On a whim to Prague

After the whole no Barcelona and no passport debacle, we suddenly realized we had spent over a week in Lille (4 days longer than planned) and we thought that maybe our welcome might be wearing thin with our host. We needed to get on with our trip and leave as soon as possible. We went to the computer to see where we could afford to run off to on such short notice. And where should we have picked but the furthest possible country that our Eurorail passes would take us to. Prague, Czech Republic. We booked a train trip on Monday and we headed out the next day.

On a personal note I would like to say, all political issues aside, how sad I am that Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia because the one word together is much more fun to say than the newer country names. But I’m sure it’s for the best. Back to the blog…

Yes, we set out for a full day of travel and an uncomfortable night of sleep on a train. And it was worth it to reach the promised land of low cost living and cheap entertainment, exactly what our pocket book had been waiting for.  Despite Randy’s belief that I didn’t like Prague, I didn’t really have any assumptions of what Prague would be like. I just knew it was Eastern Europe and from what I heard they were still a little backwards there. And we did get confirmation from a European that Eastern Europe is still a little backward but Prague is catching up to its western comrades.

Prague is currently one of the trendy European cities to go to, and the place to go to party (so I’m told by most Europeans we meet). We even met an American lawyer (who has been living in Germany for 12 years now) who told us that Prague use to be his party town. You might just say Prague would be like Europe’s Vegas (only without all the lights and dinner shows). Due to the fact that typically illegal activities fall into gray areas of the law there are a lot of brothels, casinos, and easily accessible drugs around the city. But from our recent travels around Western Europe we have learned that finding things like that in a big city isn’t that uncommon. Despite that, I would say that if you aren’t in town for any of those illegal activities you aren’t very likely to notice much of it (although there are a large number of casinos which are hard to miss, but they are still nothing like the Vegas casinos).

There are plenty of sights to see with the family, the streets are very clean, the locals are fairly nice and English speaking, the city seems rather organized, and I felt perfectly safe whenever we walked around, day or night. Ok, that isn’t entirely true. There was a moment we walked down a small dark alley behind an old church (at night) and I was worried about what we might run into. Then we saw a woman pushing a baby stroller and Randy said it was perfectly safe. I, of course, still had doubts. The woman could’ve been the mistress of a mob boss that could walk down any dark alley and be perfectly safe, but that didn’t mean we would be. Like those gangsters who park their pimped out Cadillac in a notoriously dangerous neighborhood but no one touches it because it would cost them their life. Alas, we kept walking and we never saw any suspicious characters lurking.

Of course it wouldn’t be a European city if it wasn’t ancient and drizzled with beautiful historical buildings. As an added bonus, this city is pretty small and easy to walk around from historical structure to historical structure. We walked up to the castle to stare at the beautiful architecture and then walk around the grounds which gave an amazing view of the city. Back down in the old city center we waited with a growing crowd in anticipation for the astronomical clock to come to life on the hour. Unfortunately, it was sort of anti-climatic because I was expecting more of a coo-coo clock, where the little statues would come out of the clock and run in a circle. But actually two small doors open at the top and the little statues do their thing inside the tower. I can’t exactly tell you what they did because it was very high up and I didn’t realize I was at a visual disadvantage until it was too late. I did read afterward that Death empties his hourglass and then a procession of apostles marches by (if you were curious). After the clock chimed a man in a formal medieval trumpeter outfit blew a trumpet from the top of the bell tower and then waved to his fans and everyone clapped.  The best part of not having expectations is that you are never let down, so despite the fact that I thought the clock would put on a better show I was still happy to be apart of the experience.

We were, however, let down on one aspect. The only thing I read about Prague before we came was about an old Jewish cemetery from the 10^th or 11^th century that Randy showed me pictures of online. The pictures online looked amazing and eerie, so naturally we were looking forward to exploring the grounds. We walked all over the area it showed on the tourist map and couldn’t seem to find it. Then we found a ticket window and learned it was an entire Jewish community, mostly enclosed behind a big wall built in 1180, and we would have to pay to see everything in the community (like synagogues and such) if we wanted to see the cemetery.  We were very disappointed to learn this because we only wanted to see the cemetery and our budget would not allow for even one ticket. But as we walked away from the entrance we found an old door in the wall with a window space where we could sneak a peak of the cemetery and snap some pictures. Not exactly what we were hoping for but better than nothing.

            For dinner one night we grabbed a couple of cheap hot dogs and I saw that they sold hot chocolate. I love hot chocolate, I thought, as I asked for a cup. Now I was thinking it would be like hot coco back home, some chocolate syrup or powder mixed with hot milk or water, but as I saw them pour it into my cup I noticed it was pretty thick. When I drank it I realized it was actually hot, melted chocolate, the way Europeans have been drinking it for hundreds of years. And it was delicious! How the heck did we start drinking that powder crap?  

We also found a different kind of beggar in Prague. Traveling through these countries you see a lot of gypsy beggars; some of which try to get money for helping you buy a metro ticket, some by exploiting their deformities, children, or dogs, some buy playing the accordion on the metro, some by giving you a sob story, and some by just flat out walking up to you and asking for money. Not all beggars are gypsies, but the majority are, and you find beggars in every single country. So, naturally, after exploring city after city for one and a half months I have seen a fair share of begging. But I take my hat off to some of Prague’s beggars who have perfected the art by literally bowing on their knees and putting their forehead to the ground in true humble, begging fashion. Grown men take up a lot of space when stretched out across the sidewalk, leaving little opportunity to ignore them and the sad hat they are holding for coin collection. They got my attention, sympathy, and pity.

           The most beautiful thing about going to Prague was that we could afford to be there. Money was getting tight but we could afford a private, upscale room in a hostel in the center of the city.  This hostel was again like something out of an Ikea catalogue (very modern) with cable TV (though it was mostly German programming), a convenient kitchenette, and complimentary breakfast in the morning. We were more than happy to have a kitchenette because it was able to help us stretch our budget by making pasta and soup for lunch and dinner instead of eating out. We stayed here two nights for the same amount we would have to pay for one night anywhere else. Our American dollar finally had some buying power and it lifted our spirits.

The Astronomical Clock

A view of the city from the castle fort walls

Our kitchenette

Intermission

While some of you have already seen Randy or myself and gotten stories on the remainder of our trip, some of you have not and you may be wondering if you ever will since we have not posted anything in months. Well, since we returned home we have both become engulfed in getting back to normal life.  But now that I have more time I have decided to post the remaining blogs I wrote and we will post the pictures later. Sorry for the inconvenience. 

Erin