Prague, Written 17 June 2008

I arrived in Prague and well, it was cold and gray again. But something struck me as being different. It’s my first time in Eastern Europe unless you include Tallinn and St. Petersburg for tiny periods of time each. I managed to find my way to meet Marko, from Serbia but who has lived in Prague for the past 15 years.

The past two days have been spent walking, walking, walking, and making the following observations…

When I got off the bus, 119 from the airport, and had to find the tram I was supposed to take (20), I was totally overwhelmed because it’s the first time in awhile that I’ve been somewhere where the language is COMPLETELY foreign to me. At least when I got to Brasil I could speak Spanish so therefore could somewhat decipher what was written. Well, the thing about Czech people, from what I can tell so far, is that they’re not outwardly smiley and openly friendly (this isn’t a bad thing, after all, why would they walk around smiling at me?) However, it’s unanimously surprised me just how friendly they are when I do go over and ask for help. The first couple changed their route so that they could take me on the metro, and then they were going to go further than my stop but decided to get off so they could show me where the tram I needed was, and were extremely friendly asking about Japan etc. When I had to switch trams the guy walked over to the timetable and showed me alternatives – 1 or 25. All with huge smiles and excellent English. It’s kind of funny. All day today it’s been the same, you just go ask with a smile and it’s entirely reciprocated.

Prague is breathtakingly gorgeous. It’s surprising to me that it’s been so far off my radar for this long. Not saying that I know everything there is to know about Europe, but how come the Czech Republic doesn’t come up more in conversations with other travelers? It’s not all that far from my stomping grounds of Holland, France, and Italy…

The architecture is extremely varied, with a row of houses having different colors, different bricks, different windows…it looks like it’s come straight out of a painting. It was made pretty just to make it pretty. How refreshing. (I have no idea how this architecture came about in actuality and it may have function and lots of history behind it)

There is tons, I mean tons, of green space all around. and it’s so green. You feel like you’ve left the city behind and are walking through viney trees and you can’t hear traffic, and it’s really like fairy-tale land.

And though I’m not a beer connoisseur, I have decided I like the beer culture here. The Czechs are extremely proud of their beer, and I knew I liked Pilsner Urquell, but the one I had here really blows away the ones I’ve had abroad. I am guessing the Czechs are quite reserved, and last night, Marko took me to a small Pivnice – pivo being beer, so pivnice a place which has beer. Lots of it. We went to a small room on the side with just two tables, and sat with two slightly older guys. You order beer and when it’s brought with its thick head of foam, the waiter makes tally marks on your check. I glanced across and the gentlemen across had 15 strokes when we arrived. That's 7 or 8 pints each – and they were not boisterous, obnoxious, or anywhere near pass-out drunk. They smiled and raised their glasses to us. The table across was 6 younger people, who were definitely enjoying their drinks and seemed to be having a great time. I had a spicy sausage and Marko had some herring…

There are tourists crawling all over the place if you go to the tourist spots, but if you go just a bit away from them, it seems that they disappear altogether. In parts of town I could be in a plaza with hordes of Spaniards, and wander two blocks away and find myself completely alone. So in that sense, Prague has managed to maintain herself. Same with the gastronomy – the tourist areas are crowded with signs of “Traditional Czech Food,” but it appears that if you stray slightly, there are no tourists around.

I like that they have held on to their own currency; I like that they are friendly but don’t seem to be obsessed with taking from tourists; I like the red trams which seem to be super efficient, clean, and safe; I like the cobblestone streets; I like the magical streetlamps that seem to transport you back centuries; I like the green that explodes all over the place, that makes you think you’re wandering through a forest that is recapturing the land that has been built on; I like the variety of color through the city; I like the variety of clothing, style, and overall what seems to be freedom of expression…

I am very excited to get out and see other parts of this country that I know so little about…