The Prague Blog

Hello All! I know, I know. Waaay long overdue. I think I got snide comments from more than a couple people wondering when this would show it’s lovely face in your inboxes. While your prayers have been answered. Long live Prague Blog! (that rhymes nicely).

By The Numbers

4 free drinks + 3 more that were offered but refused…European record for Sapna and I.

7 Australians encountered

100 times we heard one particular Australian say he hates Americans

7 month interim between bagels

1 HUGE spider in our hostel…2 FREAKED OUT Americans

6 Swiss Airline complimentary chocolates I had

10 fans on the Slovakia Side at the soccer game

5008 times my shoe got stuck in the cobblestones on the St. Charles Bridge

3 Americans we met

20 Tram rides (at least) that we took

2 Tram doors that literally closed on me... Literally

1,000,000 French people we saw

3 balls of falafel I ate…which were delicious

Day 1

On the first day, Sapna and I made plans to meet up at the airport. With a little delay on both of our parts (I keep forgetting how crowded the buses can get because people actually do work on Fridays here), we both checked in and made our way to the plane. In no time we were seated on the plane, which is of course when I realize how badly I have to use the facilities (AKA tinkle), because I super hydrate myself whenever I fly. Poor Sapna heard me complaining about it forever, but we both knew all would be well when they turned off the seatbelt light after take off. But no, SOL. Apparently the route Mr. Pilot and the people who decide that stuff, chose the route which was highly turbulent, which they took the time out to announce. Therefore, the seatbelt sign would be on indefinitely throughout the flight.

Thankfully, about a half hour later, I was bouncing like a baby in the bathroom of the plane (due to the turbulence), but nothing was going to take away the beauty of that moment for me. We also got delicious sandwiches on the plane (Meggie..it was the same one we got when we went to Zurich), even thought the ride was only an hour long…

We landed in Zurich and then had to take another hour long ride to Prague. It worked out well, with us going straight to the terminal from our last terminal, and only a few minutes later boarding the plane.

We finally arrived in Prague, where we first encountered the bitchiest lady I had ever seen in Europe at one of the help counters. Then we encountered a nice lady who steered us in the right direction via bus and public transport, and bought those tickets through the second bitchiest lady ever. We then made our way to the hostel and walked up and down the street searching for it. Little did we know that we were walking up and down a street called Kamenickà, whereas Keramickà was where we supposed to be looking. Uhhhh…righto. Those crazy Czech’s and their crazy street names that look the same.

Anyway, we finally made it to the hostel, where we were struggling to explain the situation to the chick there (with dreads…apparently at our hostel you can only work there if you have said dreads). We got our room key, or keys (there were 3…quite the task we thought together, considering we were definitely going to be using them after trying absynth at least once), and headed to our room. We had booked a 5 bed room, but our room was actually a 6 bed. And the TV they advertised had 3 Czech channels, with one that repeated. And the kitchen in the room was fine, as long as you opened to cabinet to shut the refridgerator door. Oh, and the handle to our mini bathroom sort of came off a lot. But we ended up having the whole room to ourselves all three nights (with one exception that I will relay later), which was quite lovely.

After changing and taking a breather, Sapna and I headed to the St. Charles Bridge, which we read was a must-see. And it was. It was clearly the center of tourist activity, with street vendors, picture-takers, and crazy foreigners at every turn. We quickly became two of those three in a matter of minutes.

We then followed the bridge to the old Town, where we got some expensive dinner (relative to how much we thought it should be…damn those tourist traps), but we got it right in front of this clock that we also read about in the guide books. On the hour, ever hour there are puppets that ‘dance’ we were told. It was the lamest thing I had ever seen. They don’t dance. It’s just two wooden figures on a circular track that just go round and round. For like 20 seconds. My overpriced chicken Ceasar Salad, which didn’t even taste like Caesar Salad was more thrilling than the clock. The coolest part of the whole dinner/clock event, however, was the waiter that looked like Bon Jovi. I was in Prague, but straight ahead of me represented my Jersey roots. Yes, he caught me staring. Many times.

