Day 333: The Astronomical Clock Chime

One of my favorite pictures is one that I took when I lived in Prague from the Astronomical Clock tower. It was raining and I got lucky with a beautiful shot full of umbrellas. Sometimes I like to revisit a picture and take it again. It wasn’t raining today, but I still enjoyed the people below… perhaps a little too much because I kept taking pictures of the crowd growing and growing and…

The chime of the astronomical clock isn’t terribly exciting, nor does it last very long, so it always gives me a little chuckle to see how large the crowd gets to see something that lasts all of fifteen seconds on the hour, every hour. I could watch the crowd from below or above for hours though. So many tourists from so many different places makes for great people watching!

We started the day at the farmer’s market right around the corner from Petr’s house. It was perfect. A coffee. A crepe. A Slovakian potato salad. all under a tree in a park with Petr and Andrew of course. If you look closely (above), you can see both Andrew and Petr in their red shirts in the middle of the crowd below! 

OK, so I was a little obsessed with how pretty the crowd looked below. (You should see how many raw images I have!) I finally tore myself away after the clock chimed to walk around the astronomical clock tower for some different views, both of the square below and the town surrounding. And then I realized Andrew and Petr were waiting below and we had a bus to catch to Dijon! I scooted back down the tower, glad I got the chance to go up the astronomical clock tower once more. Aside from the view from Letna, I think the view of Prague from the top of the astronomical clock tower is the best in the city. Maybe it has a special place in my heart though because I visited it with a close friend from college who came all the way to Prague to visit me!

Day 332: What’s a chlebicky?

Today’s to-do: See Fred and Ginger (also known as The Dancing House) and pick up Andrew’s passport. You’ve probably been thinking ‘Woah, they’ve been in Prague forever!’ -at least one friend was, confused by our length of stay… But it’s been prolonged mostly because Andrew needed to get extra pages added to his passport. Instead of just getting more pages for one year left until expiration, he went ahead and got a whole new passport- which took a week. Having mostly exhausted the sights (or having been mostly exhausted by the sights) we had a low key day and walked around town with Petr, stopping in a few new places and trying chlebicky for the first time(!) instead of pushing ourselves to do more.

No matter how long you live in a city or a country, there is always something new to be discovered. For me, today, it was not only Lokal restaurant (again, this time in a different location) but trying a Czech chlebicky. I didn’t even notice these little open faced sandwiches in some of the cafes and bistro windows until Andrew asked Petr what they were. Basically, they are an open-faced deli sandwich. And they are delicious. Petr took us to a rather famous place just in between Narodni Divadlo and Narodni Trida to try some.

It’s like the Czech version of tapas… kinda. Petr said they are popular at parties, and I can see why! But perhaps only if there’s quite a variety, because that’s where I think the fun is- getting to try as many different ones as possible. We saved room for take out Vietnamese in his neighborhood instead of going crazy with the chlebicky. Another new thing to me: Vietnamese food in Prague is abundant and awesome.

Day 331: Burgers and Absinth

Whenever we couchsurf, I can’t stop thinking that there are sooo many nice people in the world. It’s a really special feeling (especially after our experience at Hostel Florenc) to say the least. So often throughout this trip something terrible happens to someone in a country we happen to be in and it worries our families and friends… It helps to put our faith back in the world so to speak when we can meet a perfect stranger, drop our bags off at his (or her) house and then go out for coffee, a drink, or dinner together. This is exactly what happened when we met our new friend, Petr – except, we did all three. My favorite part of the evening was going to an Absintherie in the old town. It was Andrew’s first time drinking Absinth, and my first time in an Absintherie. Probably my last time drinking Absinth straight, but fun nonetheless.

Petr showed us around his neighborhood, Vinohrady before heading to dinner. I’m not as familiar with Vinohrady (I lived on the other side of the river) and Prague as a whole has changed so much in terms of eateries and chic coffee shops that it was fun to explore a different side of the city. Part of this little tour included a break from the typical Czech fare for an old fashioned American burger at The Tavern. I had heard that the owners were from Kentucky, so as soon as we sat down, I asked our waiter if there was anyone from Kentucky there at the moment. I told him that I, too, was from Kentucky and would love to meet them. Later, he came up and jokingly whispered to our table “The people from Kentucky are HERE!”

