all the bombings of WWII.  It feels a bit like you are meandering around a medieval town with a hint of today sprinkled on top.  The statues on the Charles Bridge are both ominous and spectacular.  They hold a dark feel with their black stone collecting dirt and dust over the years, as well as a beauty due to the craftsmanship involved in sculpting them and the stories that they tell.  Not to mention they make you feel minuscule compared to their towering features.  When the sun is starting to set, they cast crazy shadows that make you feel both protected and overpowered.  I wish I had a chance to see the effect at sunset!  Guess I will just have to go back...

The comfy seat at Maly Buddha's

I have to mention that I cant help but notice that Prague is a good combination of Romanesque buildings, Baroque sculptures, English castles, Indian shops, and German trinkets with some Scottish style meats and gravy.  Because it is not the first city in Europe I have been to, I cant help but associate it with all the others I have visited, but it really does seem to capture it all.  Walking through the castle feels like someone always has an eye on you with the towering walls, but that might be a good thing because it is so large its easy to get lost!  There was one point we were trying to get out and instead we did a full circle around a chapel museum of sorts.  Yes, full circle around ONE building.  Map was in the bum pocket at that moment...thats all I have to say about that one ;)  But, with a little time to meander and countless numbers of government issued BMWs and guards, we found our way out.  I will say, if you only ever visit one city in all of Europe, I might recommend Prague for having a little bit of everything.

As for the rest of the city, the cobblestone streets are windy and carless (most of the time) and seem to lead endlessly to goulash (meat and gravy contrary to what I originally thought, pasta noodles and sauce!), pork knee (would you like a pigs knuckle?!) and duck portions.  Hmm.  I think I will stick to the Pilsner Urquell and Velvet.  Pilsner Urquell is the "world's best beer" and a town right outside of Prague is apparently responsible for its birth.  I will say, I don't particularly fancy it, but Jaymo is happy to put on his drinking socks (as he would say) and take a few down.  Especially at only about a dollar a pint.  Now thats a good deal.  Thats what you get when you appear in the origin of the world's greatest beer!  Right!?  And this Velvet I speak of tastes like a "blonde Guiness" (according to the beer master himself, I cannot take credit for the beer critiques) and is quite fantastic, even I think, which is saying a lot.  I am not a beer fanatic myself, if you were not aware. =)

So the souvenir of choice in Prague is definitely the crystal. If you have heard of Bohemian crystal, then you know why. The crystal work ranges from simple silly creatures the size of your pinky nail to absolutely astonishing sculptures of male and female figures to vases with intricate colored glass entwined. Unfortunately it is not the cheapest of all options available to take home, not to mention we were lugging around only one backpack each exposed to all the elements of rough travel (trains planes and automobiles aka public transportation) so we stuck with the typical art print, a Pilsner pint glass (those bad boys are tough) and of course…a bracelet, and two rings (eek…my weakness). Other common trinkets here were wood toys, Russian nestling dolls (everywhere?!? I think they forgot this was Europe), and all sorts of art work. Pretty cool little city for things to take home.

On the first day in the city, I'm surprised I remember a thing. James and I got off the plane from London (got up at 3:45 in the morning to catch the 4:39 train to Stansted airport) and we decided not to waste a minute. First we hit an ATM where we took out the equivalent of $100 and it spit out ONE bill! Now if you went to an ATM anywhere else but in Europe those bad boys are smart enough to know you want more than ONE bill!! And this was not the only ATM to do this on our trip. Good thing we were in touristy places where change was readily available!

First things first, we decided to head straight across the city from our hostel (just barely outside the city) to a restaurant James swore by called Maly Buddha’s (Vietnamese cuisine). Apparently Monday is a good day to be closed, because after a three hour or so trek through the winding streets of Prague, the silly restaurant so nicely settled on top of a gigantic hill (and I do mean gigantic) was closed for the day! By the time we got to the top of the hill we were not only exhausted but starving! We turned out little butts right around and found the nearest place to rest our feet! It ended up being pasta and pizza, but I don’t remember caring. And James got a hold of his first half liter of Pilsner Urquell of the trip. That was it for him!

