Prague by Sunrise

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After a desolate search for USB internet, Budapest seems to have sprung an electronic fountain and I can finally sit, in relative quiet, to update the blog.

I intended to stay in Prague for a healthy 2 nights. This was simply not to be. After blaspheming at my bag through the station and into the heavy sun of the Czech Republic, I managed to spy two English guys in the exact situation as me. No hostel, no map and not a clue as to which direction the centre of the city was. So, after a quick chat about Leeds versus Liverpool and a beer in a local pub (the bill came to a soothing 1 pound for 3 big beers), we decided to stick together in a British Collective.

After walking in quite perfectly the wrong direction, we turned around at the outskirts, then made it to the centre of Prague. We were in no mood for sights, so I flipped through a wad of hostels leaflets and decided on Hostel Elf, which I had been recommended in good old Dresden. We made it, but they were tragically full. There is something very sad about trooping up a mountain of stairs, with every oh-so-cool hosteller watching you as you go in, only to be turned away like Jesus was - I thought the resemblance would swing it, but no. So we took the recommendation and tried the hostel down the road.

We went in, were led up stairs and down corridors in pitch black - the hostel owner (though I quickly assumed he had disposed of the origianl owners and this was simply the real life set of one of those horror-on-holiday films we all hate) wore a pair of sunglasses through the whole proceedings, so it seems he sure well eats his carrots as we three tripped over boxes and bumped into doorframes. Hmm. Anyway, minutes later we were in the room of rooms, hospital beds and thundering trains. As we considered plans, a New Zealander... 5ft2 of enthusiasm burst in and we promptly had another cohort in escape-the-hostel. The only plan was to go into town, get very drunk and try the Elf again in the morning.

So that's what we did. Beer is very very cheap, but dancing girls are a little more costly than the Burke and Hare. Umm... or so I'm told. Shame, not quite the perfect city after all.

So...... Hostel Elf accepted us, we moved in, made friends and went touristing, then out on the town. Karlovy Luzne awaited, the biggest club ever, if you would believe the posters that stood on the street corners. We went the next night because we got waylayed, after dragging two American girls and a swarm of Australians into our travelling collective.

The days, just like Amsterdam, began to blur. I booked another night at the Elf. Then another. Then again.

A day was spent with the New Zealand chum assessing the tourist sites and sampling beers as and when we passed a biergarten. Which was often. You all know me, when do I say no to a beer? And damn good beer at that.

The final night was the cherry on top - being beautifully swayed to go and see a Czech rock band as part of the Prague Fringe was the best of the lot. This band was incredible. Like Jeffrey Lewis climbing on top of Gomez and trying to help Tom Waits up for good measure. Throw in some bagpipes, the un-named instrument and you have a
Hospital Beds
No lockers, directly under the main trainlines and padlocking my bag to the bed. Good times.hell of a gig. Great stuff. Beers and Absinth later, and it was time for sleep and the inevitable attempt to leave Prague.

Old buddies sadly cast aside, I found a new one and made it to Vienna. Catch up time! Vienna is coming hot on the heels of this blog...

Aufwiedersehn for now. Missing you all.

Tom

PS, there's a second page of photos, just so you know. Ta-ra!

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Photos

Clouds and Towers.
Prague is beautiful - central squares are becoming a little similar after Germany, but they still have photo-ops everywhere.

German trainscapes
A beautiful trainride from Dresden to Prague, with book time and very *very* serious Passport police at the Czech border.

Asylum, not Hostel
Well, this is the first lightbulb we found in the "hostel", with the guy leading us through a labyrinth of darkness in shades. Eeek.

Hospital Beds
No lockers, directly under the main trainlines and padlocking my bag to the bed. Good times.

The night awaits.
Was that final scene of Blade in Prague? Well, whichever it was, I was a touch worried.

More Square action.
The light here is amazing. Not quite Scottish-Glen quality, but close.