Not a minute after, Lori came up to our table and introduced herself to me and sweetly asked what we were doing in Prague. Sweetly is an understatement, because she seemed to be the kind of person you immediately wanted to hug and ask if you could be best friends forever. Because we’re both from Kentucky, I think she would agree to be my BFF. I hope. The cutest part of our conversation was when she said “I just got done working with George Clooney!” in a What a coincidence! kinda way – as if I knew him or he was a friend of mine as well –  you know, because of Kentucky. That’s when I decided had I still lived in Prague, we would indeed be BFFs today!

After she left, I turned to Petr with a wink and simply said “Kentucky” with a big smile.

After some delicious burgers, we wandered down to the old town for some drinks, stopped in to see Petr’s mom working at the Moser shop (fancy Czech glass and crystal) and then headed to the Absintherie.

I’ve never been to an Absintherie before, much less had an entire glass of Absinth. It was quite the production and even if I wasn’t a huge fan of drinking it straight (I prefer a smidge in a B52 shot) the little bar was perfectly designed and decorated and it was definitely different from the typical Czech watering hole. The trick is to get lots of water to chase your sips with. Otherwise it kinda tastes like the worst cold medicine ever. Which is why, I’ve always preferred drinking it with Kahlúa and Baileys Irish Cream. The fun part is when the Absinth is set on fire and you drink the shot through a straw. You don’t have time to really taste the strength of the Absinth when it’s done like this!

We stopped at a few more places- tried to have a more fancy drink on a rooftop in the Old Town, but got shooed away because Petr was speaking Czech. They seemed to prefer tourists only. We introduced Petr to Usudu (the cave-like bar from a few posts earlier) which was great until we were suddenly surrounded by a pub crawl. On our walk ‘home’ Petr took us down the red light district before one final stop in a brand new bar that was designed in the old communist style around the corner from his house. I LOVED the aesthetic (a little bit you can see in the video) and looked forward to returning the next afternoon for lunch, as Petr promised!

Day 330: I love you Prague, but you’re bringing me down (Thanks, Hostel Florenc)

Having lived in Prague for a year, I can honestly say that being a tourist in this wonderful (glorious, beautiful, fabulous) city is not the same. But perhaps, it had a lot to do with where we were staying: Enter Hostel Florenc, located conveniently practically inside the Florenc bus terminal in Prague. We hadn’t planned to stay here. Instead, we had made arrangements to stay in a studio apartment in the old town for our entire week (turned two) stay. That is, before the owner of the flat decided the price was in euros instead of dollars (as it was stated online). We tried couchsurfing. We tried AirBnB. But ended up at Hostel Florenc because it was the cheapest, included breakfast, and advertised decent wi-fi (something that is increasingly important for a girl trying to put up a daily blog post about her trip around the world).

I didn’t realize how tolerant Andrew and I have become along this trip until today. I mean, sure, I’ve chuckled at ourselves throughout incredibly uncomfortable bus rides through Africa. I continue to make fun of Andrew for getting frustrated over teeny cups of coffee that come with milk when he had specifically asked for black. He continues to make fun of me for getting frustrated over the lack of dipping sauce when I order calamari, or there’s no lettuce in my Greek salad, or the bed isn’t made, or his bag explodes all over our tiny room for the night… (I just asked him what he makes fun of me for, and couldn’t stop him from listing every. single. thing.) One of us gets worked up. The other rolls their eyes and laughs. We get over it.

But after one full week of staying at Hostel Florenc, a stay that included a missing camera (mostly our fault), a clogged drain in a dirty, shared bathroom, an oven-like room, 4AM wake up calls thanks to construction noise and dozens of buses starting up outside our window, internet speeds so slow they rivaled those in Africa… When we got back late last night, I opened my big backpack to discover its contents soaked – including the inside of a binder full of women electronic outlets, camera accessories, and the worst part: a paper bag full of ticket stubs, travel pamphlets, and one full travel journal… I could no longer tolerate Hostel Florenc and followed Andrew down to reception, completely disappointed with not only Hostel Florenc, but that our week long stay in Prague was not nearly as glorious as my year residing in the city had been. To try to make up for our disastrous accommodation, Andrew acquiesced to an afternoon of thrift and vintage shop hopping in and around Vinohrady and Žižkov.

After stumbling upon some fun stores in Budapest, I decided to put a little more effort into looking for fun thrift and vintage stores in Prague. I found some good articles and lists, did a bit of cross referencing, and tried to go to an area where it looked like the most were. (You can check all of the inks out here, here, and here!) We ended up starting in Vinohrady and I ducked into several hoping to find some new (to me) clothes that would fit into my budget.