After dinner we headed back and took a little nap. We fell asleep to Czech Dancing With the Stars and woke up again to Czech Dancing With the Stars. After we got ready, we headed out, again going over the St. Charles Bridge, and we went to this Irish Club. It was unlike Irish Clubs here or at home, but it was fun. The music they played there was pretty great, and this old Irishman bought us both drinks. And I had a Pilsner, because I had to while I was there.

From the Irish bar we went to one of the supposedly biggest clubs in Europe. And I would believe it. It had 4 floors, and each floor offered at least a couple rooms (or a couple entrances to the same room). The music in each room was different. And each room, of course, had a very big bar. So we got more drinks and started to get our dance on. We started on the bottom floor and made our way up. I quickly vetoed floor two, though I can’t remember why. I was a fan of floor 3, though, as they were playing 90’s and late 80’s rock. Sooo my thing. There we met some Australians. One in particular loved Sapna. So we hung out with them for awhile. It was really funny though, because we talked to the one Australian, Chris, I believe for a long time. And then I started dancing with his friend (cause that’s what you do when your friend is being wanted by his friend…it’s the rule of friends). Anyway, I guess me and Chris’s friend didn’t really talk much, because literally like hours later I was like “So, are you having a good time in Prague?” and friend was blown away by the fact that I spoke English. Granted, I don’t know if ‘blown away’ would be the correct term. ‘Disappointed’ may be more a propos. You know how guys prefer the dancing without the talking…But anyway, we ended up hanging out with them and chatting for the rest of the night into the morning. Then we headed back over the St. Charles to get the tram back. And that’s when my stupid shoes got caught every ten seconds in between the cobblestones. Grrrr.

Oh yeah. And the absynth. The first night we tried a shot of it. The bartenders there also loved Sapna so they took extra special care with our shots, knowing it was also our first experience. They actually put sugar on spoons and then lit the sugar on fire and let it drip into the absynth. But they did this continually for a good 5 minutes (which I would later learn doesn’t soften the blow at all). Finally they handed it over to us, as we handed over our camera to them. Let me just tell you. Absynth = Absolutely Disgusting = Great after photos. Seriously, though. It’s supposed to taste like licorice. To me it tasted like burning. And my throat hurt after. Haha. It’s hardcore like that. And the biggest shocker of all…Sapna thought it tasted good. Sapna doesn’t think many things taste good. Sapna is a vegetarian. I just wanted to throw that in there, even though it is of no relevance. I have to say, though, the effects of absynth weren’t too startling or anything. We only had one shot of it, but it was a very clean sort of buzz. It lasted quickly, and it was comfortable. Except for the esophagus being burned part.

Oh, and the best part was at like 6 AM our tram comes, and the Australians were in mid sentence waiting with us, and all our bedside manners were shot to hell as the night progressed, because we saw our tram and didn’t even say goodbye. We just ran after it. And then as an afterthought we shot over a wave. Still feeling a little badly about that to this day. But not badly enough where I don’t still laugh thinking about it. But Karma was instant because we got on the right tram, but thought it was the wrong tram. So we got off at the next stop and walked to find another tram going the opposite way. But when we got on that one, we realized we were now actually going the wrong way. So back to the old stop we went. To do it all over again. Basically, it was past 8 by the time we got some shut eye.

Day 2

We woke up pretty late this day…around 3 o’clock. We then got up and took our showers and what not (Sapna burning the bejebus out of her hand in the shower because apparently the shower head, which you have no choice but to hold, gets insanely hot), and we headed to the stadium to buy tickets for the football (soccer) game that day. With tickets in hand, and a good few hours to kill, we made our way back to the bridge (surprise, surprise) and we took a boat ride there along the river. It was fun! We got complimentary Pilsner and ice cream or cookies, and we got to learn about Prague all the while. The captain was the best, though. He was cracking jokes and it was so cute cause his English was in direct translation. I don’t remember the beginning to his one joke, but he was implying he was going to jump ship (HAHAHA pun!!) and take us somewhere on the boat with him. But only if we “Haf eenough of zah time.” The only bummer were the really rude old people that were sitting on the back of the boat talking RIDICULOUSLY loudly. And the guy of the group would randomly break out in operatic song. There was a great moment where this other old guy, sitting across from me, turned around and yelled ‘SHUT UP!’. I was hoping for a senior citizen brawl. Well, at least a verbal battle.