Meal Shot #8
A massive skewer of meat. Nothing else. The magnet of Prague begins...

Hostel Elf
Hostel Elf (the one after the asylum place) was fantastic. Every corner had sculptures creeping from the walls.

Prague by night.
I think a little of the city council budget goes on the whopping halogen-thingies that circle the major buildings. Nice.

Karlovy Luzne
Oh good lord. "The biggest Techno club in Middle Europe". 5 Floors, 8 zones... no wait, probably more. Dancing shoes found, laced and on fire. *Kick flip into rhombus slide* - Keg, you know what I'm on about buddy.

The club.
Well, we were told it was tourist central, but was the biggest within 100's of miles. There was only one choice.

To quote...
5am, and there really isn't a better time to see the city. No tourists, only clubbers and the very strange. Oh, and the quote is "single serving friends" - dislocated and sad, but very true.

Hip and cool.
Hostel Elf. Friendly atmosphere and a little too easy to realise its 3am before you decide to go out.

Hippy and Kool.
Seriously, a great hostel. Go visit when you're in Prague.

Jewish wedding.
Wasn't sure if it was okay to take photos - but did anyway.

Terracotta Tundra.
Hmmm, nice phrase. The views from the castle were classic whichever way you looked.

Photo of the day.
Love this one. Perfect stride timing. I really wanted to pretend to be chased.

Cathedral Time!
Massive building, but bad light.

Cathedral Time Two!
Oh yeah, non stop party here.

Me and a chum.
What? Who says 'chum' anymore? Me. I do. Travelling friends can be called whatever you like.

Japanese Tourists.
They seem to mirror the collective patterns of birds. Perching. Cooing. Staying in a flock. Love em!

Comments

[Pete]

Great pics Tom. Great to see you are living the good life!

[kate]

Hello from Kate
Hiya Loving your blogs. Just so you know, Jay at Terrazz has gone and bought himself a laptop just so he can follow your progress - umm. Hope your not padlocking yourself to any beds tonight ! ?... Kate

[Jessica]

Passionate about Prague
Excellent blog - you did a fine job of capturing Prague. Might I add I like the way you added `beautifully swayed.` I just may have an idea of what that is all about. I think from here on out all I want to listen to is Czech Alt. Rock.

[CountvonCount]

The pictures steal souls!
Love the photo work Tommy. 1)The poncho was all I imagined and more, it looks as if it unleashed evil into our world (Pandoras poncho?). I almost spat my tea onto my computer when I saw it. 2) I think the instrument is a lyre? That's DnD training for ya. 3) Look at the fat b*stard hockey player! I love fat people who claim to be sportsmen. It's like me claiming to be the giant-king of Bulgaria (if you meet him on your travels tell him I said hi).

[Jon]

Hey hey Tommy, Sorry I didn't get your phonecall the other day - I was at work, godsdamnit! I'm sure we'll get a chance to chat in the not too distant... still, annoyed to have missed the opportunity. Your journey continues to be as drunken and entertaining as we might have expected... bring on the Road of Bones! By the by, for no particular reason I've only gone and started reading The Dark Tower books. And guess what? They're fucking ace! After all the mockery I felt compelled to heap on the bloated tomes, I'm storming through book 2 and literally cannot wait to get on to the next one. Deary deary me. That's MY summer wrapped up, then...

[Ben]

Hey Tom, great stuff, worked out i can log on at work. WOOT! photo's are great. Glad to see photo's of Amsterdam with keg for scale. or should that be photo's of Keg with amsterdam for scale. Prague looks and sounds ace. Think i'll be visiting in the near future. The sleeping arrangements look very intimate. Hard or soft mattress?

[Heather]

Hello
Hi Tom, Glad to see you are making your way safely along the carefully planned route, and only making minor changes, everyone will be so proud of you!! Everything really is on your doorstep now ;-) Excellent blog and I'm loving the photo's, can we have more of you in your poncho though? maybe you could get matching wellies?! big hugs XX