First stop: Second Street Boutique

I found several things, but they were all on the regular priced racks and I couldn’t justify spending the equivalent of $10.00 on a second hand shirt. I didn’t realize the bargain bins were such a bargain until I had already been inside for fifteen minutes- if you go, head to those first! Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything. If I weren’t traveling around the world- living out of a backpack (and trying my hardest to stick to a budget) I would have bought a few things, but… if I bought something I’d have to give up that much of my daily budget annnd I’d have to figure out how to stuff it into my backpack… I walked out empty handed.

Second stop: Second Hand Fox’s

This was set up more like a boutique, which kinda meant there wasn’t tooo much to choose from. It’s right smack in the middle of lots of other choices, so it’s worth stopping, but don’t get your hopes up.

Third stop: Second Móda

Random stop in between other shops on the list. I went in because there was a giant (not exactly friendly in the end) dog I wanted to be friends with and it looked properly packed. There were piles. and stacks. and disorganized racks of clothes. It was great. But possibly too vintagey for this trip?

Fourth stop: Praha Thrift Store

This one reminded me most of my favorite back home. It was organized. It was full. There were even weekly discounts (although none applied to me). It wasn’t terribly expensive, but I just couldn’t find anything… I started to feel a little disappointed, but reminded myself it was all about the adventure of it instead of the final purchase today.

Fifth stop: Bohemian Retro

This was probably the most vintagey (and fun) store on the list. There was even a ‘man chair’ for Andrew and a lovely American (I believe it’s his wife’s shop) who had been living in Prague for awhile to chat to while I mulled over a bag and if I could take it around South America with me. In the end, I decided the bag wouldn’t work on the road and we headed back towards Old Town for some langosš (you can see him eating it in the video above) and a photography exhibit.

I was a little bit bummed that we went to sooo many places and I was returning back to Hostel Florenc empty-handed. And then I remembered that my bag got soaked the night before and if I were to get something fabulous, the way this trip has been going, chances are it something would have happened to it… It was a good day of distraction (from our hostel nightmare) and one that wasn’t as touristy as our other days in Prague have been.

The photography exhibit; Viktor Kolář: A Retrospective was nice- well, that’s just it- it was nice. It probably shouldn’t have been called a ‘retrospective’ in my very humble opinion, and that it wasn’t arranged in chronological order was a bit strange… Disconnects like these make me curious how the show was curated. But I always feel like I learn a bit more about photography and what I like and dislike when looking at others’ works, exhibitions, and even ‘retrospectives.’

Back at Hostel Florenc, we were greeted by the worst reception girl on the whole of this trip. Seriously, she was that awful. I’m jumping ahead a bit, (simply because I don’t want to talk about Hostel Florenc in another post) but the reason we stayed so long at Hostel Florenc in the first place (despite less than lovely conditions) was because all of the other women at the front desk were so nice! Apparently this woman (with bright red dyed hair I might add) was not in the same training session. When we went to check out and ask if the manager had anything for us to make up for my soaking bag (we were hoping for at least a refund for one or two nights stay) she muttered under her breath the entire time about how we left the window open (we didn’t) and it was our fault (it wasn’t). Had she simply followed the typical customer/hospitality rules of apologizing and being nice about an unfortunate situation, I would have chalked the whole thing up to the joys of travel… and our plain bad luck some times.

Instead, she decided to be a horrible person and I walked out in shock at how terribly she spoke to us before we left- after staying for (and paying for) eight nights! I was fuming as we crossed town to meet our couchsurfer host for the night (Thank God for him!) and if the hostel wasn’t located in such a crap location (in the middle of the Florenc Bus Station) I probably would have marched back in to give her a piece of my mind. Instead, I took to Trip Advisor and left quite possibly the worst review I have on this entire (nearly one year) trip.

They of course, responded and said I lied. While I fumed- again- at Hostel Florenc, Andrew laughed at how absurd they were and took to writing a Trip Advisor review for them of his own. A few days later, in Barcelona we met up with a friend of ours who had stayed in the same place and had a similar (terrible) experience with them as well. We commiserated. Andrew showed her our list of what we would include in our future boutique hostel/guesthouse (investors wanted). She approved.

We all agreed hospitality is key. All Hostel Florenc had to do was apologize profusely for the inconvenience. Perhaps offer a dryer. Maybe even some complimentary tea or coffee after I spent an hour trying to clean up a mess that wasn’t my fault. But noooo, they shot us dirty looks, talked badly about us under their breath, and didn’t even thank us for our week long stay! My only hope is that others stumble across our reviews and possibly this post so they realize it’s worth it in the end to pay more to stay elsewhere!

