Advertisement
I was recently re-reading an old travel journal entry from my first ever work-related trip, my trip to Barcelona. During the early part of the journal, I realized that I focused heavily on the actual journey from New Jersey to Barcelona, my enthusiasm palpable in the words on the page. In reading it again, it reminded me that I sometimes take small things for granted when they are part of my normal routine, as traveling has become, and that it really is the journey, and not the destination, that is important. Or in the case of traveling, it's often both! So it's inspired me to focus a little more on the small details, which does make for a more enjoyable experience...or maybe that's just the jet lag talking! I certainly am less inspired by flying than I was when I didn't used to do it so frequently!
When we left New York on Monday, the weather was more reminiscent of a nasty fall day than early May. An impending nor'easter meant a biting chill, heavy winds, intermittent rain, and likely flight delays. It turned out that flying out of Kennedy was a good decision, because Newark, as is usually the
case, was backed up with the longest delays in the tri-state area. The flight was at four ten in the afternoon, which is a weird time to fly to Europe, because it's difficult to fall asleep when your body clock tells you it's only seven pm, when it's one am in Prague! So once again, I didn't get a tremendous amount of sleep (well, none at all really) on the flight over. Fortunately, I had a lot of books to read, and got through three of them!
We took Czech airlines direct flight to Prague, which was an experience. It was reminiscent of my trips on Aeroflot when I was in Russia, and indeed, I kept seeing Aeroflot signs today! The plane was old enough to have ashtrays at each seat, although reminders not to smoke were tacked up everywhere, as on all flights these days. The seats were narrow with such limited leg room that I longed for Continental's coach class - something I never imagined I would do! But with enough to read, I was able to lose myself in books as a distraction from the uncomfortability. Passenger-watching was another useful distraction. A tiny dog joined us
on the plane - I had seen her with her model-like owner in the waiting lounge and I think she could tell I was a dog person. Sitting in her little carrier bag behind me in the lounge, she kept jumping up on the seat so that she could get a closer look. I let her sniff my hand, and she gave me a little kiss, which was very sweet! She didn't make a peep on the flight, unlike the baby sitting a few rows back on the plane, whose parents seemed oblivious to the constant crying. Although, the crying was preferable to the two rather strange men sitting in front of me, one of whom insisted on making bird noises periodically throughout the flight. They were so realistic that I wondered if someone had actually brought a bird with them at one point! The man directly in front of me stood in the aisle almost the entire flight, talking to the women in the row in front of them - I'm not so sure that they even knew each other, but he was very chatty to them. His seatmate watched tv and movies on his computer the whole time,
ignoring the call to turn off all electronic devices until the stewardess came over to scold him. Very strange. The seat backs on everyone's seats were also so low, that when they would lean back, you could almost read a book over their shoulder. I was fortunate because the guy in front of me stood the whole time, but others were not so lucky. I didn't even push my seat that far back, and I still felt as though I was laying in the lap of the guy behind me. The other part of the flight that I loved was the very strange lighting situation. I'm used to having an individual reading light at my seat, which we all did. Early on, I turned my on so that I could see the book i was reading. The kid next to me was trying to sleep, so he left his off. Suddenly, the lights seemed to blink, and then both of them came on brightly (without anyone touching a button)! The kid looked surprised and tried to turn his off, but he couldn't do it! Eventually, he was able to turn it off, and went back to sleep. Later, it happened
again, only this time, both lights turned off. I was able to get mine on again, and still, we had to endure yet another mysterious light show again before landing. Very strange - I don't think I'd sign up to fly Czech airlines any time soon! Even more unfortunate, the food wasn't anything to write home about (so I won't), although I did enjoy my breakfast of yogurt and a blueberry muffin, despite the pressurized cabin resulting in a slight explosion when I took the top off of the yogurt. M.
When we landed, a number of people had tight connections to make - like the kid sitting next to me who had about ten minutes to catch his plane (I doubt he succeeded!). Because of this, people ignored the fact that the fasten seatbelt sign was still on, and that we were still taxiing! and insisted on standing up to open the overhead bins and retrieve their bags. Two sets of people did it before the flight attendants came up to yell at them. It never ceases to amaze me that some people believe the rules simply don't apply to them!
Finally we arrived at the gate,
whipped through passport control with no trouble, and eventually managed to get all of our bags after an interminably long wait. I almost didn't get my bag when an older Czech man whipped it off the belt for himself. I went over to show him that my name was on the tag on the top, and he pulled out his boarding pass as if to show me his name and prove his identity. He didn't speak any English, but eventually understood what I was getting at so that I could keep my bag. I don't think he would have wanted to wear any of the clothes inside!
