Tomorrow we are off to Berlin, so Fearless Leader's (as I've taken to calling Ian under my breath) brilliant new plan was to pack an overnight bag, leave the rest of our gear at the bus station, and change to a new hostel in Zizkov (again, not quite, but you get the idea. Picture little u's above the z's), which is supposedly the drinking quarter of Prague. Not a bad plan, but we had a little trouble finding the international bus station, and lugging our big bags around cobblestoned streets at noon in 35 degree (Celsius? What?) weather wore us out pretty quick.
We eventually got it together, and our new hostel is called The Clown and Bard. As you can imagine, there was much debate as to which of us is which. Eventually I caved, but I want it clear it's the "fool" or "jester" type of clown, not the creepy, face-painted, horn-honking, child-murdering kind of clown.
Since Ian was exhausted by 12:30 (combination of too much physical exertion and an inability to sleep through a cacophony of sino-nasal apnea (Fine! I'll make an appointment for the clinic as soon as I get back to the states. For now we're trying a face down approach, coupled with regular kicks to the gut.)) I headed out exploring on my own.
This is the TV Tower, Prague's answer to the extremely tall structures in other cities. The view is fairly spectacular, but you're probably bored of labyrinthine streets and gothic architecture by now, so I'll spare you. The weirdest thing about it (and you may need to look closely to see them, or maybe click on the picture to see it full-size, I just found out you can do that) is those black baby sculptures crawling all over it. I could find no explanation, other than in the off-color guide our hostel offered, which suggests that maybe they are trying to "nick the radio" (Ah, Europe!).
Got caught in a little bit of rain this afternoon, but as there seems to be a pub every other block in this part of town, I ducked in for a pivo, which is the only Czech word I've managed to pick up so far. It means beer, and it rhymes with TiVo!
I then went up to the Prague Market, which is not so spectacular. It reminds me of Tijuana, only there are Southeast Asians haranguing you in Czech to buy the misspelled knockoffs instead of Mexicans. *shudder*
Ian was up by the time I got back, working working working, so I figured it was my naptime, and later we had more authentic Czech cuisine (potato pancakes, beer soup, croquettes, beer, oh so much beer here) and then headed to our hostel's bar, which we had been promised was one of the more lively in town.
It proved to be so, but as I am learning, hostelry is a young drunk's game, and while the thought of carousing around the city with a bunch of early-twentysomethings all hepped up on Jager shots sounds good on paper, a few beers in the bar quickly convinced me that I'd rather shoot some pool in a bowling alley with Ian.
So that's Prague! Assuming no difficulties with our train passage (HA!) we will be in Berlin by nightfall. Or, as they call it in Germany, "nachtenfallengesamtkunstverkenschmidt".
3 comments:
Ah, you got to see the big 'ol clock in the town square eh?! What about the Bone Church? Seriously. It's really made out of bones! Have fun in Berlin. Now instead of "pivo" it's "bier" Try this one out "Ist du mishtuuk" that's phonetically btw. It means "eat it bitch!" Accordin to the gay man's guide to europe. What? You don't have it? Xmas is just around the corner...!
I think I read somewhere ("are you sure it was something you read, are you sure it wasn't nothing?")that that bar, incidentally, has made it perfectly clear that the clown referred to in the title "clown and bard" is in fact the scary, face painted, child-killing clown.
I think the way out of this is the unstated premise that one of you must be such a clown. Probably that clown was just one of the bar-tenders.
Everything I know about Prague is from the mid-nineties. Is it still hip, and have lots people soliciting you to stay in their houses, and youthful and full of prostitue?
No, we missed the Bone Church. Yes, Prague is full of prostitutes. This whole trip, it seems, is some kind of trial to see how long before I cave and pay for sex. As to its hipness, I'm not really qualified to speak to that, but there are certainly main places to drink, and many young people taking advantage of them.
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