Archive for February, 2011

Czech this out:

Saturday July 24th – R.I.P.

Its 10pm on the train to Prague (Praha) and a Police Officer tells us we will be delayed an undetermined amount of time because there is a dead person on the tracks ahead near Sbrsko. Seriously.
After 90 minutes of not moving, the train slowly pulls forward past a floodlight and a group of men circled around some black plastic.
Silence is all I have to say.

View the Videos of Scott in Prague HERE

Sunday July 25th – Ah that freezing summer breeze….

I arrive at the Prague train station after midnight and everything is closed, including the restrooms and the Metro. The area is a little sketchy.   So I have to walk 2km to the Sokolska Hostel to “czech-in.” I fall asleep around 2am.
Awake, I go back to the train station to find out about tickets to Hanover and Plzen. It is overcast and chilly today and I can see my breath. I thought it was the middle of summer.
So far, Prague is like Moscow – Part 2. It is smaller, cheaper, and friendlier: all bonuses. The girls are beautiful and the advertising suggestive. The Czech Republic is the birthplace for Nicola Tesla.  The Czech Republic uses the Kroner: 20kr = $1.

I like their currency, it is cool.     
Back in the Metro, I am going to be traveling from Hlavni nadrazi to Hradcanska.
When I travel, in some cities, people stare at me and in others, they do not.  Here, everyone is looking at me.

Outside Hradcanska Station, the light rain becomes heavy rain with a cold breeze, so after 20 minutes of exploring I take the Metro to Vysehrad.  The weather is somewhat better but I decide to call it a day and go to Haje station to see a movie.  One of the only movies playing in English is “Pocatek” (Inception).  Wow, the movie is really good.

Monday July 26th – A walk around Prague

The weather is nice today so I head back to Hradcanska station and walk south through the Kings Garden to Prague Castle (Prazsky Hrad).  There is the St. Vitus Cathedral, The Old Royal Palace, the Basilica of St. George, galleries, museums, and several gardens. The castle area is like a small town with narrow cobblestone streets.
In the Old Royal Palace, signs describe how the Czech Republic was ruled by the Premyslids, the Luxembourgs, the Jaguellons, and finally the Habsburgs (400 years) before independence in 1918. 

The royal guards dressed in light blue stand still as everyone takes their photo. Thousands of tourists are site seeing today.
Beyond the square, there is a toy museum with an exhibition on Barbie.  Concerts and performances are available all around and there is a blacksmith working next to a dark bronze statue. The statue has a particular shiny place where everyone has touched it for good luck. I will leave the rest to your imagination.
The castle was built on a ridge overlooking the city and the view is fantastic. Through the streets and down the old castle stairs, I make my way past Vallenstein

Palace to Little Town, then down Mostecka St. to the famous Charles Bridge (Karluv most).
The long stone bridge is lined with statues with one particular bronze statue of a saint that everyone is touching for good luck (luckily, not in an inappropriate place).  Ferries are traveling up the river and in every direction you look, there is a famous historical building of some kind.
Prague is like where Russian culture meets European culture.  For sale: Russian dolls, marionettes, puppets, blown glass, crystal, horse-drawn carriage rides, and city tours in vintage old cars from the 1920s. I walk past the Medieval Torture Devices Museum and the Sex Machines Museum.  Into a wide-open square with two large cathedrals and one of them has a mechanical clock that performs a show every hour. A big crowd has gathered because it is 2pm.

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Fountains, cafes, and museums surround the square and there is a Vivaldi concert.
Next, I discover a sculpture made out of thousands of house keys.  Along the water and back into the heart of town, I find a health food store, a wax figure museum, and a long outdoor market.
Heading back to the hostel, I decide to eat at the health food store’s restaurant later on for dinner.After dinner, I explore the streets of Prague some more before returning to the hostel.

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Tuesday July 27th – How do you pronounce Plzen?

On my 2hr train ride (147kr) to Plzen, I enjoy the beautiful fields of wildflowers and sunflowers along the way.
In Plzen, I meet up with an old acquaintance from Maui named Olga, and we walk around town through Spec Park.
In Republic Square, we arrive at Chram SV. Bartolomeje Cathedral (built in 1292) and it’s tower overlooking the city.   Around the square, there is Town hall, the Emperors House, and St. Bartholomew’s Church.

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(video P7270277)
In the distance, you can see the Skoda Factory building engines and The Synagogue, the largest in Europe and 3rd largest in the world.

A walk through another park leads me to the Pilsner Urquell Brewery and restaurant (the largest in Czech).
The Guided Tour is in English and we have to take a bus to the manufacturing and bottling floor.  Facts: they produce about 26k cans and 120k bottles per hour, from new and recycled bottles. (Washed, thank god) Inside on the largest elevator in Czech, we are shown giant copper vats (cooking at 600C) and brought to an extensive underground cellar with large wood barrels, cold wet stone floors and dripping ceilings.
We are given free samples of unfiltered unpasteurized beer from a wooden barrel, complete with yeast and all. (I thought it was one of the best I have ever tasted) Outside, we head to a 3-story marionette museum, with mechanical shows and numerous puppets on display. There is also an exhibit on Famous Czech puppeteer – Josef Skupa. (Of course, you have all heard of Skupa).   Next is an underground brewery museum, with a display of hops, barley, and an original outer wall of the city.                       _________________________________________________________
There are old machines, examples of pubs, glasses, and more.
We walk to the Cross Cafe on top of a skyscraper for some orange juice before walking past a WWII memorial thanking America.
I miss the 8:10pm train by one minute! So I have to wait for the 9:10pm train to travel two hours back to Prague. On the train, three (3) police officers check my passport.
Back in Prague at 11pm and straight to the hostel for sleep.

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Wednesday July 28th - Děkuji (thank you)

I stock up on groceries using the rest of my Czech Kroners, giving the cashier a pocket full of change.

At the train station, a movie is being filmed but I do not recognize the actors. As I wait for the train, I notice that I was in the background of the scene and may have been filmed.
Now on the 10:31am train to Berlin, I say “goodbye” (sbohem) to the Czech Republic, where everyone’s hair is made of spaghetti and they wear lettuce clothing: (Ew, she’s eating her own hair!)

Next stop:

Deutschland, Denmark, and Amsterdam!