Day 329: Museum of Communism oh, and another walking tour

I have a small obsession with Communism. You may remember I’m a big fan of old communist propaganda prints? I’ve been to this museum before, but obviously, in order to feed my obsession I didn’t mind returning! The Museum of Communism isn’t nearly as thought out or artistically designed as… say, The House of Terror in Budapest was, but it’s not as bad as some of the Trip Advisor reviews say it is. It is in desperate need of some updating (or at least a discount until it is updated?) but if you’re into history, you might enjoy it. Afterwards, wanting to make up for two bookkeeping (planning/blogging/escaping the heat) days, we joined anotherfree walking tour through Prague. We were so pleased it turned out to be sooo much better than the worst ‘free’ walking tour we took a few days ago. Our guide, David was so nice (and educated and certified!) we ended up sticking around for the second part of the tour on the other side of the river!

The Museum of Communism was just as I remembered, not fun to pay for (a bit overpriced for an exhibition space so outdated in my opinion) but fun to see nonetheless. I think one of the downsides to this trip (in a way) is that we’re exposed to so many great museums that when we come across one that isn’t up to par with some others around the world, we get a little disappointed. At least I do.

I looked the museum up just now to find out some more information and was a bit surprised to discover the founder is also responsible for Bohemia Bagel (an old favorite) and U Malého Glena (a jazz club that was right across the street from my old apartment). Bohemia Bagel was one of the few (at the time you could count on one hand) places where you could get a good internet connection and a western style breakfast or brunch. It was great. These days it’s full of backpackers on a the free walking tour associated with the restaurant or signing up the affiliated pub crawl. I’m wondering if the same owner is responsible for this… If so, I’d like to shake his hand for the good bagel sandwiches six years ago and wring his neck for putting my old favorites on the average 19 year old backpacker’s to do list today. (If you’re interested in reading more about the American born entrepreneur, you can do so here, and here.)

During the first half of the free walking tour, we covered much of the same ground (and information) as we did during the first one. Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock, the Clock Tower, the stables next to and behind Tyn Church, the Jewish Quarter, and stopped short of Charles Bridge. The group was not so large, and aside from the weird American family (working for the state department abroad) it was a great group to talk to. The weird family took off early, and the guide was so sweet, we decided to stick continue on with the tour on the lesser side (Mala Strana) for the second half of the tour. Although, I really appreciated that there was a break and an option halfway through to continue on, or leave, or perhaps pick up with the tour on another day!

The tour ended within the walls of Czech Castle. We had just enough time to sneak down to the gardens for a view of the city below before it started to rain during our walk back across the river. We ran into two girls from the tour at the same restaurant our guide suggested. As they were from South Korea, they were a bit flabbergasted to find out we had lived there for so long, knew where they went to school, and could even do spot on ajjushi impersonations for them. I never think this is crazy, half of my friends are from my time in Korea. When you’re surrounded by similar people or at least doing similar things, it doesn’t seem as unique. It was my life. It just happened to be in a country not everyone would think a girl from Kentucky would pick to reside in. Chatting with these two tonight made me wonder what reactions will be when we move back to America. Are we really that unique for having lived in South Korea for so long? I don’t really think so, but I’m sure we’ll find out in a few months!

We managed to escape the torrential rain (perhaps you can tell by the gloomy sky above?) but our room, despite having all of its windows shut, did not. Neither did my backpack- full of clothes, souvenir ticket stubs, tourist pamphlets, and one of my travel journals full from this trip. But we’ll get to that tomorrow. Don’t be surprised when Day 330’s blog post is titled For SHAME, Hostel Florenc, For SHAME!

Day 328: The day we almost got arrested.

It’s not nearly as exciting as getting arrested could (should?) be. But it happened nonetheless. In Prague, of all places…

A little backstory: the metro and tram system in Prague require a ticket to be punched upon entry, but there aren’t turnstiles or even people watching, so it’s quite easy to sneak into the metro or onto a tram without a ticket. The clincher is that metro police (sometimes in plainclothes- at least when I lived in Prague they would often be in plainclothes) ride the trams, trains, and sometimes stand at the exit of a station to check for tickets. If you don’t have a ticket, you have to pay a fine. If you don’t have money to pay the fine, you will be escorted to an ATM to withdraw the appropriate amount. If you refuse this, you will be arrested.

This is where we got into a little bit of trouble, even though we tried multiple times to buy a ticket…

I’ve been adamant that we buy tickets for the metro. I told Andrew all about the police and how a few of my friends were caught. I might have even been caught as well when I was pick-pocketed and my monthly pass was taken in my wallet! Anyway, I’m all for sticking it to the man, but not when it come to the Prague metro.

