Prague and its coolness

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Today I rode from Berlin to Prague; it was a nice ride pretty scenic and all that. I hit reserve for the second time on this leg of my travels but in 29 days and 12 countries I only hit reserve twice so I will stick with those numbers. I had heard that gas was cheaper in CZ so I was waiting until I crossed the border to buy gas. Then after I crossed the border I remembered they don’t use the Euro and I had no cash for gas and I hate using my card because of the stupid international fees crap. So I rode along and tried to find a cash machine and nothing finally I was like whatever ill just suck it up and use my card and gas was like 39Kč and I had no idea what that worked out to but it seemed like a lot. It worked out to like $30 for a tank and that was cool because it was the least I paid along my whole trip.

As I rode into the city of Prague I was amazed at the amount of traffic, it was really bad and this was something I was not used to. Usually in the cities there is a bunch of traffic but I can go between the cars. Not here it was too tight so I just started going on the wrong side of the road and on the shoulder to get around it all. Apparently this is legal in every country in Europe or at least the cops don’t care because I do it all the time and the cops never say anything. I found my way to the Czech Inn Hostel and had to find a parking spot and that was a little hard because the parking is on a bad slope and its cobblestone and that is slick but I squeezed in between some cars and was good to go. This was another really cool hostel, they spoke really good English and were friendly and helped me find all the cool places to see.

That first day I just wandered around a little and ended up chilling out at the bar that is attached to the hostel. They were cool people and there was a bunch of other travelers around having a few pints and chilling out. So I hung out there and found a good beer that I usually can’t remember the name to, it’s like Kozel or something, I like to call it the feisty goat beer because the logo is a goat, it’s really good and its Czech beer. When I was in Afghanistan I had a company of Czech Republic soldiers there with me so I got to know them well and I mentioned that I planned on going to CZ and they kept telling me that the Czech’s have the best beer. Seriously these guys kept telling me all the different types and brands of beer they have there and its awesomeness. Naturally I wanted to try every single beer the country had to offer. Over the next few days I rarely had the same beer twice and I would say I had about 35 different kinds of Czech beer and they are all amazing. I will return the CZ one time just to get some of those awesome beers, that and beer only costs about 25Kč a pint and that is €0,95 or $1.25 either way it’s cheap.

My first full day in Prague I found the Discover walks people have a group for this city too and since I was so impressed with Paris I figured it would be a great idea to see them about Prague, I walked down to the meeting point for the first tour and I was the only one there but it was cool my guide was cool and she really knew what was going on with the city and I saw a ton of cool things. We started out by the Estates Theater and walked all around the maze of the downtown area and then we came out in the ritzy street with all the stupid expensive stuff as always window shopping but it’s cool. We continued along and around till we got to the main square where the astronomical clock is and that thing is Awesome. I was looking at it for like 5 minutes trying to see all the different things that it shows on it. Then right below the clock is the names day calendar so people don’t forget whose day it is today. I don’t really remember where that tour ended but we finally stopped and I made my way to get some coffee and a pastry before the next walking tour. I found a nice little place that made me a good cappuccino, (not as good as in Italy but good) and some sort of pastry I don’t know what it was but it was good. I made my way to the meeting point for the next tour and behold there was the same guide from the last tour. Apparently her friend needed her to cover down and to the tour. It was cool again I was the only person but this time one of her friends came along and had some more insight into some of the things along the way.

This tour covered old town and learned about this statue that is all over the city. It is a guy with a halo of stars over his head. Apparently he was killed by being thrown off a bridge and when he fell these stars appeared to prove his innocence in the crime he was being killed for. It’s pretty cool because I hadn't noticed any of them until I was told about it and then they just started showing up everywhere. Also went into the floods and where the waterlines were for the last 2 great floods. and I tell you that these floods were high it was only a few years ago and it was about 3m above the road where I was walking and the older one was about 2m or so, but both caused a lot of damage and took a while to recover from. Then there is the Lennon wall, it has gotten pretty bad and the original artwork is long gone but the graffiti remains and people just paint over the stuff that is there. I don’t really remember too much else but it was a good tour anyway.

The next walking tour was the castle tour and again I was the only person to show up. It was rather odd but this time I got a different guide so that was cool. We took the trolley to the back entrance and wandered in and around the castle was pretty sweet and defiantly glad I got to see it. The Czech crown jewels were going to be displayed like a week after I left for free viewing so that was lame but whatever.

That night I found there was a pub crawl but I was too late to join because they had left by the time I found out. So naturally with no idea of what to do I decide to walk in one direction for about 4km and turn around and get a pint at every pub along the way home. It was great the Czech’s have like a million beers and I didn’t have the same one twice that night. The best part was since I went along a straight line it was an easy stumble crawl back to the hostel. The Czechs have some good beers, there was only like maybe 2 that weren’t really good but still good just not ya know good.

The next day I awoke to a full room of people and since I was really trashed last night the first thing to come to my mind is, “am I in the right room?” but they have key cards for the doors so I was good just thrown off. And naturally the rooms that are mixed cost less so I woke up to 8 chicks that were traveling by train around Europe and they were already awake so we talked and they were pretty cool, some were from Australia and some were from Spain and they were traveling all together. Funny thing is this is not the first time I awoke to find people that checked in while I slept in a drunken haze so it was pretty funny.

So my second day in Prague I just wandered around took more pictures and walked to the top of the Eiffel tower. Yes the Eiffel tower in Prague I did type that correctly. Apparently one of the previous rulers of Prague liked the styles and things in Paris so he had an Eiffel tower built in Prague. Also there are a lot of buildings that resemble the style common in Paris. Like the store on the ground floor small room on the first floor and 3 more floors for living space. I stopped for lunch at some random place and got some gulosh, it was pretty good but I haven’t anything to compare it to, but for now it’s pretty good. And naturally I had a few beers for lunch also and as always the beer doesn’t disappoint. That night I took a bunch of people that I had met and we did my version of a pub crawl and the Pubs were so glad I brought them so many people I got free drinks at most of the pubs we stopped at. So that was a pretty sweet night because I was doing my randomness but with other people and that is what makes it more fun.

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Photos

The coolest clock ever
Seriously this clock tells a whole lot more than just the time of day.

The Lennon Wall
As you can see people have done a lot of painting on this wall over the years.

Eiffel Tower
See the Prague version of the tower.

Tour Photo
This is my two time guide Tereza and myself.