Journey to Prague
Monday, Aug 29th, after having slept perhaps a bit too late to begin a trip across the entirety of Germany, we hit the road. We had already reserved a place in Prague two metro stops from the main square. We had the dude’s phone number and just had to be there by 10pm. Simple Enough.
Let me say a few words about driving in Europe: it rocks, there are seemingly fewer assholes and roundabouts are cool. There are no SUVs, most cars are a similar size and because of that, the highways seem to flow slightly better. Not that Europe doesn’t have nightmare traffic in certain places like we do. You definitely notice the lack of American Road Rage. In the entitlement nation, we demand the roads clear out for us whenever we need to use them. The the only impatient person I heard honking was our cab driver on the way to the airport. On top of that people in the passing lane actually move out of the way when someone wants to pass them, unlike our highways complete with idiots on cellphones the don’t move when you honk or flash your lights. Driving on the Autobahn although slightly daunting at first, soon became an awesome thrill. 180km/hr may seem fast but with in no time we were hitting 200km/hr (120mph!!!) when we could. Still, the speed zones change frequently so you can’t cruise for too long. I’ve never seen so many BMWs doing 150mph in my life.
We finally get to Prague, hungry (no one ate more than snacks all the way) and exhausted, with not much time to find the place before 10pm, and proceeded to get lost immediately. Within no time I was driving cluelessly through the city center, not knowing which streets were one way and trying to avoid those goddamn trams that share the road with vehicles everywhere. I’m thinking at this point, GPS is worth it whatever it costs and perhaps next time we rent a vehicle with GPS. My cell didn’t work as advertised so we had to eventually stop and borrow a gas clerk’s phone to call our dude. But we waited, and he was later than he said he would be, so we bagged it and got a hotel.
Next morning he shows up at our hotel to guide us to the place, no problems, really nice guy. He takes us to Slavikova 4. It is a half block from the Jiriho Z Podebrad metro stop. The place is spartan, clean and huge, with some cheap art nouveau items. We have a coffee maker, but the kitchen is locked. Lots of windows, small but firm beds, and plenty of them. It could really sleep twice our number. It’s definitely a Czech neighborhood by the looks of things, we’re too far out to be in the tourist zone. I like that. Our guy points out the working class restaurant across the street where we can get lunch for 50 Kronas (2 USD) and a pub where you can get 2 beers for 25 Krona. Nice. Me like pivo. After settling in we walk into town, it’s and easy downhill 25 minutes. We walk through the Prasna Brana, and decide we are close enough to our destination to warrant sitting down for a beer. It’s a nice lively day and Prague is full of many many tourists these days. Many more than I remember from when I was just a wee lad visiting here for the first time. It feels much more like a take-your-pick-beautiful-European-city than it did. Even so, the outlying areas are very much the same, and the city is undeniably beautiful. The first day is easy, we walk through the old town, taking in the big sights, like the astonomical clock and the medieval Charles Bridge, which struggles heroically to support the weight of tourists, caricaturists and trinket peddlers. We get a pizza in some lame tourist place and walk back. The next day we do more walking around, hit the Jewish Quarter, hike up to the Prague Castle, and have a nice meal. Ok, time to jet back across Germany for the remaining shows…