After the boat we went back to the stadium to watch the game. It was excellent. The ambiance was nuts. People yelling, chanting, doing choreographed cheers. I was quite frightened and mesmerized at the same time. But I felt safe (yet also quite the opposite) because it seemed that all the on duty cops in Prague were sitting in our section. The Czech Republic Spartans were actually playing Slovakia that game (which in my mind equates to heavy rivalries since they used to be all part of one great big Czechoslovakia), but it was funny because the Slovak cheering section was all of like 7 people on the opposite side. But they were hardcore in their own right. When their team scored a goal they were jumping around like monkeys. There was also almost a fight among the players on the field. But no such luck. Wow, do you see my yearnings for violence?? The same girl who has to peacefully coexist with bugs because she doesn’t have the heart to kill them save spiders.

The one thing I thought was really weird was how the Czech people whistle when they don’t like something. Americans whistle at games when something good happens. They do the opposite. It was quite confusing at first. Another thing that was quite different was when someone got hurt on the field (which was often), it seemed more like the medical teams worked fast, running in with a stretcher and hurredly taking them out, not because a player needed quick medical attention, but moreso because they just seemed to be in the way during a soccer game. Haha. But all around good time!

After the game we went to a pizza place by our Hostel, called Pizza Einstein. Never figured out the connection, but it was pretty tasty. It would have been cooler if my toppings spelled out E = MC^2, though.

We then went out again that night, this time starting at an English Stag Bar (unbeknownst to us), but that worked out highly in our favor because the bartenders told us we were the first women in there all night, and they started donating shots to our cause. The being women at a stag bar cause. The one bartender was actually only working there for the weekend because he was visiting and his father was friends with the owner. He was actually a Canadian with Prague decent, and it turned out he was also a Jew, which instantaneously made us buddies for the night. He also said I looked like Kate from Lost, after I told him he looked like Paul Rudd. Even though he acted like a hyper Vince Vaughn (yeah, I know).

From there we went to our first clubby bar where we danced for a little bit and had a second go around with absynth. This time the bartenders weren’t digging Sapna, so they just gave us flaming spoons of sugar and told us to dip them when the fire goes out. Once again, awful. Clearly, I would make a bad subject in a conditioning experiment.

With my further burned esophagus, Sapna and I headed to this other bar that we read really good reviews on called M1. Yeah. It was like the clock. We did a little dancing, though, and we met some people from South Africa (who were actually living in Prague). After the Absynth, we were all a little too excited about that, but they were really nice, so it was fun.

By the time dawn neared, we were ready to head back. We opted for a cab this time. You should have seen me trying to explain where to take us. I tried the name, but nobody got it so I had to break out the map and show them. Then I got in the cab and after a couple minutes I asked our driver where his meter was. He said it broke. I said how much will it be. He said 250. I said no, You think I am stupid. 200. He said fine. Sapna said ‘He’s a liar!’ in drunken French. I think the next day the same cab ride was 150. I was stupid. Haha. Thank goodness for that exchange rate working in our favor.

Day 3

The next day I woke up crazy early considering how late we went to sleep. I took the opportunity to go to the grocery store and get some water, and some snackies. I was loving the grocery store. Everything was so cheap. And things that are usually in English were in Czech. I just walked around aimlessly for a good 15 minutes and then made my way back with big ass waters and a breakfast bar in tow. I was restless, because Sapna was still asleep, and was contemplating heading to the Jewish District solo. But then Sapna insisted she wanted to come, so I did some research on where we could visit that day. Just when it would be the best time to get up and at ‘em, poof, I fell asleep again. Finally we woke up again at around 3, and then headed out to get….BAGELS!! I was sooooo excited. I miss bagels so very much since they don’t seem to exist in France. There is this place in Prague, though, called Bohemia Bagels that we had read about and vowed to visit. Sapna made me swear I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high because I would more than likely be disappointed. So not the case. They had all sorts of bagels, and Philadelphia Cream Cheese varieties, and just everything else magical. It was delicious and well worth the little trek we had to make to get there.