We got down to the metro station without any change for the machines and an unmanned metro office. So we bought some expensive water to break a bigger bill and promptly returned to the machine and slipped in a 50 koruna coin for two tickets. The machine ate our coin. No worries- there was a person behind the ticket office now, we could get help! No dice. The woman refused to listen to us, going so far as to hold up her arms in the Korean-style “X.”

Twenty minutes had passed trying to do the right thing by getting a stupid ticket, the machine ate more than enough for two tickets worth, and now we didn’t have any change (again) to get tickets from the machine that could possibly eat more of our money.

“Let’s just go.” I suggested, annoyed and not wanting to lose any more money in a broken machine.

Two stops later, coming up out of the escalator tunnel, two metro men in uniform were checking for tickets. Of course. The one and only time we didn’t have a ticket, they stop us. I prepare myself to spend an hour looking through my backpack until the officers get bored and let me go. Andrew, had another idea. He wanted to be all honest about it… like it would work or something…

“We tried to buy a ticket, but the machine ate our money, and no one would help us.” he started to explain.

“But you got on the metro without a ticket! You have to pay the fine. Why would you get on without a ticket?” The metro officer asked.

“Because we paid for the tickets! And it’s the hottest day of the year!” I responded, as it was, really, the hottest day of the year in Prague.

There was a lot of back and forth. Andrew started walking towards the ATM machine to withdraw the equivalent of $80.00 to pay the fine for both of us. But then I got indignant. If I really hadn’t gone to such lengths to buy a ticket, let alone lost my money in the process, I would have immediately withdrawn the money. But we really did try to buy a ticket and the machine really did eat our money and the woman really did refuse to help us!

“Andrew, NO! Don’t get money out. I want to talk to the police!” I called over to him halfway across the station and the metro policeman got on his phone.

“They are on my side.” The metro policeman told me.

“Ok.” I said, as Andrew started pacing and going into a bit of a silent panic (he later told me he was trying to play it up, although I’m not so sure…) in front of the officers. I pulled out my camera and asked if I could take their picture while we waited. They declined. I didn’t ask about taking video…

Andrew sat down. I stood next to the officers, clearly not making any attempts to go anywhere, filming the process of checking tickets, and occasionally haggling them a bit when they missed checking someone.

“If you don’t pay, you go to the station, you can spend the night and call your embassy tomorrow” One of the metro men threatened.

“Ok.” I responded, rolling my eyes at the thought of calling my embassy. I wondered how long Andrew would let me be indignant. Would we really ride in a police car to the station? Would I be able to take pictures? How long would we stay at the station? Would I be able to video the station? Would there be an ATM inside the station for Andrew to withdraw money when he got tired of my antics?

And then a wave of commuters came up the escalator and the other metro policeman quietly, but rather sharply told me to “Leave immediately.”

I said thank you, signaled to Andrew, and we left. I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed I didn’t get to see what would happen once the police showed up, but I was excited to return to Radost FX for a delicious brunch and an overpriced (and under liquored) bloody mary instead.

Day 327: Yes, we do have planning days.

A friend recently asked if we ever had these days – devoted to planning. The answer is a huge (HUGE!) “YES!” We were in desperate need of one today because we had to figure out a rough itinerary for Peru in case my Momma was going to book a ticket to come and meet us there. It ended up taking up most of the afternoon, and isn’t going to make for a very fun blog post for you. But, perhaps these pictures of Andrew will make up for it? He’s probably going to kill me (he’s sitting right next to me as I type this out, completely unaware I’m going to put up this glorious photo shoot we had in our oven of a hotel room before we left for the day. It all started when I spotted him getting ready with his bandana around his neck (like a proper prepster) on top of his collared shirt. I begged him to let me take his picture. He relented, even though it was really hard for him to keep a straight face.

Day 326: Mala Strana (part 2) Kampa Museum

We’re baaack in Mala Strana, more specifically; Kampa. I just can’t get enough. Andrew apparently can’t get enough of contemporary art either, because he insisted we go to another museum. Ok, so maybe insisted is the wrong word, but there was a Gerald Scarf exhibition at the Kampa Museum he was keen on seeing and I was not one to complain. We headed straight for the museum (I went a little crazy taking pictures of the pieces I liked most) and then strolled past the Lennon Wall before having dinner at another old haunt, The Hanging Coffee and making an appearance (and a rather weak performance) at a local English trivia night!

