I don't even know where or how to start. I've been so blocked since I've been here - writer's block that is... and now, 2.5 weeks in, I'm trying to get something out - still feeling uninspired, but feeling pressure from home to get something out... so, let's just see where it goes...
Prague - My flight took me from SLC to Atlanta with a final destination of Prague, Czech Republic. I had the good fortune of being able to meet Mara, a colleague for the program, in Atlanta - so we travelled together and were able to flounder through the airport together, floundering not seeming like the right word really - in fact, floundering something I rather miss -
I fear I'm a seasoned traveller and consequently, miss out on some of those firsts that used to blow my mind and cause the words to flow ... I'm still far from the unaffected tourist who struggles to find beauty in the simple daily life of another culture, but it's not the same as it was 7, 5, or even 3 years ago. I read through some of my old posts and frowned, laughed and marvelled over some of my thoughts. I was so young, so uninformed in some cases and yet so enlightened and optimistic - excited about every detail. Now, I think the details still excite me but my way of enjoying or celebrating over the little thrills has morphed and now a lot of the experience stays within.
But, having said all that - let me try to be that young traveller again and share what I've seen, smelled, tasted and heard so far.
The 'floundering' that may have happened so far would include, first, the fact that we didn't have a single idea about the Korona-Dollar conversion... something that I may have tried to know before leaving the States on previous trips - now with the advent and prevalance of ATM machines in every country, that simply pop out the local currency - the need to find the bank or use traveller's checks is dead to me. But, still, knowing the basic conversion is useful for knowing if you'll take out enough to even pay for a taxi to the city center. We figured it out - 26 Kc to 1$ - a SHITTY conversion compared to just a few years ago when you got 45Kc to the dollar... Sad for us, good for them - as someone recently told me, it's Bush's mission to weaken the dollar during his 'reign' for whatever reason - well, my economist friend made it clear over Czech beer, but my explanation will have to be absent... all I know is that it sucks to travel on our dollar anymore... it was bound to happen.
So, we took a taxi and had the fortune of knowing someone on the other end. Zuzana's (Zuzana S.) cousin lives in Prague. He was very kind and let us come straight to him, drop off our bags and then gave us the basic hitlist for a day in Prague, showed us the way of the local transportation and helped us buy our overnight ticket to Slovakia for that evening - something that would have been very difficult without him. As 'global' as Prague has become (Praha in Czech) I was surprised to see no English in the main train station - no indicatio of which window serves nation/international or how much anything costs... no translation for the words - train, track, car, seat, time, day.... that was cruxy, but we had Petr.
Once Petr set us free, we headed out into Prague. I called my friend Zuzana K., a friend I made on a climbing stint in Spain - from El Chorro and the Finca la Campana. She met us on the steps of the history museum, which sits at the top of Prague's equivalent to the Champs Elyses. Zuzka's way of letting me know she was there was very cute... she hid behind a little wall and sent her super cute doggie up to me... I was so excited that a dog was running with wagging tail, just to say hi to me ... when giggles came at me from nowhere... finally, she jumped up! Playing games, as always!
Zuzka drug Mara and me around all of Prague in three hours or so. I, personally, didn't sleep at all on the flight from Atlanta and was a zombie most of the time - fortunately, Zuzka and her bouncing puppy had enough energy for the three of us. We saw the famous sights... the Orloj - an enormous cookoo clock in the main square, we crossed the gorgeous Charles Bridge into old town, sauntered through the shade of huge trees, inhaling the lilac breeze to the other side of a park by the river where we marched up steep, narrow, cobblestone streets past the oldest pub in Prague and up to the castle and cathedral... the view from there - spectacular and the best in all the city. The Charles Bridge was remarkable - filled with tourists, busquers, artists selling prints, jewelry, music, hair clips... you name it, homeless with their starving dogs in child's pose next to empty hats or small dixie cups ... It was stimulating - overwhelming for some - superb for me! So much to take in, to smile about, frown about - so many colors, so many languages, so many shapes and sizes...
.... need a drink...
More to come!
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