I can has pony!

The majority of this day was taken up trying to find something to do that was price-friendly.  Gill and I didn’t calculate things properly, so when we re-counted the money last night, we realized our error and set to making it straight, which served to stress both of us out even further.  Consequently, today is a lot like the Wednesday before you get paid, after you’ve blown all of your money on silly things during the week, and need a little something to tide you over until payday.  Except payday never comes, because you’re an idiot and don’t actually have a job, and oh yeah, you’re backpacking through Europe for a month with little to no money.  It’s okay.  Life works itself out, after all.

We went to the train station to buy tickets for the tram, since according to douche bags (who are gone now-hallelujah!) the police WILL single you out if you look like a tourist and make a point of checking your fares.  On the way there, I got some change by buying a pastry.  They sell all sorts of foot products just outside of the train station here.  Baked goods are one thing, but I was definitely confused by the fresh produce.  It’s very surreal.  At least there weren’t any nearby butchers’, right?  That would’ve been quite disgusting.

 Once inside the station, we quickly came to the realization that there were no machines that sold tickets, so we went into a little kiosk to ask for information.  It turns out that, since Szinchev is a little poor, you buy the tickets at that stand.  Lucky us.  Also, luckily, the guys at the counter understood Russian.  I even almost got a smile from one of them when I said “Dyakuyu” instead of the Czech “Dyankui,” or something to that effect.  We validated our tram passes, and got a ride into the center of town, where all the tourists conglomerate.

Me, about to brave the crowd and walk the Charles Bridge

One of the many religiously-themed statues on the bridge

We crossed to the other side!

The bridge is free, and the teeming hordes of tourists were almost tolerable because of the amazing statues housed there.  All of them were Biblical in theme, as the Czech Republic is very Catholic.  There were more saints on that bridge than I knew existed before today.  Around there were lots of little gift shops, but everything was exorbitantly-priced, so we would look around for a bit and then continue on our way.  The super useful maps that we’ve been accumulating point our different areas of interest for the common tourist, so we’ve been marking what we’d like to see, and checking things off one by one as we accomplish them.  For a small city, Prague is surprisingly jam-packed with various churches, synagogues, and points of interest, which can take an entire lifetime to see properly.

From the Charles Bridge, we trekked toward the Jewish quarter to see the assorted famous synagogues, and the Kafka house.  Franz Kafka was born in Prague, and the house which celebrated that remarkable occurrence is smack-dab in the middle of the Old City, nestled in the Jewish quarter, which has seen its share of strange and wondrous sights.  The streets are winding and confusing as hell in that area, but we managed to find a few interesting sights during our walk.

Taking pictures of us taking pictures

This guy is on the 200 Korona note (roughly equivalent to $15)

The Rudolfinum, which is an opera house, and not a storage facility for reindeer

A lamp :-)

Some Hassids, which indicated that the Jewish Quarter was near...

More shadows!

Manufactured for only one Gentleman.  He's pretty old, but still kickin'.

And here I thought this was out of print...

A super cool statue

Wait, where's the Jewish quarter?

To keep your eggs warm in the winter.  Maybe the second-most useful souvenir in existence.

We found Kafka’s birthplace, and popped in for a tour of every detail of his life ever.  It was actually fairly interesting, as far as large blocks of text go, and had a good number of his pictures to sweeten the entire package.  Also, it felt very strange to be standing in the house where one of the greatest authors of all time was born.  I felt like I was making a pilgrimage to a particularly holy land.  Maybe I’ll just venerate great authors from now on.  Does Franz Kafka count as a false idol?

A cafe!  And me.

You want sweeter sugar?  Put Kafka's FACE on it!

Gill drinking black currant juice in the Kafka Cafe.

Yeah, we signed the guestbook!  What of it?

:D

The inside of a gorgeous church, right next door to Kafka's birthplace.  In the Jewish quarter.  o_0

After the Kafka house, Gill and I wandered through the area for a little bit, looking for a nice place to sit down and have some drinks.  Gill ordered a beer, which is supposed to be very good here, though I can’t stand alcoholic beer.  I ordered a Lolita, after contemplating Absinthe, and discovering it was made with Anais, which is disgusting and makes everything taste like licorice.  Bleh.  So I went with a Lolita, and the waiter brought me the following:

We sat next to some business men who were drinking espresso.  I felt sufficiently badass.

After an hour or so of that, we walked back in the direction of the tram station.  I felt like walking, and Gill wanted to ride the tram back, so we parted.  I walked back to our hostel, taking pictures on the way, and feeling very much like a local, since I wasn’t getting the usual “go home, tourist” looks.  In fact, I was asked directions in Czech, and even allowed to cross the street in the middle by some kind drivers.  I needed to buy dinner, so I walked back to the train station, and bought another delicious pastry with poppy seeds.  Yum.  Total cost?  18 Czech Koronas, which is the equivalent of like a dollar or two.  Cheap, cheap, cheap.  The Internet is being very annoying in the hostel tonight.  I blame Ze Germans, who checked into the hostel earlier today, and seemed generally nice, but probably use up all the connections because they need to look up efficient ways of seeing the city of Prague in their spare time.

Random collection of names to make a semi-acrostic poem!

I want a pony!

After taking this picture, I was accosted by two gentlemen who offered me either drugs, or a career in the sex-trafficking field.  Not positive which.

Prague is a strange place to grow up, but it must be worth it, right?  I was tempted to get a pony ride from the fellow, but I doubt any of the horses could support my weight, and I always feel bad for animals who live in the city.  Here, every single person has a dog of some sort, and they’re the most well-trained animals that I’ve ever seen in my life.  I wonder if the man in the center of the ring takes the ponies out on walks?