After our meal, I was hell bend on not spending a penny on transportation, so my adamant self encouraged not so adamant James to trek back across the city on foot, across the bridge, through old town, past the train station, and back straight to the oh-so-one-layered (but comfier than India) hostel beds…where we remained motionless (aka asleep) for the next three hours. However nonproductive our nap was…we sure as heck needed it after 8 miles of winding in and out of the cobble stone mazes of Prague after maybe two hours of sleep! After we arose, we headed straight down the stairs where our hostel hosted their very own version of a Prague bar (close but no Pilsner, they only had Budvar, close enough for James) and then out to Old town for some food and a few good burrs aka Mojitos for me. That is what Prague is all about, right? Well…food if you know where to go, where the gravy and dumplings are not!

One of the first things I noticed about Prague for some reason was the love for dogs. Everyone had a dog, and if the didn’t they were trying to pet and say hello to someone else’s dog! One woman stopped at a park bench where a dog was chilling with its owner, blatantly unfamiliar with the owner, started petting and kissing the dogger who was more than welcoming to the attention, and then continued on. It was quite strange from an American eye, but as a dog lover I wanted to meander right over there and have my pet! So cute. Another incident was a homeless person (or apparently so) cuddled up with two doggers under an arch leading to the Charles Bridge. He seemed to be using the dogs for sympathy to make a few crowns (Czech money) in a hat, but holy smokes was it the cutest thing I have ever seen.

So the next day we meandered again, checking out the castle, its graden, a museum gift shop with cool photo books, the Jewish quarter home to this ridiculously overcrowded cemetery where there are TWELVE layers of burials. After each layer was added, the tombstones were all brought to the top, and now its just piles and piles of gravestones crammed in this tiny quarter of Prague. It’s quite ridiculous and somehow captivating.

For lunch we actually made it to Maly Buddha’s via a round about route to avoid the hill (and James was right! It was awesome and I obtained a new love for soy sauce). We managed to sit uncomfortably close to some fellow Americans, a guy and a girl.  They were probably the most annoying couple in the planet as each conversation they had seemed to get louder and louder.  This might be tolerable if we were perhaps talking with not so indoor voices, but my voice doesnt get much louder than a whisper, especially while I am eating!

I would equate sitting next to them to a reali life version of sitting next to a pair of spoiled kids featured in one of those MTV reality TV shows.  Full of absolutely not interesting details of who didnt call who and when as if someone was supposed to care.  I feel very bitchy saying it this way, like its a too good for that sort of tone of voice, but I promise, on all the Velvets in Prague, that you would have wanted to scream over their absurd conversations and bop them in the head with spring rolls too.  Not to mention, they were in the cool comfy seat we wanted!

PS her name was Darleen, she taught English at a school in Prague and Dan thought that they took advantage of her and didnt pay her enough (honey you are in the Czech Republic teaching English and making money doing it, isnt that enough!?)  Her friends name was Jenn and Matt apparently didnt call Dan at five like he was supposed to even though it was five minutes of still.  Oh the drama of nothing.  Oh and if you are interested, she wont get mad if you want to lay in bed with him, because they are not that serious yet.  I mean she is abroad teaching English after all, and he only comes to visit every three weeks.  Oh the things I wish never entered into my life...but then I wouldn't have as many uninteresting things to blog about!

For dinner that night we crammed in some Architectu (fancy dinner in a smokey cave like basement with only one exit, no fire hazard laws here, actually freaked me out when James pointed it out!)  Then we caught a overnight train out of there to Budapest.

When we returned to Prague (we spent the beginning and end of our trip here), we managed to make it to the Andy Warhol exhibit and made another appearance at Maly Buddha’s in our seat!  Its a really awesome seat on the ground with cushions and a low table to sit at, quite the way to go if your knees can take the beating. And of course, more soy sauce! The last two nights we stayed at a different hostel in the heart of old town, a welcomed change from the extreme walk past the train station to the other hostel. This one was much trendier and for the college folk, but we managed to make ourselves comfortable (the beds were actually quite comfy) by taking down a few spoonfuls of Absinth, which in retrospect was the worst idea of the trip as it resulted in a missed flight in the morning (and thanks to our absolutely horrendous attempts at cell phone alarms supplied by Virgin, they simply DON’T WORK), but all in all still quite a green little licoricey time. If you didn’t get that description, you don’t want to =)  Thank goodness for traveler's insurance!

Cheers.  Budapest to come...