Friday night in Prague

 

The phone rang and it was Sara Faatz, her and her younger sister Malorie (I’m sure I butchered the splling) had finally made it into Prague - -they had to detour through Amsterdam because Malorie’s passport expired in 75 days.  The airline in London SCREWED up and let them board, in Amsterdam for their changeover they realized the mistake – uh-oh!  Turns out though the airline forwarded their bags to Prague, even though they weren’t on the flight.  They were almost out of luck, but since the airline faced stringent fines and ‘endangered’ the lives of hundreds, they tried to cover it up.  Helping them get to the consulate, rebooking their tickets.  They met the consul general, and got a new passport and were able to get into Prague by around 6:30.  We met on the Charles Bridge where we also joined John Robbins, one of their colleagues.  The 4 of us took on a bit of nighttime siteseeing, exploring the Prague Castle, its related cathedrals and grounds and a bunch of breathtaking city views.  It was empty everywhere.  Inside the cathedral we had run of the place, no one around except for 10 people taking in a service (we were careful to be quiet and not disturb).  There was an old man dressed in purple sitting in a throne like chair in the back of the altar – he never moved or said anything.  He may have been a statue – but I think he was alive.  Or at least I think you can make that argument.

 

It was cold so we stopped for Grog – a hot rum drink – the glass came out so hot that I was scared to taste theirs.  I ordered a beer instead.  We ate dinner at a traditional Czech restaurant – very fancy on the advice of the concierge at the Boscolo.  My impeccable sense of direction got us lost 3 times.  It was snowing – I was officially a moron.  Although, I was able to redeem myself later (or so they led me to believe).  Dinner was amazing – duck breast, the best goat cheese I’ve ever had in my life, and a fabulous white goose liver appetizer.  We had Czech red wine (cab) – everyone locally had said, “avoid the red wine here, it is terrible”  -- we tried, but got it.  It was OK – not fabulous, had a bad aftertaste and had its bitter moments, but I survived.  They tried to make some Gnocchi with my duck – they failed miserably… such is life.

 

After dinner we planned to do a bar-hop – we started at a little (turns out it was huge) bodegito (yes Cuban place in Prague) – it was cool, Cohiba’s everywhere, great tequila, awesome décor, people salsa dancing – packed wall to wall.  We found a table in the back  and began piecing through the menu – they had Absinthe… and so the night begins.

 

They brought out a round of very traditional 140 proof (70%) Absinthe – a hint of greenish blue, in a rocks glass – filled slightly less then halfway (definitely a 2oz+ pour).  On the side were 4 spoons (1 for each of us), 4 packets of sugar, and a small pack of matches that looked like a miniature pack of Camel Blue cigarettes.   The waitress realized we had no idea what we were doing and I was designated the guinea pig.

 

First you put sugar on the spoon, then you lightly coat the sugar in Absinthe – light the match, and then the alcohol coated sugar.  Let it burn until it caramelizes.  Put it into the glass, stir it and shoot quickly.  I think I didn’t stir it enough, I singed my throat, made a fabulous face of (oh my god please don’t let me vomit) and some how survived.  (picture coming soon).  After that I decided Absinthe wasn’t my thing and move don to beer.  Sara and John definitely felt otherwise – and had 2 more shots each.  John was a bit tipsy, but Sara was gone…  old stories, information prefaced with, “I shouldn’t be tell you this but” – great stuff – I swore to secrecy, but know she divulged all kinds of fabulous secrets J

 

The night ended around 2am – we had a guided tour of Prague at 10am the next morning.

 

Guided Tour

 

We met the guide at 10am – and toured around – we saw the National Palace, a beautiful structure with gold roof – supposedly citizens rich and poor donated to the project as a sign of national pride.  Pretty amazing place.  We traveled South to see the “dancing building’ – which I must say is AWESOME (pictures coming soon too) – it is highly criticized in Prague because it’s architecture is ultra-modern and doesn’t exactly fit into the motif of the city, but it is designed to look like a Man and a Woman dancing – its very clear to see – and a very very cool idea.  The building is beautiful.  We took the tram up to the castle and did the tourist version of the tour, seeing the grounds, the museum, the royal palace.  Most of what we saw was 17th/18th century – but they also had some original walls from the 9th and 10th century.  This was old stuff.  The royal palace was pretty cool, there was one grand room that was just HUGE – turns out they used to have medieval jousting matches on horse back in the room… it showed – you could have played a football game in there easily.  From there we walked down across the Charles Bridge, taking in the statues – one statue has Hebrew writing on it, that was supposedly anti-semetic and a joke.  I don’t recall what it said, but now it is just history … all the statues are actually replica’s because the originals are locked away in a museum (smart).  There is another statue and people rub the virgin mary for good luck.  Everything has blackened over, the bronze is dark – except where people rub the virgin mary – there it is extremely polished – amazing.  A walk through the old town and an explanation of the bldgs there, a very old clock that was still unimpressive (from before) and then we headed back to the hotel.  Sara and Mallorie had completed there 22 hour adventure and had to leave.  Toby, a friend from college, had just arrived into town (from Manchester, crazy world) and we were meeting up with her.

