...On getting lost
Trip Start
May 25, 2007
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60
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Trip End
Oct 29, 2007
Prague,
Czech Republic
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Screw the train, I'm walking to the hostel. More fun that way, plus I get to see the city. According to my map (or more correctly, my memory of the map that I saw earlier) I exit the train station to the east, turn right and head south until I see the street I'm looking for. No problem.
But it was noon, the sun was right overhead, so I couldn't tell exactly what direction I was going. It turns out the exit from the train station was to the west, and the right turn took me north. An hour later I finally managed to get back to where I started. Then I took the train.
So much for my directional brilliance
prague001
. Can't win em all, I guess.The hostel was pretty sweet. Truth be told, it was a hotel with dorm rooms. Brand new, shiny, clean, spacious. If in Prague, check out the Czech Inn (yea, a corny play on words, but easy to remember!)
The next day I took the walking tour, as I hadn't done any reading on the city and new next to nothing about it. The walk was interesting, some cool sights were seen. The guide was this English guy who knew his stuff was wasn't particularly charismatic. The best part of these things are the people I meet. There was Whitney, this charming little stewardess from Louisville, Kentucky. She carried a big camera and spoke with an (almost) southern accent. There were also your requisite Aussies, Kristin and Kat. We all kind of got to know each other over the course of the afternoon and decided that we should have dinner together later on.
Kristin gave us directions to her hostel. After searching around for nearly an hour I found it, as she was a few streets off with her landmarks. Here's hoping that most Aussies can read a map better than her :) Whitney showed up after me with another American guy in tow, a musician named Yoni
prague002
. White guy afro. Funky.An hour and a half after we had attempted to meet up the 5 of us headed for this Czech restaurant nearby, recommended by someone I didn't meet. When we got there the place was full, but the bartender said there were tables in the back by the bowling alley.
The bowling alley? Yes, folks, it's true. We ate our dinner at the bowling alley.
And let me tell you, it was a fantastic dinner. The food was slow in coming, but worth it. The goulash and dumplings I had was been one of the best meals I've had so far.
We couldn't get a lane, though. The place was packed. It was 10 pin anyway :)
Then we ended up at this club, called Cross, I think. It should have been called Junkyard. The place is nearly impossible to describe. It looks like a scrapyard, with the building that is entirely furnished with rebar, tubing, car and bus parts. Totally unique. It wasn't that busy but the beer was cheap and the music was interesting so we stayed for a little while. The light fixtures were made from wheel rims, for Pete's sake!
An interesting intro to Prague. And as these things go, it gets better...
