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Greetings once again from Prague! I have spent most of today being a tourist, but first I went to the train station to make a reservation for Munich. I was planning on taking a night train on Thursday night, but it was all booked up, so I made a reservation for Friday night. Why a night train, you ask? That way I will arrive in Munich in the morning when it's more likely that one of the hostels will have an opening. So, an extra day in Prague. Oh, darn! I don't think I can stand it!
So, you probably want to know what I've been doing besides making travel plans. Well, after finding my way back from the train station, I found myself near the National Museum. Since i heard they have a good exhibit on meteorites, I went in and had a look. Unfortunately, only a very few things were translated into english. I wandered around for a couple of hours anyway. The exhibit on meteorites turned out to be rather boring, but they had a paleontology area that was amazing. I couldn't read any of it, but they had row upon row of stuffed animals. I saw what must be the world's largest ostrich, towering over me at what must have been around 15 or 20 feet tall! It was interesting, but not good enough for me to spend much time on. Oh, and i should mention that the building itself was amazing. Inside and out there is so much artwork that if I didn't know any better, I might have thought it was a cathedral! Oh, if only museums in America looked like that!
After lunch I went up in what they call the "Powder Tower" because it was used to store gun powder in the 18th century. It was originally a part of the old town fortification, built during the 12th century, and served that purpose until around the 15th century. Around that time, the king decided to build a new town square outside of the protective wall. From then until the 17th century it fell into disuse and there was extensive damage due to time and weather. In the 17th century it was refurbished because the king moved his court right next to it. less than a century later, the court was moved back into the castle and it fell into disuse again. During one of the wars in the 17th century it was damaged quite a lot (again). It was then re-constructed in the 18th century according to the current style of architecture (Gothic). Then it was re-constructed again as late as 1963. The upshot is that this tower has been built and re-built many times over the centuries. I think the most striking think about it is too look up at all the figures that are almost black from age (I assume), and then see all the swords and scepters, etc. they are holding shining like new! I hope my pictures come out well!
I then went back to the Old Town Square to wander around a bit more. There was a great folk music group performing there, and I watched them for a while until I remembered that there was a concert going on right nearby starting in just a few minutes. I hurried over there and Enjoyed an hour of Mozart, Vent and Nudera. All this for the bargain price of 150 Kc! Now, before you think I'm crazy, keep in mind that one $ equals about 30 Kc. That means that the concert was all of about $5. After that, I walked down the street looking for a cheap restaurant for dinner. I ended up at a place that, if it were in the States, would probably have cost at least 20 bux per plate. After a wonderful meal of Rabbit with noodles, and with a beer, the total was 237 Kc (about $8). Yes, it's true that it's extremely cheap to eat here, but of course that just means that one generally eats in better restaurants. Oh, speaking of which, I should mention that in addition to Macdonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut there is also a TGI Fridays and a Dunkin Donuts in town! All the prices at these places are about comparable with what they are back home. Maybe a few bucks cheaper. Oh, and I should also mention that it's actually cheaper to get a pint of beer (15Kc) than it is to get a 1.5 L bottle of water (25Kc)! So for those of you who want to party, Prague is the city to go to.
When I came out of the restaurant, I started walking around aimlessly until I heard an ominous boom. At first I didn't know what it was, but then it repeated itself. Thunder. I managed to find a clearance between the buildings, and I saw an awesome storm approaching. And me without even my umbrella! I hurried and made it to the metro station just as the first really big drops started to fall. When I came out of the metro to catch a connecting bus to my hostel, it was puring. There was more thunder and lightning than I've seen in a long time. Mother nature truly does put on the best light show in the world! Luckily I could see the bus from just inside the station, so I waited there until the rain slowed down to a drizzle. Then I caught the bus, and made it back to my hostel without getting more than slightly damp! A bit of advise that I've learned in a couple of places when dealing with El Nino...if you're caught out in a storm without any protection, just head for cover for an hour or so. Most likely it'll blow over. And yes, it's El Nino that's causing the weird weather here, too.
Now it's off to the bar to try and make a few new friends....wish me luck!
Scott
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