Wednesday, April 1, 2009

First Day in Prague


March 6, 2009

I headed to the train station around 5:30. I dropped off Rachel’s postcards. When I got to the Station I bought a ticket in the machine because the stores weren’t open yet. The machine didn’t have change for a 20 so I got a credit receipt instead. I went out to the platform and waited for the next train. It was pretty dead at the station. It finally came and we got to the airport. I checked the board, found my check in desk and got my ticket. Then I headed to my gate. On my way I picked up a cornetto and then went to sit and wait to board. People started lining up so I joined the line. We went out to the plane and boarded for the trip. I slept the entire time and before I knew it we were in Prague! I got off the plane and headed to an ATM, then went to ask for directions to a bus and to get a pass. I found my way to the bus and then just followed the instructions on my hostel booking. I took the 119 in to town then got on the Metro to the Namesti Miru stop. I got out of the station and was greeted by a huge gothic church. I decided that I should just take the opportunity and check it out, so I went inside. It was really cool. The interior was all painted and well hard to explain, but that’s what pictures are for. Then I looked for the tram stop where I was supposed to catch the 22 or the 4. I got on the 4 and it turned out that it didn’t seem to be going the right way so I got off and went to go to the other side to get one of the two going the other direction. I almost got run over as I went across and the tram rang its bell at me. I boarded the 22 this time and rode it for 5 stops…3 to get back to where I started and then 2 more in the direction I was supposed to go. I got off and started walking “in the opposite direction of travel” and suddenly saw that my hostel was really right there. I walked in and checked in at the front desk. I was amazed. I only paid 34 Euro for 3 nights, a really good deal. I got 3 breakfast vouchers and used one as soon as I dropped off my stuff in my room. Then I looked around a bit and found a brochure for free walking tours. I decided to take a nap and then go find the starting point for the 2 o’clock one. I laid down and didn’t end up waking back up until 5:30. I rolled over when I woke up looked at the time and called James. He ended up losing signal because he was down in the metro station but then he called me back and said they (his roommates and himself) were going down to the city center for the evening because there was the European Union presentation/celebration going on. I said I would love to join. We planned to meet at my metro stop at 6:30. I got ready and went downstairs checked my email quickly then headed up to the metro station. I got a text after I had been there for a bit that said they were going to be a little late. They would be there at 7. So I walked around the square with the church. I went into a little café and got a cappuccino. Then I went and sat on a bench and waited for them to arrive. Around 7, I went down into the station and pretty soon a group of guys came up the escalator and I ackwardly waved, hoping that I wasn’t just waving to random strangers. James did a little double take and then said, “Nicolette?” I smiled and nodded. We had introductions, I met his roommates, Taylor, Tony and Jason. Then we made our way back down the escalator. This is where I learned my first fun fact, this was the longest one in the Prague city transportation system. We got on the metro and I can’t remember which stop we got off but we arrived in the city center. There was a stage set-up and live music playing. Two of the roommates disappeared to get “pivo” (my first Czech word was beer, how Ironic) this is when I began asking questions about other vocab. I learned, Please, Pro Seem, Thank you, De Qui, Excuse me, Pro mite, Yes, Yo, No, Ne, and I don’t know, Nero Zu Meem. I was pretty proud of myself. We wandered around a bit walked to try to find some of their friends and were unsuccessful. We tried down another street and it turned out that was not the right one either but I witnessed a group of police men trying to wake an extremely drunk homeless person out of his alcohol induced coma of sorts. He finally got up and stumbled away. After that we continued to try to find their friends and began discussing the dogs of Prague. Not only were they everywhere like in Rome, but people allowed them to run with a leash on. You would see little dogs sprinting a head of their ownere and then waiting and then sprinting again. It was pretty entertaining. We finally managed to meet up with their friends and we had another round of intros. I met tomi, from Finland, a guy from Germany, and a guy from the Netherlands. I can’t seem to remember their names tho. We headed out to find a bar to sit and drink at and after several attmpts ended up in a hostel bar on the fifth florr of a building. We had a few beers there, witnessed some intense Jenga, and then headed out to try to find this club, allled Mish Mash. It was supposed to be really cool. We followed this guy who had directions but eventually we gave up on him because we didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. We went back to their dorm/hotel called Masaryakova. We went up to their room where I sampled Berechova and lemond along with a sort of Czech moonshine like Motecello or something. Then we headed down to the basement bar and had a few more drinks, we also ended up having cheese and salami with bread and chicken wings. It was an interesting night. The bar was closing so we headed back up to the room. I mapped out my route home and Jason and James took me back. It was just past 4:00 when we got on the tram and it literally took a good hour to get home. The guy even stopped and just had a smoke break, and it’s not like we were the only people on the tram but I guess at 4:00 A.M. you can do as you please. I finally made it home and the guys went back and caught the metro back since it was 5:00 and they could.

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