We managed to grab a van-like taxi outside to accommodate all of our luggage, and waited a few minutes so that the driver could also include three other passengers. These passengers were American, all older, and well-traveled from their conversation. Because I was tired, I found I quickly grew irritated with their idle chatter, which seemed designed to almost brag about the places they had been and how well-traveled they are. I wondered whether they would have the same conversations if they were alone, or if it was fueled by our presence
in the taxi. One of the men was kind of a know-it-all, who had an answer to everything, and I was glad to be rid of them when we finally arrived at the Prague Marriott. I did manage to tune them out for a lot of the ride, as we rode through beautiful green countryside and eventually arrived in the city. The weather here is gorgeous, sunny and warm, but not humid - perfect 70's temps! It occurred to me as we were driving that traveling to a new place with beautiful weather like this is really a healing experience for any broken places inside - there's just a feeling of a fresh start and new-ness, which is sometimes hard to discover in your everyday routines.
Prague struck me as being a combination of Russia and Germany, although I can't put my finger on why. Some of the streets reminded me of Berlin, more austere and block-like, and others had the more romantic architecture that you associate with European cities. I'm interested to explore this city more and see what other impressions I gain from it! I think there is a danger that having traveled to a number of
European cities, I am more tempted to compare them and look for familiar sights that I can categorize in a certain way in my mind. So I'm hoping to see this city as just Prague, and less of an amalgam of other European cities - I will let it's personality shine through and put it's imprint in my memory!
Although I was initially skeptical of staying in a Marriott, only a few hours here have sold me on the idea. Due to a room mixup, our rooms were ready right away when we arrived, which was a blessing, since all I'd been daydreaming about on the plane was a nice comfortable bed with clean, cool sheets. Also, since we had a meeting at four with the events planners, the hotel, and our host firm, I needed a little sleep so that I wouldn't be too jet-lagged! The room is comfortable and spacious, with a great big bed and light, airy quality. The hotel only has about 180 rooms, so we make up the largest percentage of hotel guests - it's nice to be a big fish in a small pond! As a result, everything will be easy to find
and our group is considered particularly special.
Following our meeting, we headed out to explore Prague on foot. We went first to the Old Town Square, which reminded me a lot of the Grand Place in Brussels. Full of tourists and little cafes, it was quite pleasant and peaceful there. We also arrived just in time - on the hour, the Astrological Clock on St. Vitus chimes, which is a tourist draw (check out my video to see for yourself). There are four figures who are set in motion on the hour - apparently they represent four things that were despised at the time of the clock's making: Vanity (a figure looking at himself in a mirror), Greed (holding a bag of gold), Death (a skeleton, who strikes the time upon the hour), and the Turk (an Arab, who bears the turban). There is also a presentation of statues of the Apostles at the doorways above the clock, with all twelve being presented at noon. It was a pretty neat thing to see, and definitely something I've never seen before!
Then, it was off to find the Charles Bridge, which crosses the Vltava River. It's a pedestrian bridge,
except for the security traffic, and all along the sides were vendors selling jewelry, paintings, and beautiful photographs. The bridge itself is a work of art, with wonderful statues, mostly in a Baroque style, erected around 1700. There is one statue that I was told you *must* visit - the statue of John of Nepomuk, national saint of Bohemia. On March 20, 1393, he was thrown into the river from the Charles Bridge, at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. Below the statue are two panels, depicting scenes from the saint's life, including the confession of Queen Johanna and the saint's death. It is believed that if you rub the panels and make a wish, it will come true - it is also rumored to bring good fortune and ensure that you will return to the city of Prague. I definitely made my wish and rubbed one of the panels!
We returned again to the Old Town Square for dinner at a little outdoor cafe. I had the stroganov, Prague-style, which turned out to be absolutely delicious, and just what I needed after 24 hours of snacks and bad plane food. We finished
up with the apple strudel with ice cream, which was delicious. It was so pleasant to sit outside and enjoy the atmosphere, the view and the quiet - you couldn't hear any traffic and even with a lot of people around, it wasn't loud or raucous. It was a great first night in Prague, and makes me look forward to what tomorrow has in store! Tomorrow, I'm off to Cesky Krumlov for a day trip and then back for the Board of Directors Dinner tomorrow evening!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.125s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 11; qc: 54; dbt: 0.0882s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