I don’t often photograph art – in museums – like I did today. For some reason, I just couldn’t help myself. I really liked some of the pieces and some I just thought were really fun to play with the juxtaposition and depth of field. Unfortunately, I didn’t jot down all of the artists’ names. I feel a bit bad about this. But I’m pretty sure everything I photographed is part of the permanent collection. Except the Gerald Scarf prints. I don’t know if I have a preference between Kampa Museum and the DOX Museum. They were a bit different, and I have a feeling that bigger traveling exhibitions circulate through the DOX. I wasn’t terribly impressed with the Judith on Kampa exhibition featuring works by Klimpt, Mucha, and Kupka- but that’s mostly because it wasn’t a very large collection, and I’m a bigger fan of Mucha (not so much Klimpt, Kupka is ok I guess, although I don’t know much about him) But bottom line is- if you want to see Mucha, then you should go to the Mucha Museum (in Prague) instead.

The personal collection was cool though, and perhaps had I known better, and if Andrew hadn’t wanted to see some Pink Floyd artwork, we would have only paid to see the permanent collection. I always tease Andrew (and maybe I’ve mentioned it on the blog before?) that I only want to be rich so I can be all ‘Pretty Woman’ (Big Mistake. HUGE.) to snooty sales clerks in high end stores. Now, I would also like to have a small fortune to my name so I can collect random modern art pieces and have a ‘collection.’ I think Andrew is down for both- watching me pretend I’m ‘Pretty Woman’ and buying lots and lots of art.

There were a few pieces of Gerald Scarf’s works that really spoke to me. Like, for instance, the one above: from Pink Floyd’s We Don’t Need No Education: the teacher is throwing up into the students’ mouths. Hey! Teacher! Leave those kids alone! 

The Lennon Wall! Once upon a time, my name resided here. I’m sure it’s still there, buried under layers and layers of paint. Andrew usually surprises me with restaurants on this trip, or places he thinks I’ll like that I didn’t look up (and he did) so it was really fun for me to be able to surprise him all over Prague. Had I been really thinking, I would have made it a point to stop and get some spray paint on our way…

Another surprise was climbing up the hill towards the castle, but turning off and taking Andrew to The Hanging Coffee instead. I think Alex (my old roommate) introduced this restaurant to us back in the day, but I can’t be so sure. Either way, it has really great food. We usually went for dinner and drinks, but I hear the coffee is good (and unlimited)! My favorite part is that everyone else there spoke Czech. No pub crawl coming through here, yet… After dinner, we joined an English trivia night, and we made the most epically dismal display of knowledge ever. There was a bridges category- with pictures of bridges around the world and you had to name them.

“I’ve been there. Wherever that bridge is, I know I’ve seen it. But I can’t remember where…” I insisted to Andrew giving me a complete blank expression. We later found out it was in Bratislava. The city we were in RIGHT BEFORE PRAGUE! We didn’t win, but we didn’t come in last – and that’s almost as good as winning some nights, right?

On the way home we waited for the tram with a beautiful view of St. Nicholas lit up at night. I, of course, got super nostalgic. I used to walk home looking at the same view night after night during my year in Prague. I darted out in the middle of the street to take a picture. How lucky was (am) I?

Day 325: Mala Strana (part 1)

My old ‘hood: Mala Strana. In 2006, I knew I was lucky to live here (two blocks away from the end of Charles Bridge) and loved every second of it. The neighborhood was (and still is) spectacular (albeit a bit more touristy than I remembered). I walked home either over the infamous bridge or towards one of the more famous churches in town everyday. My roommates were great. Even the ten flights of stairs to climb up to our apartment were more than manageable! It is probably my most favorite place that I’ve ever lived. I missed it all as we walked thirty minutes from our hotel room through the old town towards ‘the little side’ that used to be right out my bedroom window, and front door. Andrew humored me, and insisted he enjoyed hearing me reminisce about my year in Prague. We’ll all just pretend he really meant it and wasn’t tired of my stories after awhile…

I insisted the Kafka Museum was cool. I told Andrew that I’ve been, but still have yet to read any Kafka, so perhaps I should wait to return until I’ve read at least one book to better appreciate the museum. He agreed, and instead we took a picture of the statues of men peeing on a pool of water in the shape of the Czech Republic before moving on. If you want to read about the sculptor, David Cerny, and see more of his pieces, I suggest you check out this article. I had no idea he was the one responsible for so many works throughout Prague! 

