Prague-Berlin

My feelings about Prague changed wildly from one day to the next. I arrived late in the evening, having spent most of the train ride chatting with two Americans from Chicago and Atlanta. I had gone several days without meeting anyone that I liked, so it was a pleasure to be able to have a conversation again.

The first hostel I found was huge, dirty, and noisy, so I was up around 6 am. I checked into another place and headed to Bohemia Bagel--I think bagels may be the food I have missed most. I joined Kurt for breakfast, a private pilot from the Bay Area currently shuttling a client around Europe. Perhaps this is a career I should look into? The constant travel would be nice. Kurt and I spent the morning wandering, climbing to the top of the mini-Eiffel Tower (by far the best views of the city), exploring a hall of mirrors, visiting the Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments (interesting and creepy), and touring the Church of Our Lady of Victory, which is devoted to a wax doll of baby Jesus and his numerous outfits. It was truly odd and worth seeing.

I spent the afternoon walking and getting lost. I have a decent sense of direction and have been able to get my bearings in nearly every city I've been in, but Prague is really quite hard to navigate. I think I managed to cover most of the downtown area three or four times in the two days I was there. I spent several hours in the jewish museum, which is actually a series of synagogues and a graveyard. Prague is a beautiful place, reminding me of a setting for a fairy tale. Was the movie Labyrinth filmed in the area? It looks similar. It is extremely different from Budapest, and seems to have reacted to the fall of communism in a very different way. Whereas Budapest is all about commerce and industry and forward movement, Prague seems to be moving backwards to a much earlier time.

By day 2, the charm of the town was starting to feel a little fake. I spent the morning at the castle and toy museum (castle just so-so, Toy Museum excellent) and walked along the waterfront for an hour, then decided to get my show on the road. The train ride north to Berlin is the most spectacular so far--mile after mile of tiny villages with huge castles overlooking a river. I've grown to like riding the train--it's very relaxing.

I only had three hours in Berlin, but took a quick bus ride through various points of historical interest and climbed to the top of the dome of the Reichstag, from which you can see all of the east and west sides of the city. I'd been told of the importance of having a new guidebook to Berlin, and it definitely seems to be true--the amount of growth and construction visible is staggering. I imagine that it will be a very different place in a few years.