Pretty Prague

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So another early morning.... Caught the 6:53 train in plenty of time, and picked up a couple of pastries for breakfast en route. A chocolate donut, and an apple pastry cost me all of $1. Both together! And they were tasty!

There were four of us in the train compartment, which was thankfully air-conditioned. Two girls were from Brazil, and the other guy was from Edmonton. We chatted some, each of us took a nap, and in the end, we arrived in Prague slightly less tired and ready to explore. I didn't get any of their names; it seems that the norm is to just chat anonymously and go on your merry way. 😉

When I arrived in Prague, I found a bank machine right away, since I had no Czech korun. Made it to the hostel fine, but again, is it ever hot here! The metro runs quite well here, trains every couple of minutes. The tram is interesting too -- like a bus but on tracks. I got a day pass which apparently will be good for 24h, so I can use it again tomorrow.

I decided to rinse out a few t-shirts (only did one load of laundry in Poland) and then found that there was a 20% "Happy Hour" discount at the attached restaurant. The place I'm staying in here is more like a hotel than a hostel, though 3 rooms share one washroom (toilet, sink, shower). The room is quite nice, and I feel safe here. I had a yummy lunch/dinner of cod and mashed potatoes, and then decided to head out. Of course it was raining! Seems just about everywhere I go, it rains at some point. It rained in Scotland, England, Poland, and now the Czech Republic. Wonder if I bring the rain with me????

I wandered around the Old Town Square and was AMAZED by the beautiful architecture. A photographer's delight! I took a million photos, and then realized that my memory card was full. Fortunately. I had brought a back-up (others were left in my room). What I had forgotten was that I hadn't erased the previous photos, until after 15 shots, that card was full! I had to make a decision: erase 15 shots along with all the others, and perhaps retake them. or erase 730 photos one by one. I decided to erase the 15 and see what I could recoup. I think I managed to get 13 of them over again.

I continued to wander around, found a bridge over the river and saw the castle from afar. I noticed that there was another bridge, with lots of statues, further down the river, so I crossed my bridge and headed for that one. It also took me closer to the castle, sort of. I took lots more photos, and as it started to get dark, tried for some longer exposure shots. I'm not so sure that my castle shots will turn out all that well. My gorilla pod (like a tripod) and my camera are not a great combination for zooming in on night shots. The rain started again, so I walked back across the bridge and checked out some souvenir shops. When I emerged, the rain had stopped again, despite the lightning and thunder show, and I decided to go back and try for some more night shots, now that it was darker.

I finally gave up just as some very large drops started to fall, and took shelter (along with 300 other people) under the gate to the bridge. The deluge of rain fell, and we waited for a good half hour for it to stop. I started chatting with the guy beside me, who turned out to be an Australian engineer taking a year-long trip around the world. Unfortunately, he was watching the rain fall and trying not to think about the bottle of water he had just finished drinking, which was making him need to pee. Funny what things people will tell strangers! We chatted for another 20 minutes or so, watching the rain fall and waiting for it to let up. I didn't mind at all; he was cute! Finally the rain seemed to let up so that you could walk in it with an umbrella, and we headed out. He asked to share my umbrella along the way to find a washroom, and we parted ways. Too bad.

I think I'm going to sleep in a bit tomorrow. Breakfast is included, but seems to run until 10:30am. I had considered going out to see the church outside of Prague with an ossuary (stuff made from human bones) but maybe I'll wait and see what the weather is like and if I have enough to see and do here in Prague. I have a feeling that there's lots still to see!

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