 

Jewish Quarter

 

We swapped guests, out with Sara and Mallorie (sad, but they had fun), in with Toby (yey, she lived in Prague for 6 months and was ready to party / be our guide to the jewish quarter) – John was still with us.

Funny thing the Jewish quarter is – it was Saturday – and everything was closed – DUH!  Kind of sucked, but we walked the streets of one of the largest jewish quarters in Europe – I think it was like 6 or 7 square blocks.  We saw the Spanish Synagogue – we saw the old cemetery – we saw the old new synagogue (or was it the new old synagogue?  I remember making fun of the opposite of whatever it was called, but not the exact name. silly me.  I think we saw another Synagogue too but everything was closed.  Very sad, but Toby is going to give me pictures so I can pretend I was there.

 

 

To be continued…

I learned that -20 degrees Celsius = -20 degrees Farenheit on this trip (I may have mentioned it earlier) – I just arrived in Helsinki (I’m working on tales of Prague and Norway, I’m a bit behind with that work thing) – but it is -14 and dropping (celsius) – that is #@*( cold…

 

 

Well prague was awesome, but I’ve been to busy to write, as I am now – Norway has been crazy, non-stop work, its 12:15 AM and I’m booked solid tomorrow starting at 8AM… so 6 hours of sleep here I come.  I have all kinds of stories though from Prague and Norway now (including having Icelandic guides (read: drinking buddies), who would have guessed?)…

 

 

I awoke in some serious pain, dragged myself to the shower and out the door to catch my Taxi to the venue.  It was 8AM, and I was to go on at 9AM.  No traffic and a few close calls with my life later and I was at the venue, a big 4-star hotel on the edge of town near the main highway artery of the Czech Republic.  When I arrived I was greeted warmly by Barbara who was coordinating the event and was startled at the amount of staff they had for registration.  About 15, beautiful (and I mean BEAUTIFUL) Czech hostesses were ready and waiting to help guests check in and get their material.  (I had heard Czech women were attractive, but Wow, this was another league)) – I won’t bore anyone or myself with the details of the presentation, just know it went well and I survived.  The most interesting part of it was a short conversation with a British gentleman who had called Prague home for the last 8 years (except for a 1 year stint in New Zealand).  We chatted about technology for a bit, about New Zealand, and I think he caught me checking out a few of the hostesses (what was I supposed to do?) –

 

He comments, “Czech women are beautiful aren’t they?  The men, they don’t take care of themselves, they drink, eat, and don’t really care.  But the women, they look after themselves, dress well, are gorgeous and are the nicest, most genuine people he has met anywhere in the World.”    He hit the nail on the head – he was probably in his early thirties, clearly single, and clearly loving life here in Prague.  I understood why – my favorite comment was this:

 

“They are so nice, that the girl you met the night before will wake up and bring you breakfast in the morning – where else on Earth would that happen.”  

 

Hmm….  J

 