Marionettes are popular here, and not just chintzy ones either. While one of our walking tour guides didn’t seem to understand their popularity, a Czech friend of ours remembered shows being put on for children at one point. I love (LOVE) marionette shops and dream of one day having a theater and put on a show much like the one in "The Sound of Music."

These marionettes only ran around $400-$600. I totally would have gotten them… you know, if not for the old budget. Oh right, and the fact that I don’t have a theatre yet, or a house to put it in, or a job to pay for it all…

After a quick lunch and some more of Mala Strana, we plopped down and took a nap in the park.

We walked back towards the area of town sandwiched in between Narodni Divadlo (the national theater) and Narodni Trida (where the best fried cheese sandwich stand used to reside). Walking around this town was like riding a bike. Usually Andrew relies on google maps to get us around, but I wouldn’t even let him peek at his phone, insisting I would figure it out. I did, and it felt good. What didn’t feel so good- eating cold (and overpriced) wings at Jama!

This restaurant, Jama- used to be a block away from where I worked. It had really cheap food (salads and wings were my favorites) and really terrible waitresses. We would go for lunch and try to order tap water with our food, and the waitresses would always insist, “It’s not possible!” wanting us to buy overpriced bottled water instead.

We would always grumble “IT IS POSSIBLE, YOU’RE JUST NOT GOING TO DO IT!” to each other and then order a (cheaper than water) beer instead. A friend of mine who left Prague only a year or so ago warned me about the decline of Jama, but I had to see for myself. At least now I know.

Paying a visit to one of my favorite places, which has (for the most part) remained the same made up for it. Hello, Usudu, you old friend! What’s great- is that it’s still pure awesomeness walking down several flights of stairs through an old, dark wine cellar that has been converted into a bar. What’s not so great- we learned later on that it’s on a tourist pub crawl and if you don’t time it right, you’ll suddenly be surrounded by thirty or forty twenty year old Brit boys drinking Pilsners in Prague for the first time.

Day 324: DOX Museum & Letna Park

Andrew likes to introduce me to new television shows and films (especially of the foreign variety) while I like to introduce him to art. More like: he humors me when I say I would like to visit a contemporary art museum. I promised a beer garden after- perhaps this helped. I have to admit, I really enjoy contemporary art museums, much like I enjoy thrift stores. As we were walking through the DOX Contemporary Art Museum, it dawned on me that they can be quite similar experiences. Often, in a thrift or secondhand store, it’s filled with a lot of things you aren’t interested in. at. all. You may even walk out with nothing, feeling a bit disappointed. But when you do see something you like- or even love- it’s like a bit of a treasure and it makes up for having to sift through so much that you simply didn’t appreciate. I felt this way walking through the DOX today. I was on the fence about the Disabled by Normality exhibition until I saw the Isolabella film by Danica Dakic and fell in love with the concept. I think Andrew even liked it… although I’m pretty sure he enjoyed Letna Park, the views of Prague complimented by the old school hip hop blasting from the skateboard park, and the beer (of course) a little bit more. But, hey, it’s pretty hard to beat this view, so I don’t blame him.

The exhibition was interesting, we may have done it in an incorrect order (I can never understand why museums don’t use more arrows) but like I said above, by far, my favorite part was this super interesting short film made in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Danica Dakic. I’m pretty sure it was the best part of the entire (somewhat large) exhibition.

Within this post, there used to be a still I managed to take of the video, of one resident playing the piano with his mask on backwards. I had credited the photo as being a still from the video made by Dakic, and in no way was trying to infringe on copyright, but was contacted by another photographer, who didn’t state any relation to Dakic. This photographer was unhappy with how I inserted the still of Dakic’s video in this blog post. Not only was he unhappy, but I found his message to be super condescending. Frankly had he not been so condescending or perhaps explained his relationship to Dakic… moreover if Dakic himself had contacted me- I would have immediately taken steps to appease him by “appropriately crediting” Dakic, even though in my opinion, I already had. It’s unfortunate. Dakic’s website is so minimal, it does not even provide stills or clips of the video to link up to at least try to convey how lovely the film turned out. It’s photographers and artists like the one who contact me that make me cringe and frankly dislike being any part of the “art world.” If I was Dakic, I would be ashamed of having this other photographer speak on my behalf. Artists, moreover photographers (like the one who contacted me) don’t have to be rude and condescending.

Instead of providing a still that I took (of one of my favorite moments of the video), and a complimentary “about” the video that I loved, I just took it all down out of annoyance. It’s a shame that art can’t be spread around the world because of persons like the one who emailed me.

