Not Feeling So Good

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After resting, I went out to see some of the city but I was feeling run down and pushed it too hard. It's bound to happen to everyone sooner or later--getting sick on the road. My time came sooner. The only thing you can hope for is that you're in a decent place. This pension couldn't have been better--large, cozy, clean room with TV and tub, breakfast included and a good computer. For three days, I was laid out with something like the flu--fever, chills and the lot. When I finally came around, I was too tired to make any blog entries and when I was ready to do that, the computer mysteriously disappeared.

Finally I got to get out and see some of this lovely city. It's a very charming place and a very "old Europe" city that was not destroyed in the War. It's loaded with tourists who mainly congregate in the central areas of the town in several large squares and all kinds of tourist restaurants and shops. The popular items to buy here are crystal, amber, all type of cut glass and scarves. They are loving the free market here after gaining independence from the communist in 1989.

There's a big river that meanders through the city and Charles Bridge is definitely the center of all the action. There are several bands, singers and performers on the bridge. One is a jazz/washboard band that was quite good--old guys too. Also on the bridge are several artists--mostly caricature type stuff. It's all entertaining. The view is beautiful of the river and several bridges and back toward the city.

A large castle looms over the city and after thousands and thousands of steps, you come to the top. The views of the city are fabulous and I'm feeling pretty good after the climb. There's a magnificent gothic cathedral St. Vital that has lovely stained glass windows and was only fully completed in 1929. Didn't have time to see much else as things were closing up.

The walk down the hill led me into the old Jewish section which is filled with several old synagogues, jewelry shops and high end clothing stores. I made it back to the little restaurant I've come to feel comfortable in and had a nice meal.

The city has a feel of Germany mixed a little with Russia. The buildings in the main square are Bavarian-like with painted murals on the siding and around windows and a big astronomical clock is in the center of the main square. The streets are mostly cobblestone--both old and new. A few of the buildings have the onion-like domes as they do further east. Lots of young people are out everywhere at night--of course it's still light at 10:00 PM. It's a very young town and stores cater to them.

The metro is good here with three lines that cross at points where you can catch another line. The escalators are the steepest I've seen and go much deeper into the ground than in Paris. Trams go where the metro doesn't. It's easy to around on both since my hotel is not in the center of town. This hasn't been much of a problem for me--mostly since I've been house bound.

The beer is really cheap and, judging by how many people I smell in on while out and about, very popular. Most people smoke here. In restaurants, all around you are smokers, so you just have to suck it up. No such thing as no smoking sections in Prague.

A couple of days ago I decided to move to a hostel and checked it out. Its few miles south of town by tram. It had good reviews for being clean and having a friendly staff. I was ready to be around some people and the price was right ($13) The place is called the Boathouse and it's unique. The bottom two floors are filled with canoes that are rented out and the top floor is the hostel. The women who run this place are very friendly, breakfast is included and they'll even do your laundry or make dinner for a small fee.

6/7/06 Today I packed up and said goodbye to the Bonaparte and walked to the tram. (Have I thanked you enough for the cart, Ruth? It rocks!) It's a pretty easy walk from the tram to the hostel, through a country club golf course to the river. From pictures in the hallway, it looks like they had a huge flood here in 2002 and the lower two floors were river.

It's a nice place and I'm the first to arrive in a 4 bed room so I get my pick and take time to settle in. I think they can house about 50-60 people here on two floors. I want to settle in and have no plan to leave here today because I've walked the town plenty. There's no close-up time like in some hostels. It's time to answer emails and catch up on the journal and blog.

The first two of my roommates show up--Katie and Libby from the US. Nice girls traveling for about five weeks. Another friend is coming in from Germany later. We talk a bit and then go off. The room is bright with loads of windows and everything is clean. My only complaint is that there is no running water on this upper level and the bathroom and showers are downstairs at the far end of the hostel. It's all about making adjustments folks. There's a nice big eating area/ gathering place on the lower level where they serve the meals. I sign up for dinner.

Later a bunch of British guys show up. They are on some kind of training program, learning navigational skills and security things and the like. Not quite sure what it's about but they are not typical backpackers--a little older and they are all very nice. My combo lock jams and won't open and one of them gets the lock off no sweat with a handy leatherman tool. We all have dinner later and they are quite fun.

When I get back to my room the girl coming in from Germany is there. I thinks she's a student there. She's a very outgoing girl who I like right away. They all three go into town to get a bit to eat. They were only able to get a room for one night so looks like I'll have new roomies tomorrow. I reserved three nights.

I've bought a bus ticket for my next stop which is Cesky Krumlov. It's near the Austrian boarder and I'll get a good view of the Czech country for the 2-3 hour trip. So far no luck finding a room in a hostel or pension there. Hoping for better luck because I don't want to show up without a place to stay.

That's about it. I've caught up with the blog pretty much. There's more I could have said about Paris but once you've left a place, it's hard to go back and write about it. You know, being "in the moment" and all that

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