The next leg of my Spring break, spent with Whitney and Emily from TU and Mike (Whitney's friend), started off in Praha (Prague), Czech Republic. I had been adament on making it to Eastern Europe, especially after spending a few months in my History of East European Jews class, and FINALLY I was there! Not knowing what to expect, our adventure started just after we got off the bus from Vienna (a breathtaking bus ride, during which Mike and I were enthralled by a Czech film...with English subtitles, of course), as finding your hostel as soon as entering a new country always is. This adventure was filled with attempting to make swimming hand motions to signal the Czech woman we came across that we were trying to find the direction to the river, to which she responded with a completely confused and helpless expression. She later indicated that we could "Glab glab glab" to a Taxi...ask a Taxi driver about the river because he would probably understand. Well, never you fear - we found the hostel, without having to glab glab and dish out money to a taxi driver.
We came across a wedding tradition - the bride and the groom each have a lock. They lock their individual locks together on a bridge (to symbolize their unity) and then throw both keys into the water.
You may not know it, but there's this wonderful little place called the John Lennon Wall. A popular tourist attraction, this wall is covered with visitors' additions and whatever they felt necessary to express, be it John's face, words of encouragement, speaking out against hate, etc. The colorful destination was definitely a highlight of our trip. Of course, I left my own addition to the wall. Unfortunately, all I had was a pen that stopped working halfway through the quote I was trying to add: "Say anything, but say what you mean," one of my favorite quotes from a band called Mae. I got as far as "say anything"...wonder what that will bring. Maybe stories of dragons saving princes from evil princesses. Or not.
Lunch was at a restaurant I would like to refer to as "the green room" - the green walls and tablecloth gave all pictures taken inside a green tint. Add to it the fact that I was wearing a green shirt...well, it was as though grass and trees were so glad to be alive and in springtime, that they threw up all over this restaurant. Seriously. It was awesome. As we contemplated what Czech food we wanted to eat, Catholics Whitney and Mike all of a sudden realized that it was a Lenten Friday...Good Friday for that matter, and they could not eat meat. As they had been ogling the various Czech pork dishes, their faces suddenly sunk with the realization. Trying and failing to come up with a legitimate way to rationalize the meat, Mike decided he would let fate, God, etc. decide by asking the waitress what she recommended. Were she to respond with some vegetarian entree, he would take it as a sign of "really, guys? Please." from God. Her response of "the pork knee is very Czech" gave Mike all the go-ahead he needed. Assuming a 'when in the Czech Republic' mindset, Whitney promptly seconded the pork knee order. And then the two Catholics massacred their meat on Good Friday.
The only redeeming quality of the Prague Castle was probably this Alfons Mucha stained glass window. As I hadn't been able to make it to the Mucha exhibit in Vienna yet, I was very happily surprised to find a stained glass such as this in the St. Vitus Cathedral. That happiness was probably about all that got me through the most boring audio guide I have ever tried to listen to - it was like one of those history classes that turns people off history for the rest of their lives. They really should think through letting boring people teach history; more people could be interested if they weren't turned off so at such an early age.
The good tourists we are, of course we went to go check out the Astronomical Clock, the oldest parts of which date back to 1410. The lower part, a calendar, wasn't added until around 1870. Let's be honest - I have no idea how to read this combination of times from a different scale, calendar, zodiacs, and moving figures. It's only slightly too much. Slightly. Right. I can't help but wonder if people actually understood what the top part was saying, in a time illiteracy was common. I can't imagine not being able to read, but understanding this seemingly (to my eyes, of course) ridiculous and random clock-thingy-do-wop. But who knows. Maybe it makes perfect sense.
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