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Published: March 14th 2014
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"Americans are all fat!" This was the answer Jana Dolezalova, an exchange student, gave to our 12-grade economics teacher when he asked what her first impression of America was. She didn't make a lot of friends that day... And my first impression of Czech, well, it really has nothing to do with the girth of its citizens. However, I'm seeing a lot of pot-bellies when I expected to see leggy models. Hmmm.... At least I know why: Beer. Nowadays, since I don't drink much anymore after living in the Middle East for almost two years, one beer and I'm done. But I've heard incredible things about the various Bohemian beers and judging by the number of pubs, I have my choice. So, I need to make these beers worth it.
I won't go into the details of pretty much one of the worst flying experiences I've had in a long time: a sandstorm, a missed approach, an old man who thought punching his touch-screen on the back of my seat was the only way to go, a middle seat on both crowded flights despite my month-old booking requests, a high-maintenance czech girl in the next seat, a high-maitenance arabic woman
Tyn Cathedral
and The Old Town Square in the other seat... At one point in the flight, I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. I got absolutely no seat because the non-fat people next to me still felt it to be their right to poke me with their elbows and throw their personal items on top of me. Do people really have no manners when it comes to flying? No sense of personal space? I was truly shocked.
Anyway, I landed right at noon and was able to breeze right through customs, and got a taxi immediately. It was an expensive ride, but he took me right to Wenceslas Square, about 50m from my hotel. And wow - the woman at the desk of Hotel Friday was fantabulous. She said, "Good news! Your room may be ready!" I said, oh please, because I had a very rough flight. It was and after I asked for recommendations for dinner, I went right to my lovely room. After getting comfy, I feel into a solid sleep for about 3 hours. I woke up refreshed and made my way to Old Town Square, where you can see the Astronomical Clock and Tyn Cathedral. Absolutely breathtaking.
I
tried to find one of the restaurants she recommended and wound up at U Spirku, the second of her top two choices. Inside is decorated with a bunch of contraptions, and a little book offering reading material describes the premise behind them. It's tongue-in-cheek, but quite fun and interesting. There's the "Elixir of Life" which was never fully fleshed out, but has now been replaced by Viagra and face lifts. There was some wacky wall clock, which was amazing to look at but which I did not completely understand; the artist was impressive enough to match his idols, Dali and Van Gogh, without having to resort to cutting off an ear. There was the Nuremberg Funnel that was supposed to deliver knowledge into your head, but wound up removing it and affecting the genetic code; while previously those affected were considered outcasts, now they are politicians. I was cracking up! The food was delicious - pork tenderloin in a plum sauce with spicy pears. Pears are my second least favorite fruit (bananas - Yuck!), but these had an awesome flavor and texture. The beer, a honey lager, was excellent as well, and made me stumble out of the place. There
was a great accordion player for extra ambiance. When I left and headed back to the square, I heard some music - two guys were playing some unique instruments (I don't know what that aborigine thing is called, but that was a part). It was very good!
Then I called it a night and head back to the hotel, pumped for the next day's trip to Kutna Hora.
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Wow!
Beautiful! Prague is on my list, maybe when I get to traveling you'll be up for round 2 there. :) I had a flight just like that one my last time back to Indiana. Only she was overweight and still just rude about everything. Some people are just 'more important' I guess. Have fun and enjoy your beers! Miss you!!!! xoxox