Ready to get out of the unofficially most expensive city in the world, Sean and I jumped on the train for Prague. I quickly passed out on the train as I normally do and was awoken by Sean with a nervous look on his face notifying me that we had to get off the train. Unsure of what was going on we both departed the train to find our train not at a station, but in the belly of a massive ferry surrounded by cars, trucks, and containers. We both had no idea what was going on... Turns out the good people at Eurorail realized it was quicker to go by ferry than train, so they built tracks onto the ferry, it was better than that amphibious car with a 60 hrs power outboard attached to the back.
After 14 hours on everything but a plane we arrived in Prague. Our hostel was the cheapest one we could find, $12 a night, and it was worth every penny. The walls that divided the rooms were the ones that make one large high school class room into four, the beds were mattresses on the ground, and as for the bathroom, Sean and I both agreed that we would rather shower in our old college hair, urine, and sometimes glass filled bathrooms than this one. I woke up one of the mornings to find Sean scratching his face, legs, arms, and back. His body was covered in little bites, he was itching like a stray dog after a run in with a parasite infested trash barrel, we were both pretty sure he had fleas. All of the negatives about the hostel aside the people staying in the hostel are what make it and this place was no different.
Our first night in Prague we set out with two young German guys that we met in our hostel, Milan and Marvin. The two of them had been in the city for a few days and took us through the main square, which was an amazing sight to see at night. They led us to the local hot spot, Chateau, which had cheap beers, foosball, and a solid dance floor located in the basement, a perfect spot for Sean and I.
This bar was also the home to best foosball player we had ever seen in our lives. Sean and I are both experienced foosball players, we have had rich men put their $10,000 Rolex watches on the table, as well as their dignity, and we have come out on top. Tonight we were facing a duo that had already dominated half the bar, we gripped the handles and knew that we would take this tag team as we had done with many in the past. We had a quick wake up call, Europeans are dominate on the table, not only were they better, but the big gun for this team was a girl, and did I happen to mention the best looking girl at the bar, she was the editor and chief of Foosnews Magazine. After several minutes of deliberation I managed to calm Sean down and convince him we had been defeated, and we needed to focus on the positive...a new city and plenty of fun.
We spent the rest of the night tagging along with the Germans who managed to make friends everywhere they went. One had a thing for an attractive girl from Newcastle, England and somehow we ended up at her luxury apartment located in the heart of the city. It turned out the the girl and her sister from Newcastle were completely infatuated with America, the first time we found people that loved America. At one point in the night one of the girls was walking through one of the main streets in Prague chanting, "AMERICA! AMERICA! AMERICA!" We quickly stopped her shouting and informed her that the majority of Europe did not share her passion for the US. We taught our new found USA groupies some American slang and then made our way back to our hostel.
The next day we attacked the sights of Prague as we did in every other city. Prague is a beautiful city with something for everyone. In the main city square there is a world famous astronomic clock that is basically impossible to read, but is a very popular sight. Apparently the guy that designed the clock was going to put one in another city, but the people of Prague thought it was so authentic they forbid him from doing it. Now instead of paying him not to do it, or telling him he couldn't do it, they did the next most logical thing... they burned his eyes out...don't mess with the Czechs and their clocks. The Charles Bridge was very very old and interesting, we ventured up to the main palace and huge cathedral, both had amazing views of the city.
The next day brought some familiar faces back into our lives, BJ and Chuck, who would be in Prague for a few days. That night we got to experience something that I suggest to anyone, a live Wu Tang Clan performance in the Czech Republic. I have been a long time fan of the Wu but have never had the opportunity to see them live, so I insisted that we buy tickets. We arrived to the show and quickly realized this would not be like a rap concert in the US. The crowed was made up of a sea of Malibu's Most Wanted...all white, in any American sports jersey they could find, a few sets of fake corn rows, and even a some imitation gold chains. It had mocumentry written all over it, we are already working on the script. Wu Tang crushed the stage all night long, we ended up three rows from the front and had an absolute blast, it was everything I had imagined and more.
Our last day in Prague Sean and I sampled some of the local food. We had a healthy serving of pork and potatoes with gravy covering every inch of the dish, it was very tasty. That night the fantastic four of Sean, Chuck, Bj, and I took up one of the local "bar crawls." Apparently in Prague this is something that you have to do, there must have been 8 different "crawls" to go on, and each one with a different promoter tying to get you to attend. One in particular gave us one of the best sales pitches we had ever heard in our lives. He started off very friendly in a thick accent with...."you want to F'ing crawl tonight." We have been saying it ever since, and were pretty sure its the best way to get someones attention.
The next day the four of us left Prague for Munich. The first stop in Munich was the legendary Hofbrau House beer hall. We were not really sure what we were getting ourselves into, all we knew was that Sean's grandfather had been there many many years ago and said it was a must see. We walked into the place and discovered heaven...it was well over a thousand people drinking beers in huge liter sized glasses, the waitresses were all in authentic German garb, a German poka band was playing, and everyone there was looking to get loose. We each put down three of these behemoths and soon found ourselves in a cab to the main nightlife spot in Munich. The place was like an amusement park for adults, there must have been 20 bars and clubs in this one area. Unfortunately for us we were all in flip flops and tee shirts, which apparently does not meet most German night club dress codes. We attempted to go into one place, but we were quickly turned away solely due to the fact that we were Americans, but oh well I'll take a little discrimination now and then.
The next day Sean and I parted ways with our second half, BJ and Chuck, and headed for Frankfurt to meet my mom. We got into Frankfurt and immediately ran into Christine. She was so happy to see us, and we were so happy to not only see her, but to have a free clean place to stay. We went out to a delicious dinner together and shared some stories about our travels. The night ended with one more little taste of home. My mom brought us a fresh pack of Double Stuffed Oreos with cold 1% milk on the side, both of which are quite possibly my favorite things in the world. It was a perfect way to bid farewell to not only my mom, but to our month in Europe. Next on the list of places...Moscow, we will be updating shortly.
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