Depressingly Beautiful Prague

Welcome to Prague, Czech Republic.

It’s a beautiful city if you like depressing architecture that makes it feel like a Sunday every day. I don’t even really have a schedule and I still felt like I had to get up early for work the next day. I think that’s really the only way I can explain how I felt in Prague.

I flew with Wizzair which as a tip is the most reasonable airline for booking flights without much notice and still finding very good deals. I digress. Earlier that day I stepped on my glasses and was left with only contact lenses which I only where when necessary. I felt pretty confident I could manage navigating a new foreign city with all of my belongings without really being able to see well so I didn’t bother with contacts. After an ATM withdrawal I caught an airport shuttle to the city center for $5 and from there I walked to my hostel without the aid of a map. Just the name of the plaza I needed to find.

After checking in to Prague Square Hostel what excited me most was the street food staring at me. I went absolutely nuts trying everything I could find.

In the city’s main plaza, Old Town Square, I stuffed my face and watched glanced at the world cup match every few moments.

And of course ate more and more.

The tourist industry in Prague is very well developed. Many backpackers think they are hitting the unknown Eastern Europe but it’s anything but that. I embraced it joining one of the pub crawls where I met a Canadian and girl from California I spent the night hanging out with as we moved from bar to bar, ending in a club.

The club had 5 dance floors on 5 separate floors. One floor was called the ‘black music room’.

I did buy a new pair of the most economical glasses which cost $90 and from there on I began my long walks through Prague.

Books in a foreign language

Bricks for sale anyone?

I found the local metalheads looking ridiculously out of place as always

I crossed over the Charles Bridge into the more normal but still almost equally touristy downtown Prague

A real Czech citizen not involved in tourism walking his dog

As I was walking the streets I looked down and saw this guy who at the same time startled another woman walking by who had her own freak out of sorts.

One night I was close to falling asleep when my eight bed dorm room came alive as a group of 6 American originally from India entered to prepare for a night out. We got to talking and they insisted I come. They were loads of fun and brought and extra smile to my face as some people passing us gave me a wtflook as they no doubt wondered how I fit into this group.

During the day while working I mostly camped out in Starbucks for the free Wifi. The highlight of Starbucks was not the coffee but understanding how nice it is to be able to understand conversations that I overhear. I miss out on many gems when people speak in foreign languages but enjoyed a group of cute Americans talking about how often they crap. One said this will be her third of the day and then excused herself from the table to hobble over to the bathroom.

The night before my departure I was celebrating my good luck as I had the dorm room entirely to myself. By 1Am I chose a new bed for the fresh sheets and by 2AM a group of 7 Mexicans checked in 🙁 I apologized for taking one of their beds and made up for it by making the bed with new sheets. They talked shit about me behind my back in Spanish but I understood. Ha.