I also enjoyed Kamila Ženatá’s solo exhibition: The Women’s Yard. When we got to the last room, it was filled with hanging crystals and changing lights. It was quite beautiful, but I scared myself silly when I walked into the dark room and then saw someone sitting (working) in the corner. He laughed at me. a lot. And then let me take a few pictures, but they really don’t do the light in the room justice…

After the DOX, as promised, we headed to Letna. First stop: the metronome. There used to be a huge (HUGE) Stalin monument here, but it was removed and a few years later this giant metronome was put in its place as a symbol of the change over time. The shoes hanging from an electrical wire were new to me though (so within the past six years they’ve been added) and I loved them! There were even a pair of old ice-skates dangling from the wire. They made me a little nervous, I mean, wouldn’t that be just my luck they accidentally fell on top of me walking underneath them? We walked around the park, and then doubled back to have a couple of Pilsners in the gardens before heading “home.”

Day 323: The best nachos in the entire world are at Radost FX

Yup. I said it. The best nachos in the entire world are at Radost FX in Prague. But we’ll get to them later. Because before we were able to enjoy a plate full of heaven, we were forced to endure the opposite with what is now known between me and Andrew as the worst ‘free’ walking tour (mostly due to the terrible guide) in the entire world. It was so bad another couple unabashedly walked away halfway through, and both Andrew and I wanted to desperately do the same but felt too bad… Instead we decided to do what any other mature and responsible couple would do instead, we took mental notes on exactly what made her so bad so we could impersonate her later. The trick is to use a LOT of hand gestures.

I thought our day was going to be spectacular, having seen a full circle rainbow before the tour started. Sadly, the tour was so bad that I didn’t even realize I didn’t take any pictures until I went to blog about our day. At least there were nachos to look forward to. We headed straight to Radost and it was exactly as I remembered it, only without Ally, Alex, Tina, Talar, Jess, Joe, Laura… you get the idea… I love Andrew, but I missed my old Czech crew. Radost is more known as a club, I think, but it has a really great vegetarian menu and a really great brunch on the weekends.

Oh right, and Rihanna also filmed “Please Don’t Stop the Music” here:

UPDATE (as of 10/21/13): Discover Prague messaged a week after receiving my Trip Advisor review that they fired (yikes! not my intention at all!) the guide that led our free walking tour. Since then, Ashley (of Discover Prague) has stalked me on Trip Advisor and has sent multiple messages asking me to reconsider my low rating that I have given them. Obviously not always having time (hopping countries and continents on this trip) nor adequate internet access, I haven’t been able to respond to her messages. After three messages ending with “I won’t be messaging you again” I’ve decided not to change my review. If you do end up going on a Discover Prague tour and don’t like it, and give a poor review… Be prepared for some serious stalking. Not cool, Discover Prague, Not cool.

Day 322: Oh Prague, I’ve missed you so!

I wanted to get out of Bratislava so badly and into Prague that I convinced Andrew to wake up early so we could leave on the first train. We were walking towards Old Town Square by late afternoon and even though we planned on going out for dinner and then heading back to get some much needed sleep, I ended up giving Andrew an impromptu tour/trip down memory lane from my year of living and working in this lovely city! We had Czech food at an old haunt of mine near Mustek, walked through Old Town Square and over Charles Bridge, and had ice cream on the square outside of my old apartment. We walked the back streets of Narodni Trida around more of my old favorite places, mourned the missing smažený sýr stand at the now closed metro stop before we snuck into the back offices in the building I used to work in not to visit my old employers, but to ride the magical (old-fashioned) elevator.

I stopped myself from taking pictures of the square thinking surely, we’d be back through many (many many) times in the next week to come. I was more interested in photographing my old apartment building for my old roomies. Tina was afraid that a Starbucks had taken over the first floor of our building. Luckily, Starbucks moved in across the street instead and our building looked very much the same with the tourist restaurants and jewelry shops below. It’s only a couple blocks away from the end of Charles Bridge. It was my most favorite place I’ve ever lived. We’d walk across the bridge late after a night out, or I’d walk down the tram street just to admire the view of the lit up St. Nicholas Church. It was magical every time.

This is where I mourned my favorite smažený sýr stand. Smažený sýr is fried cheese in Czech. At this particular stand, it was served on a bun with massive amounts of tartar sauce. I gained at least twenty pounds living in Prague for the year, and fully intend on the same happening during our visit this week. Riding the magical elevator (below) made up (just a teensy bit) for the missing fried cheese. It might not look like much, but it’s this incredibly old school elevator that you have to hop on and off of. It’s pretty awesome and might have been one of the best things about working there.