I was back to my hotel at 4:15 and had 2 hours to kill before I was to meet influentials and other local staff at a traditional Czech brewery called U Ruku – so I decided to take a walk.  I began my journey by walking towards the Old City and was struck first by the Powder Tower – I don’t know the history yet, I have a guide on Saturday, but it was amazing.  Detailed ornaments, amazing architecture, just beautiful.  My stroll took me to the heart of the old city, the central square – a loud, touristy, pedestrian only square that is encircled by some of the most amazing, beautiful buildings I have seen anywhere.  A few churches, a few older government buildings, and a big statue of somebody in the middle surrounded by Spanish tourists taking pictures and speaking loudly.  I couldn’t tell you what anything was called, but the experience was incredible.  In just a few minutes, my love affair with this city was beginning.  I walked on and decided to head towards the river and the famous Charles Bridge.  The bridge is hard to describe – it connects to half’s of the city, a horizon of beautifully ornate monuments, cathedrals and the famous Prague Castle in the distance.  It was dusk – and about -8 degC – cold as hell, the ground was icing over and my feet hurt (that is what I get for wearing my nice shoes instead of my New Balances!).  The walk along the bridge itself is crowded – small vendors selling knick-knacks, beggars playing music, and lots and lots of people milling around.  Every 20M or so there is an ornate sculpture with inscriptions in Czech – I’m sure I’ll learn more about them tomorrow (Saturday)…  I reached the end of the bridge and needed a break – so I took a seat next to another younger looking traveler… he turned to me a few minutes later as he rolled a ciggerette and with a welcome British Accent asked me for a light.  I had matches from the hotel and we struck up a fun conversation.

 

He was a teacher – had studied teaching English in Prague a year ago and was back for 1 week visiting a friend who had never left.  His dream was to travel through Japan and teaching English was his ticket.  He had just finished spending 8 months in China, was back for a few weeks on the East coast of England, Prague, and Budapest, before heading back to Japan to begin a stint there teaching.  He had great stories – 40 hour train rides, standing room only, from the South of China to Bei Jing during the Chinese new year – being able to eat dinner for 10p, and experiencing a culture where he said, “you just need to forget everything you learned and everything you know and start over.”  Our talks to turned to Prague, and the only way I could describe the city was “AWE INSPIRING” – there are few places in Europe that are so delicately preserved as Prague.  It seems to have escaped the common damage and rebuilding found of European cities caused by World War I and World War II.  (*When inquiring about this with the local team, they said the Prague survived because Czech’s always just surrendered immediately, so they could return to their daily business – they were not interested in fighting a war.  Interesting philosophy – but it did the history and architecture of the city well – keeping in tact buildings 500, 600 and 1000 years old – all in wonderful condition.)  We talked on about how great Prague was and turned our conversation to Australia – turns out he had recently spent 2 months backpacking from Cannes in the north of the continent down to Melbourne near the South.  We romanticized about how wonderful Sydney was and I told him about how badly I wanted to move there.  After thirty minutes of chatting with this stranger I needed to move on – it was nearly 6:10 and I was supposed to meet at U Ruku at 6:30.  I walked south along the water, past the National Theater (another amazing building) and arrived at U ruku.

 

U Ruku is a brewer that only serves its beer there - -they are famous in Prague for it, but have no distribution.  The beer is a dark brown color similar to new castle but with a consistency like Guiness with a lighter more airy foam.  It was good, strong, and welcome (I was freezing).  The rest of the evening was spent drinking this beer, taking shots of a yellow liquor that is traditionally Czech (I have no idea what it is called, except that it tastes a bit like Honey, sugar, and anise – and slowly kicked my ass – and eating healthy (read: really really really really bad for you) Czech food (sausage, duck, pork, dumplings, you get the idea).  We had a private room in the back – things were good, until a group of about 20 Dutch tourists came in and brought two old men, dressed in World War I uniforms sporting a tuba like horn, and an accordion.  For the next 60 hours they played loud, annoying music and we watched the drunk Dutch sing and dance a long.

 

I reached the end of my energy, excused myself, took a taxi back to the hotel, pushed a little farther into Michael Chabon’s Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (I recommend the read, it is about comic books, new york,, jews, during WWII – fascinating novel, and hey – it won the Pulitzer, so it has to be good J) and passed out.

 

 

It is now 1:30 on my 2nd day in Prague – spending most of the day in the office working.  It is snowing outside, so I don’t feel like walking around too much – I need to buy a better coat.  Meeting friends in the city tonight and looking forward to it.  Hopefully I’ll have more insightful commentary about the sites I have seen after my guided tour tomorrow.

