---

Each time I travel, the choice of what to bring with me to read is a careful one. For this five-week journey, I chose Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The choice for this vacation struck me as appropriate when I read the passage, "the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant." That is what I want for this extended vacation--to leave all burden behind and be free as I wander through former Eastern European countries.

It was a long journey here. First the sleepless nine-hour flight to London, the highlight of which was watching dawn break over the Greenland ice cap, and the first rays of sun turn the peaks sticking out of the snow pink. We flew in over the Scottish Highlands and over Windsor Castle. Then it was the long six hour layover at Heathrow. When I finally got on the plane to Prague, I was so tired I was nearly in tears. I woke up on my flight from Heathrow to Prague in time to see the lights of the city--the soccer stadium (where I later learned two rival Prague teams were playing and the field was lined with police in riot gear), and the castle.

Getting through customs was easy, despite the fact that I was a complete idiot. The Czech customs agent took my passport, and then said, "Hmmm, this is interesting. Your passport is not valid." I panicked for a moment, and my jaw dropped to the floor. My mind raced as to what could be wrong with my brand new passport, and then it hit me--I had forgotten to sign it. I sheepishly asked if this was the problem. The customs agent nodded and handed the passport back. I asked if I could borrow a pen. He shook his head and gave me a pen. I passed the signed passport back with the pen, he stamped it, and wished me a nice trip.

I like Prague. I'm not enamoured with it, but I feel quite comfortable here. I've spent three relaxing days exploring and recovering from jet lag.

The walk up the hill to the castle nearly killed me, because office work has made me soft. I'm sure five weeks of backpacking will cure that though. It was here that I saw a beggar--so different from the panhandlers at home, the beggars here prostrate themselves silently on the ground, hands or hats outstretched to collect money.

The entrance to the castle is impressive, but the real jaw-dropper ins St. Vitus' Cathedral. It's stunning, and massive, and the stained glass windows were amazing. There's a tower with 297 steps, but it's a narrow, spiral stone staircase, and I couldn't do it--I don't know which was worse, my knee or the claustrophobia I felt. The Old Royal Palace had vaulted ceilings and a worn out, uneven worn floor. I liked St. George's Basilica too--a small church with frescoes.

After seeing what I wanted to see at the castle, so I went to get the tram back, but I was distracted by a hot wine vendor (the wine was hot, not the vendor). I stopped for a drink, and sat in a smelly courtyard by the metro station. Then I grabbed a sausage from another vendor and ate it while I walked across the river to the Old Town. I had a mission--trying to find a church where there was going to be a classical music concert with Dvorak's Largo from the New World Symphony. The poster I'd seen at the metro station said the concert was at 6pm, and it was only 4:30, so I thought I had plenty of time. But either I remembered the name of the wrong church, or I'd got the date wrong on the poster. I found the church I thought it was at, but no sign of a concert. And no signs anywhere that matched the one I'd seen before. What I did see was a drunk Kiwi perform the haka for people he was drinking with on the terrace of a restaurant.

This morning I was exploring with some people from my hostel. We had a beer to go at the Old Town Square (always a novelty for Canadians who can't drink on the streets), and then crossed Charles Bridge, where a bride and groom were having wedding photos done. We took the stairs off the bridge to the Lennon wall, where we all signed--a McCartney signed the Lennon Wall in Prague today.

I felt like I was retracing my steps of the last two days, because after lunch we walked up to the castle via the St. Nicholas Church. And then I found a sign for a concert today at 5pm: a string orchestra doing several famous pieces, including Largo from the New World Symphony. I didn't buy a ticket right away, but spent the afternoon in the castle gardens. The afternoon was stunning, especially with the colours of the leaves. The light was just right to hit the Rose Window at St. Vitus, so I popped back in. The stone pillars were painted with coloured light.

I decided to go to the concert, and I wasn't disappointed. Lichtenstein Palace, where the concert was, is now the home of the Royal Academy. It was the Bohemian String Orchestra, and the music gave me shivers. All of the pieces were performed incredibly well, but the highlight was hearing Dvorak's Largo, one of my favourite classical pieces, in his own country.

---