Prague 2010

 We checked out and departed early from the hostel as to make sure we could get to the train on time, and perhaps get some better seats, possibly without an annoying American tourist this time.  When we got to the station, our train wasn’t listed on the board, so we simply went to the terminal that we heard it would arrive in on when we purchased the tickets.  We waited there for almost an hour, and still nothing.  I asked around, and apparently the train was delayed, and they didn’t know which terminal it was arriving in on.  About 15 minutes after the train should have departed, the display screen showed the train arriving at a different terminal, so I ran to where Kate was sitting w/ all the luggage, and we made our way with the crowd to the proper terminal.  Within a few minutes, we all had scrambled aboard, and departed.  We didn’t get preferred seating, but we were on the train heading towards Prague.  Hours later, we pulled up to the train station in Prague and met up with Kate’s friend Liz.   We checked into our hotel, dropped our stuff off, and went to go eat at a local Italian restaurant.  The food was pretty tasty, and I discovered that the color coding for bottled water out here was opposite to that in Budapest and in Bratislava.  Pink tops were carbonated, while the blue were flat water.  We got back to the hotel and took care of some credit card issues, checked email in the lobby, and went to bed.

Experienced the marvels of a free breakfast equipped with a buffet style feeding frenzy.  Finally a place that had fruit and citrus  I must have consumed 8 whole oranges.  Packed our things and both of us left to go meet up with Liz.  We met her and Chazz at the trolley station a while later.  From there we left to go to a tea restaurant.  There we sat for a long time playing cards ( “Quiddler” ) drinking tea, munching on couscous, hummus, etc.  Left there and Chazz left to go do other things.  Liz took us on a brief tour of Prague.  Various sights, statues, buildings, bridges, etc.  We found some snacks and delicious pastries to satisfy our sweet tooth.  Liz left to go teach her class, and Kate and I wandered around for an hour or two.  We saw the famous astronomical clock do its thing, which was somewhat anticlimactic.  Later we went out to eat with Liz and Chazz at a Chinese place nearby.  Then out to a bar that had hilarious menus.  Went back to hotel and crashed late.

Ate another tasty and complimentary breakfast.   Never understood hotdogs and mustard for breakfast though, yet it is common out here.  Played some morning cards with Kate and departed our separate ways.  I left for up on a hill with a radio tower and other touristy stuff.  Very humid 100% + and cloudy with spits of rain.  Hiked around, had to pee really bad.  Only could find pay toilets everywhere.  About to water the bushes but realized there were too many people everywhere.  I managed to take a few photos here and there.  Saw the giant pendulum, and took a few trolley rides in an attempt to find the pissing statues(which I eventually did) Made my way over to check out the mechanical / technical museum, but they were closing in less than an hour, so I decided to spend my time elsewhere.  Started to get hungry and the urge to piss was overwhelming.  I made my way past a few bars and cafes, but none looked appealing enough to try and order something and use their bathroom.  Made my way on the walking tour over to one of the gardens/hunting grounds and found a port-a-potty that I made prompt use of.  Walked around the grounds more and my feet felt sore, and the rain was beginning to pick up.  Made my way over to the zoo, took a bus to the subway line, transferred, and went to the mall to get something to eat.  Got on the bus to the hotel, dropped stuff off in my room, checked email, and played cards w/ Kathleen.  She had gone and done her girl date with Liz, and had her hair dyed.  Did some email stuff, then had a late night playing more cards with Kathleen.  She didn’t eat dinner that evening so I did a near midnight run to grab chocolate and crackers from the souvenir shop downstairs.

Woke up with cool temperatures and rain.  Got some breakfast, did email stuff.  Let Kate use my computer for her work/school mojo while I went and hand washed some laundry.  Set it up to dry in the room, and we left to go meet up with Chazz and Liz.  We went out to a Vietnamese market to pick up some groceries and ate some delicious pho.  Then it started to pour.  We got very wet on the way to the bus stop.  The bus even almost didn’t stop for us!  Took the train back into town and stopped again at our little tea shop.  I had some de-freekin-licious chai  tea and some more couscous.  I also had some tastes of other teas which were highly caffeinated, which made me jittery and uncomfortable.  We walked back to the subway and took the tram over to Chaz and Liz’s place.  There Kate and I created characters for a game we would play the following day, while Liz made some yummy Thai curry dish.  Yum.  After we ate, we finished with character creation and started playing board games and cards well into the night.  Thereafter Kate and I took a late tram/bus back to the hotel.

Woke up late and got some quick breakfast.  Kate headed out early to pick up some boxes to ship some stuff home.  I then headed out to go see some sights.  I ended up going out to the castle Hadrid.  Walked around the grounds, and the sky opened up and rained on me.  It wasn’t terribly bad, but it was able to get me a bit damp.  I then wanted to head off and move on to other things.  I took the trolley off towards the TV tower.  I then traveled the rest of the way via metro.  I went over and took some photos.  Headed back and met up with Kathleen at the hotel.  She packed her bags some more until we had to leave for our game night over at Chazz and Liz’s place.  We played a Scion RPG which was a new experience for me, and we ate some delicious eggplant dish, along with coconut cupcakes.  We played games all that night until almost midnight.  Kate and I took the few remaining transits back to our hotel and finished packing our things for our early departure the next day.

Kathleen got up, and we said our goodbyes.  She had an early bus to catch, and I was able to snooze for another hour or so before getting up and snagging some breakfast at 6:30.  After breakfast, I packed up my remaining things, did a final sweep of any items left, and decided to leave my old shoes, and my old sandals.  I checked out and made my way to the bus stop, took the transit all the way to the airport.  The bus that dropped me off at the airport took a very strange path.  It went through a labyrinth of narrow roads and tight 90 degree turns, and the simple bus ride took about 45 minutes from the metro station.  In any case, I managed to make it to the airport, check in, and board my plane without too much difficulty.  However, I did once again experience difficulty leaving a foreign country being a single traveler.   I was questioned at the check-in line as to the names and places of my stay, including names of people visiting.  They demanded to see my hotel receipt which I was lucky to have it nearby.  It was a big headache, but I managed to pass through alright, spend the rest of my foreign currency for snacks and gifts.  Hopped on the plane and headed home.  Bad weather forced me to miss my connecting flight, and I ended up having to stay another day at a hotel before flying back to SeaTac.