OK so I am home from Europe, and I have written almost the entire blog. But I decided I wanted to wait for pictures, and wasn't going to have them on my computer until I got home, hence little posting in quite awhile. I'll try to do one a day from here on out...
So after three days of the familiar Scrabble tournament
environment, I walked the three km to my new hostel, the MadHouse Prague. And
let me tell you, this hostel is probably one of the coolest hostels in the
world. It caters to solo travelers, and the “employees” (mostly travelers who
never left – including the owners themselves) take everyone out for some kind
of nightlife…every night. Plus: cheap beer, a kitchen, a cool hangout lounge,
and a really central location, and more. Quite frankly, by the time Thursday
came around, I really didn’t want to leave. I wish every city had a place like
this one.
I quickly met two travelers my age from Orinda (plenty of
mutual acquaintance), as well as a large number of Aussies. Them Aussies are
everywhere! That evening, I won five of six games of beer pong (what up), and
then we went to a student bar nearby. It was fun, but the cigarette smoke in
Prague is pretty crippling for me.
Trolling:
The next day, Tuesday, I finally willed myself out of bed
around 11 AM. The shower on our floor was busted, so I had to trek downstairs
to clean off – anyone who knows me knows I am useless without a morning shower.
Once I was finally bundled up, I made my way to Choco Café, as recommended by
Sandy. I had a hot chocolate with a chocolate from the Dominican Republic. But
this was unique hot chocolate – it was literally pure chocolate. Overload, but
amazing.
I walked to the
Old Town Square, and moseyed through the Christmas Market. Some Czech dude was
doing a great rendition of “What a Wonderful World”. I found the meeting point
for the free tour, and noticed a couple of my hostelmates were headed towards a
different tour. We’d discussed meeting up for this one, so I nudged them in my
general direction. It was snowing, but the tour was very informative, and I got
to walk all over New Town/Old Town/Jewish Quarter. It’s ironic that the Jewish
Quarter is now the swanky, most expensive part of Prague. A couple of pictures of Prague:
Clock Tower:
After the tour, my hostelmate-now-friend Nic and I wandered
into a Czech restaurant. We had some tasty goulash! Then back to the hostel for
more beer pong.
Nightlife on this night included drinks at a trendy bar,
where I learned some good stories about the MasterChef Australia judges from an
Aussie at the hostel who is in the Melbourne hospitality industry. I love
hanging out with Aussies because then I can nerd out about MC:AUS.
After drinks, we headed to a rock and roll club, which
played lots of newer rock (right up my alley). Nic almost gave himself a
concussion when he tried to dance on a table and hit a motorcycle tire, so we
retreated back to the corner and talked/drank with some other solo travelers
(an organic farm worker from Kansas, and a Kiwi-Perthian. When we were finally
too tired to drink anymore, we went for late night burritos (yes, late night
burritos in Prague), and then called it a night around 4 AM.
I leave you with this picture:
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