Czeching In...sorry, I had to.

I'm told the metros were put really deep in the ground so they could be used to escape nuclear attack.

Its almost 11 pm and the rocket fuel I mixed with the Absinthe before going out last night is still chugging  through my veins. This should be good time to write down my initial impression of Prague. I wrote alot down in my journal in the last two days. Its fun to see how your views change with time and experience.

When I got to the Prague airport two nights ago, I thought to myself, "this must be the end of the beaten path." I looked up at the arrivals screen and saw mostly cities I had never heard of or I knew only in name. Before I left the airport I changed my Euros into  Czech crowns. This was the first time I had ever come close to carrying a 1000 note in my wallet. It was roughly $60, I think.

 On the bus ride into the city the signs were legible but surely I would have pronounced them wrong.  The Czech alphabet is composed of 42 characters; the same as English except with a variety of different symbols above the letters.  Also on the bus ride I was reminded of something that doesn't exist in Holland: bumpy roads.  While grasping for comparisons to cities I had been to, San Francisco popped into my head. "Why?," I wondered. Finally it came to me, something else that doesn't exist in Holland: Hills! Outside the bus the buildings seemed austere and cold. This was my initial impression from the night I arrived. It would soon
change.

The next day, my host and I took a rainy walk towards the center of town. On the way, the first shock was a view over the river valley to the top of the "newer" side of the city. This party still has history going back about 700 years. The horizon had towers everywhere, of all different styles. The buildings we a wide array of colors, ages, and architectural styles. Even in the grey haze the bridges, the city, the trees and the river were breathtaking.

The fist destination of our walk was the cities oldest cathedral dating back to the 900s. We then went down the "gold street," across Charles Bridge and into the touristy city center. Amidst the crowd and memento shops, it seemed like any other large European city, luckily there is so much more to this city. We headed back to hotel for a nice "rest" of the day. At night I met up with an Aussie traveler I had met in the airport and we charged off to a five story club that is renown as the largest club in central Europe. It lived up to the hype.

Today is the day that I began to really wrap my head around the majesty of the city. It was somewhere along the tour of a more remote cathedral and cemetery of famous Czech figures that the city and its history came alive. This is a tease, but not intentionally. The jet fuel is running out, and typing this into my droid is really becoming a pain. So, the details of the historic vitality of this city will have to come later. Also, unfortunately good pictures of the scenery will have to wait until I can upload them back in Meppel.  I was worried that the stay here was going to be far too long, but this is a city that you could still be hungry for in a two or even three week stay. More to come, Good Night!