Prague

Oh how I recall being a third grader and having to spell:  C-z-e-c-h-o-s-l-o-v-a-k-i-a.  Since 1993, students have not had to endure this torture.  Actually, I was always good at spelling, so this enabled me to show off a bit.  Next stop: Czech Republic.

I had about three hours of sleep before I had to get up at 10 for check-out and head over to Prague or Praha as it is known in Czech. I missed the train that I wanted because I was too stingy to take a cab and by the time I got to the train station on the subway I missed it by three minutes. Oh well.

I finally got on a train and ended up in a train car with an older Kiwi couple, a gay Polish guy and some other random person. We stopped in Dresden and picked up at very weird Czech guy. He was wearing small round glasses and a fedora. He got in our car and immediately shifted all of the luggage around. He has been living in Switzerland since the Prague Spring in 1968 and was going home to visit.

The train arrived after dark and I dragged my luggage from the central train station to my hostel.

The next day I decided to do a walking city tour. We had a fairly large group of about 30 people. Our tour began in front of the Astronomical Clock in the town square:

Yummy kielbasa for lunch.

The Astronomical Clock at Old Town Hall. Originally built in 1410 with little moving parts.

American film crew making a travel t.v. show or something.

Kafka statue in the historic Jewish quarter where Kafka used to live. In an early short story called "Description of a Struggle", he describes himself riding on the shoulders of a man through the streets of Prague:

"And now - with a flourish, as though it were not the first time - I leapt onto the shoulders of my acquaintance, and by digging my fists into his back I urged him into a trot. But since he stumped forward rather reluctantly and sometimes even stopped, I kicked him in the belly several times with my boots, to make him more lively. It worked and we came fast enough into the interior of a vast but as yet unfinished landscape."

The Prague Jewish Quarter, with its unique historic monuments, attracts tons of tourists year round, and many of them now stop at the statue to take photos of themselves alongside the famous writer.

The banks of the Vltava River.

In the Church of St. James there is a 400 year-old arm hanging from the ceiling (picture came out blurry) as a warning to would-be thieves.

The crooked streets of Prague.

Me and Prague Castle

 After the city tour, I went back to the hostel and learned that there would be a night walking tour up to Prague Castle so I decided to check that out.  

Prague Castle dates back to the ninth century, the castle has been a seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and presidents of Czechoslovakia. The Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it. 

The Guinness Book of Records lists Prague Castle as the largest ancient castle in the world. It occupies an area of almost 70,000 m², at about 570 meters in length and an average of about 130 meters wide.

We began our walk at 9pm and I managed to get this incredible shot:

Prague Castle at dusk.

Walking up to Prague Castle.

More Prague Castle.

St. Vitrus Cathedral at the top of Prague Castle.

The next day, I decided to head back to where my summer began in Bavaria. I packed up my suitcase and quickly headed over to the train station. On my way a man walked up next to me and said, "Weren't you on the train with me?" It was the really weird Czech guy from the train! He said, "Weren't you on the train with me?" I looked over and said, "Yes, hello." It was a windy morning; too windy for his hat he said, so he was wearing a bandanna instead. He asked me why I was walking and not taking the subway? I told him I like to walk. So he walked with me until we had to part ways at the station.