After bagels we went to visit the Castle. It took us awhile to find it, but the best part was along the way I asked this elderly woman if she spoke English. She said no, but she goes “You can…do…what?” Clearly, the only 4 English words she knows. I just smiled and said “Castle?” So, she actually knew 5 words. But she was so adorable. She did this sign/body language to show us it was straight and around a bend. But she put her old body into the around the bend part. Like I mean, old lady was on her tiptoes with her body contorting in the direction opposite her pointing finger. I think she even added a little wispy whistle in there for effect. She was so great.

We found the castle, but couldn’t go in or anything. I think it was actually like a church or something. So after all the walking we just took some pictures, and headed back down the hill.

Our next stop was the Jewish Neighborhood. We got there sort of late, so we didn’t have the opportunity to see much. We went into one Synagogue-turned-Museum though, where the names of the people killed in Terezin (the Concentration Camp in Czechoslovakia) and I found a Berkowitz. That was kind of crazy. We also went to see the Jewish Cemetery which actually has graves stacked in 5 layers to fit all the people in there.

That was all we really had time for there because things started closing. So we then took the opportunity to go to the souvenir shops and look for presents and such. After that, we went back to the Old Town, and I was adamant about seeing this Black Light Show I read about. I figured it would be unlike anything I could see back in the states or France, and I guess it was. It was a nonverbal show (set to music) loosely based on Alice In Wonderland. It was in a Black Light Theatre, though, so everything was based around the black light effect. Some parts were really cool, but some were a little too artsy fartsy for me. But it was pretty good.

After that, we went back to the hostel to get ready for our last night on the town. That’s when IT happened. The incident. I am referring to the GIANT spider in our shower. It was all hairy. And Huge. And scary. I am scared of spiders as it is. Now add hair, height, speed, and in our shower, and you got a freaked out Dina. Thankfully, Sapna is a sissy like me, so I didn’t have to feel silly. We contemplated for a good 5 minutes what to do, while constantly checking to make sure the spider was still there. The stupid thing was stuck in the shower because it couldn’t climb up the sides to get out. So we decided our ultimate plan of attack would be to drown it. I feel a little guilty for such a cowardly and inhumane way to take Mr. Scary Spider’s life, but did I mention it was hairy? And huge? Anyway, Mr. Spider shriveled up and put up a little fight. But, our dreams for a departure shower were shattered.

So, with our smellyness we went to this other club that night. It was actually open 24 hours. When we first got there it was a little weird, and they were playing Techno so it wasn’t my thing. But after awhile the music stopped and the good-looking guys showed up. It was party time in the Prague household. In the midst of rocking out to Madonna, I accidentally kicked this guy that was huge. Like Spider huge. Super tall and built. I apologized, and he grabbed me to dance to the next song…I’ve Had the Time of My Life. So here we are, partner dancing to Dirty Dancing, and Mr. Huge Guy is quite the twinkle toes. He, too, was Canadian, and as it turns out, was an ex-NY Giant. I didn’t believe me until I asked him what position he played and he said ‘benchwarmer’. But now he plays in the Canadian Football League. He agreed with my statement that it’s blasphemous to play Football instead of Ice Hockey when you come from Canada. But yet there he was. We kind of chilled and talked to them for the rest of the night (which was much shorter than our others), and then we headed back to get some sleep.

Day 4

We woke up at like 10 and got our stuff together to get ready to check out. I don’t think we did anything this day except haul our stuff towards the airport where we got some breakfast and just chilled for a couple hours before our flights home. I think we were both pretty tired and just looking forward to our respective spiderless showers and our beds. The flights were uneventful, but sandwichless, but they did give us ice cream on the second flight, which reminded me of the Baskin’ Robbins strawberry cheesecake flavor. Delicious J.

So, that was basically our trip in a nutshell. Ok, there was nothing in a nutshell about it. That was basically our trip in a long detailed blogish saga. And you love it. There is much to write about Nice that happened recently, but I will spare you and your eyes. And your precious time. But I miss you all very much.

XOXO,

Dina