Jen and I woke up at around 5:00am today.
This is the most wide-awake at that hour that I have ever felt in my life.
Granted, it’s probably more like noon Canada-Time, but still. It was novel to
be up before the sun, and listen to our street slowly come to life in the
pre-dawn light.
Today was our first full day in Prague, and
our first meeting with Dr. Scheffel. We met outside our Hostel and began a walking tour of the city. Dr. Scheffel was born in Prague, so to
have someone that knowledgeable show us around was really extraordinary.
Our first stop was the parade grounds on
the opposite side of the river. Every year on May 1st, the Communist
and anti-Communist parties fight over who gets to hold their demonstrations on
the parade grounds. This year, the anti-Communists won the bid, and we listened
to a variety of Czech-speaking capitalists speak vehemently about what I can
only assume (not being fluent in Czech), was a scathing rhetoric against
communism. We sat and ate bratwurst with
hot mustard, and tried to look like we belonged. We didn’t stay long, which I
think was for the best, as whatever message they were propagating was lost in
the translation, but it was a nice foray into my first exclusively foreign
interaction.
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| The Queen's Palace |
After leaving the grounds, Dr. Scheffel
continued to take us around the city. I think I was a bit dumbstruck at the
sheer opulence of the Castle and all the buildings in the Malรก Strana district. Jen and I took obnoxiously touristy photos with
the Castle Guards who definitely do that thing where they pretend you aren’t
annoying the shit out of them – our cool factor is at an all time low so far.
We walked along the hilltop to Petrin, a
miniature Eiffel Tower that was given to the city of Prague from the city of Paris.
A few from our group climbed to the top; I sat in the shade and hydrated.
Everything here is just so old! Canada is such a young country and
everything in it is so new in comparison to absolutely anything here in Prague.
St George Basilica? No big deal, it’s just a
thousand years old. Mind…cannot…compute.
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| Along the Vltava |
I think the best part about Prague so far
is that it still looks like it would
have two hundred years ago. The streets are at weird angles and are different
widths - some you can’t even drive
down. Like there wasn’t some guy plotting out perfectly equidistant streets
and avenues before letting people build. This town is old, and it started as
something much smaller and grew haphazardly over time, and on top
of itself until it became what it is today. The streets have secrets and
mysteries, and I feel like if I turn the wrong way down a passage, I’ll end up
being carried away by 17th century dagger-wielding brigands in
brightly coloured hosiery and embroidered waistcoats.
Hoo boy. I digress.
Long story short, Prague is everything you
want in a European city. It’s picturesque, and foreign, and beautiful in every
way. We’re all going out for dinner and a few Pivo (read: BEER) before we all invariably pass out well before
ten.
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