 

2/23 (Wednesday)

 

In the last two years I have learned to have a lot of patience with travel.  It is a requirement when you spend 30% of your time on the road, airports, delays, whether, hotels, foreign languages.  You learn patience.  My trip from Madrid to Prague was definitely a test of my patience.  For starters, I felt like crap – I had the makings of a cold, nothing serious, but it certainly did not make it comfortable.  I was fortunate enough to have access to the business lounge where I found a couch to sleep on.  I have had trouble getting a good nights rest and so catching an hours nap on something remotely comfortable was key.  After waiting 5 hours in the lounge our plane was ready to board.  I boarded and took up my seat in business class (thank god).  We sat there.  And sat there.  The Spanish do not understand how to de-ice a plane and they were giving priority to all Iberia planes, so my Czech airlines flight was low on the list.  We sat on the plane for another 2 hours before we finally took off – what a thrill, in the air on my way and I was very excited about it.  I was genuinely concerned about not making it to Prague and missing my presentation which had over 300 attendees.  That would have been BAD.  But I made it – I was tired, worn, and looking forward to getting to my hotel and resting for the big day.

 

The plane landed and I thought I was home free, but this is where the misery began.  It was approximately 9:30pm. First, we got to the gate and it took 20 minutes for the airline staff to figure out how to attach the jetway to the plane.  Everyone was restless – all we wanted to do was get the hell off the plane and make our way.  But no, we had to wait.  Finally we got off,  and all I had to do was get through immigration, grab my suitcase from baggage claim and meet Jiri for my ride to the hotel.  He works for Microsoft in Prague and was nice enough to come pick me up, I can’t thank him enough.  I get to immigration – 10 people in line in front of me for non-EU passports.  30 minutes go by, 6 people have been served.  15 more minutes, and I am 2nd in line.  I struck up conversation with the woman behind me line – she was from Buenos Aries, and had had a much longer, more miserable day then myself.  We sympathized with each other.  Her English was quite good and it felt nice to have someone to commiserate with. 

 

Suddenly the immigration police person who must have been the slowest human being in the entire country walks out, shrugs his shoulders, and closes the door with no explanation – we were trapped, and I began to lose it.  I ran to the front of the EU passport line trying to figure out what to do – should I make a dash into that immigration line and risk being arrested?  I had had enough.  Everyone in that line (about 50 people) was looking at me like I was crazy – I had no right to move from my line to the front of theirs.  Stupid American.  Luckily, another immigration officer came by and said, please wait 5-10 minutes for a new officer.  Phew!  At least I had a chance – I took my place as 2nd in my line and prayed for good news.  Five minutes later we were back in business with someone new, faster, and clearly much better at this job then the previous officer.  Once to the window it took 30 seconds for him to stamp my passport and let me through.  It was now 10:55pm, I was home free.

 

I easily found my baggage carousel and surprised to see no bags from Madrid.  The flight which was listed when I got there, disappeared off the belt display within about 20 minutes of my arrival.  Again, I began to get worried – the power supply for one of my presentation laptops was in the checked bag – I needed that bag (I’m not stupid though, I had a backup plan and I could run the whole show off my laptop if worse came to worse).  I went to the baggage information line where I met a nice Austrian fellow who worked for DHL – he lived in Prague and traveled about 300 days a year.  He was a pro, and his bag was missing because it had been checked through from Madrid to Moscow where he was headed the following morning.  We waited as the person in front of us complained about losing 16 bags!  WHO CHECKS 16 bags!?  After what seemed like a week (probably 15 minutes) there was an announcement saying there was “technical difficulties” with bags from Madrid and that it would take some time to resolve.  The woman at the desk didn’t know how long, but figured 20 minutes.  Mind you the flight had landed now almost 120 minutes priror to that moment.  All seemed lost.  The Austrian and myself resumed our places near the baggage claim and traded stories – he was incredibly interesting and was surprised at the trouble, saying generally the airport was pretty efficient and effective.  Suddenly, through my madness I recognized a baggage tag that said Madrid!!  The bags were coming.  I was famished.  I was tired.  I was sick.  And I had to be on stage in 9 hours.  My bag was one of the first 10 to come out – in all this nightmare, the baggage gods were looking out for me.  I grabbed my bag, ran through customs and met Jiri who had been waiting patiently – a total ROCKSTAR.  

 

I arrived at my hotel at 10 minutes to 1AM.  I checked in, but had to fill out a big long form.  They didn’t even scan my credit card, I had to write it by hand onto a form (weird for a nice hotel).  I got to my room, unpacked some clothes, plugged in my laptop, began sync’ing email and ran down to the bar to grab a quick bite to eat.  30 minutes and a nasty Caesar salad later, I was in my bed, ready for the next day.  It was almost 2AM – my wakeup call was in 5 hours.