Easter Sunday

In Prague, and it was snowing when I woke up! Ano ("yes"), I made it! It's absolutely gorgeous here. I was so out of it yesterday on arrival...British Airways lost my bags (have found one, but still not delivered it), so I spent all day worrying about my stuff and being cold. I have one pair of shoes, thank god they're flats, because these cobblestone streets are no joke. And I just bought some underwear at an H & M situated in a building where Kafka once worked. Something feels slightly wrong about that! Steffen showed me around our neighborhood, Hradcany, plus Mala Strana ("little quarter," around the foot of the castle), Stare Mesto (old town) and Nove Mesto (new town), yesterday. I was in a daze as we walked past so many charming and ancient structures. We had thai-style food in a cozy, cave-like restaurant. He says cozy- "komorny"- is a big concept here. Again when I wanted some coffee to drink while walking across the most (bridge), we ended up seated in another cave for espresso. "Take-away" coffee isnt' a big concept here, but apparently take-away hot wine is, I see it everywhere and can't wait to get some. But, my latte came with a small glass of water and a dark chocolate, which I broke into little pieces and dropped inside. I can see that I'll have to get used to some things, like slow service and not having every convenience as I'm used to. I remember hearing someone say recently, in regards to the election, that people want change, but not too much. They actually value comfort and predictability/dependability more. I've been thinking about that and hoping I'll be open-minded in this travel adventure and future ones. And of course, I'm just talking about a dumb little thing like coffee. Well, and my weird hot dog on two pieces of wheat bread that I had for lunch. BUT I ate it while sitting outside the National Museum in Wenceslas Square!

I just changed some money and am trying to figure out if it's any better than the Euro. I think a little, but not by much. I'm going to do a breakdown of what I get with this initial $100/1449kc. There are tourists everywhere...yesterday I stood at St. Vitus Cathedral and looked up at the gargoyles, that resemble howling man-dogs. Steffen said when it rains, the water comes pouring out of their mouths. There are a lot of creepy/beautiful things I hope to document for you with pictures, when I get my hands on a camera. Am really regretting not getting a cheap one on Craigslist before I left the US. I feel very disconnected right now as my phone is seasonally shut-off, and no Internet. Although, my flatmate said we'll be getting wireless this week, if not tonight.

I should get out of this Internet cafe. I was here earlier but had forgotten my passport, so I had an adventure getting home and back, and now I know the route. Woo hoo! On the way back, I listened to Booka Shade on my headphones while taking the metro and tram, and will do the same now, one ear open for my stops, "Malostranska" and "Pohorelec." I can't wait to spend the weekends taking the metro to all the stops, and wandering the streets of Mala Strana. And finding the 20-somethings in Zizkov, and drinking pivo in the pubs and coffee in the grand cafes. Oh! I missed one of my favorite drum & bass producers, High Contrast, by one day! If I can afford it, I'll go to an Easter concert in one of the cathedrals tonight.

Na shled! xoxo