Budapest or Bust
Well, I had intended on getting out of town this weekend as it’s a holiday and I have a 4-day weekend. I’m still trying to figure out why Easter is on Monday but I’m not going to lodge a formal complain with the government requesting that I be permitted to work on a scheduled holiday. Oh, well. And also since I don’t have anything scheduled for Fridays, I thought this would be a great chance to get out of Prague.
Prague is great and beautiful and awesome (certainly now since the sun is here) but I haven’t left the city yet and I’d like to get out of Dodge for a bit. I had heard about a great travel agency that sells super cheap tickets to Budapest but since they ARE cheap, everyone uses this firm. As such, I tried to book a reservation too late and the only availability conflicted with my work schedule so my hopes of going to Hungary were dashed. Fear not loyal readers, I’ll get there soon. Maybe next weekend. Transportation tickets AND 2 nights in a hostel could theoretically run me about 80$ USD.In case you weren’t aware, that’s fucking awesome.
So, since I’m stuck in town this weekend, I decided to max out my newly purchased 3 month metro pass and ride my ass off. (Too bad I can’t do that literally.) Off we go!
Day one….Yesterday, I finally made it to Vysehrad. Vysehrad is an old walled castle complex (although there is no castle) just south of the middle of town. There is also a cool cemetery and an old church. Prague has shitload of old churches. St. Vitus is still the most impressive but they’re all far cooler than anything you can see in the U.S. save for the National Cathedral in D.C..
Prague is a city of hills. As such, Vysehrad is on one of these hills and it’s next to the river. The complex has killer views of town and you can see everything. It was a gorgeous clear day yesterday so it was perfect. The flowering trees are now in bloom and some flowers are starting to appear so the grounds of Vysehrad are really quite pretty and serene. There wasn’t nearly the amount of foot traffic there as is at Prague Castle so it’s perhaps a bit more do-able for anyone who has an aversion to crowds. Note to self: this would be a great place to bring some food and beer when M&D come in June. Cheap lunch at a ‘pretty place’ will be right up their alley.
After Vysehrad I decided to go back to the SAPA market in Prague 4. Again, the weather was much better than the previous visit so that was a bonus. I went into a random small cafe/restaurant and ordered a bowl of Pho. Unlike the Pho I had in the Vietnamese market in Prague 10, this one was with chicken. Don’t quote me on this but I’m fairly sure the it’s traditionally made with beef. It’s all good because it was a paltry 80Kc. Hooray for cheap!
After the market I stopped by Glossa to do a few things in the resource room. Hooray for work! Oh, and I finally started working this past week. I can happily report all of my students are super cool and very nice people. Czechs have a reputation for being surly and standoffish but of all the people I’ve met, they are not this way. They might not be initally very chatty with ‘filler’ conversation but they are more than willing to talk. I’ve had no problems with students not wanting to talk or participate in planned lessons. Maybe I’ve just had a good week but I’d like to think that either a) they’re just super cool or b) I’m that fucking awesome.
I sent out a message to Keith (my teaching partner in TEFL) and a fellow beer lover so we went and had a few beers at a pub in Nusle. We met up at U Klokočnika and drank some super hard to find Kacov brew. Good times. And cheap. Karl and Dita came for a few as well and somehow I ended up going with K & D to Malostranska to listen to some dude’s band. Funny how random an evening can become. I went out at 4 p.m. for a few beers and got home at 2 a.m. I am a freaking rock star. We sat with other people that knew the lead singer (who happens to be a friend of Dita’s) and I learned some dirty Czech phrases from a cool Czech girl who was more than eager to teach me the local versions of fuck off, I am drunk, don’t shit on me, I’d like to take a piss, etc. I was a good student though, I took notes. Ha.
Day two…..Thankfully, due to my new schedule, I’m no used to getting up early so I was up at 8am on a Saturday. Boo. Day two of my 4 day weekend was a day at Bohemia Bagel and the Prague Zoo. Aside from the usual Gothic/historical stuff to see here, I’d highly suggest checking out the Prague Zoo. The place is enormous and they have everything. It’s really quite scene and pretty and constructed on and around a huge hill. Of course since it was Saturday it was family day and there were plenty of cute kids running around (or being towed in the zoo’s wagons) by tired parents. And even though I’m childless, the zoo kicked my ass, too. Three hours of hiking up and down hills is tiring on an old broad. Good thing I don’t have bunyons or a hump in my back.
This evening I walked around my neighborhood and hopped a random tram to Prague Castle. The castle gardens opened for the season today. I went at about 6 or so and it was perfect. Although St. Vitus was already closed (or in the middle of a service), the complex was rather deserted and the light from the setting sun gave everything a really beautiful yellow glow. Ack, I should have brought my camera!
So tomorrow is day three of the weekend and I’m not quite sure where to go. It needs to be cheap or free. Hmm.</p> <p>Oh and the party in THE NATURE last week? Yeah, it was great. Open bar at a cool hotel/restaurant in the woods. These half liter beers can be killer if you drink 600 of them. Aye aye aye! Check for photos on Facebook. Due to my rather inebriated state, I was clearly incapable of getting up to see Obama speak on Sunday. I’m a bit pissed at myself for that as it really was my intention to go. I give myself a big thumbs down!
I have plenty of photos from my adventures but I need to upload them all and do some editing. They will be posted soon so stay tuned.
