Ok - did I forget anything?

[paint]

Ahoj! Greetings from Prague! My friend met me at the airport, took me to my hostel, waited for me to check in, then took me into the city center. He showed me some sights, like Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, and the Astronomical Clock, and we chatted over Czech beer. I might be a little hung over right now. Tomorrow we will be heading towards Poland.

Jsem rada ze jsem tady v praze. I am glad that I am here in Prague. Oh yeah! I've been impressing people, including my friend, with the phrases and words of Czech that I was able to learn to pronounce and recall quickly from memory in the past nine months. I was seated next to another backpacker on the flight from London and he didn't even know how to say hello, please, or thank you... so I gave him a quick lesson. It was good practice.

Have a good day!

--Paint--

[Kim]

Hi Paint!!!

Good to hear from you! Thanks for posting and letting us know how you are doing. I'm really glad you met up with your friend, sounds like you are going to have a blast. Keep us posted if you can!!

Kim

[paint]

Greetings again from the Czech Republic! I actually have not seen much of Prague... I got back last night from a thorough driving tour of Northern Bohemia. I've seen many castles, ruins, mountains, parks, etc. I even got a private after-hours tour of a castle because relatives of friends of my friend work there.

I've spent a lot of time with native Czechs so this has been quite the cultural immersion experience. I wish I knew more Czech because my basic phrases have not really been enough, and English is useless where I have been. Nevertheless I am having a good time. Whoever (from these boards I think) recommended packing sunglasses deserves a reward, and despite my efforts to reapply sunblock frequently, I have managed to get quite burned. I don't think I've seen this much sun in years! Anyway the hostel I am at is great and I made one friend so far, she's an artist too and we will probably keep in touch.

I'm somewhere near Old Towne Square so I should log off and go see something before I run out of time. Perhaps Monday I'll take a bus to Cesky Krumlov - so I only have today and Tuesday to see anything important that I have missed in Prague.

More later! (probably when I return to the states)

[paint]

Ok now I don't think I'm having a good time anymore.

[LHR02]

huh?

Why? What has happened?

[dumbdiety]

paint said:

Ok now I don't think I'm having a good time anymore.

Why? What happened? Is everything ok?

[Kim]

Paint, you can't leave us hanging like that - is everything OK?

Kim

[paint]

Ok ok sorry - I got depressed. Yesterday and the day before didn't go all that well. First, I found out that I actually offended my friend by staying at the hostel.. it was sort of a misunderstanding. The last thing I wanted to do on this trip was lose the friend I came to visit. He didn't meet up with me yesterday. I went exploring on my own, and was joined by people from my hostel. I am embarassed to be from the same continent (they are Canadian but I'm positive that they were none of you, because you all would be much more considerate). These people were complaining that people were speaking Czech and just in general being very close-minded. I parted company with them and got caught in a sudden bad thunderstorm. I was out in the open and there wasn't a buidling near by that I could take shelter in - if it was just rain that would have been one thing but there was hail... pingpong-ball size. I sheilded my head and face with my arms, which are now all bruised with big blue circles. When the rain stopped I tried to take a tram back to the hostel, as I was completely waterlogged, but a tree had fallen across the tram tracks and they weren't running. I did get back eventually and just slept for a few hours. Then I tried drying my shoes with my roommates hair dryer. Everything in my daypack got wet - and my camera no longer works. I shall try to get it fixed when I get back.

In the grand scheme of things these are minor things... other than that I've been way under budget (I've spent less than $300 US in 8 days) and I've seen a lot. I've seen the major parts of Prague and taken some tours, I've seen a lot of Northern Bohemia, and I've interacted with native Czechs. But somehow I feel pretty worn out.

[dumbdiety]

Oh, that's terrible! Close minded people piss me off
Sad news about your friend as well! Umm...at least you're under budget!

[Eagle]

Paint, glad to hear that you're OK!!! When I read the posts, I was a bit worried.

Hopefully you've solved the misunderstanding with your friend. It just sounds like a lack of communication. Each of you had different ideas about how the visit would be conducted, but this may not have been articulated? Good luck with that.

I'm a bit upset to hear about the Canadians you encountered. I'm a bit ashamed to be Canadian when I hear stuff like that. I had a similar experience in the U.K. last year, when a bunch of us were sitting around in the Hostel having a visit. A Canadian girl sitting at the table was incessantly "bitching" about the English -- "why can't they speak properly, why do the drive on the wrong side of the road, why is everything so expensive, and on and on...." My self control was taxed severely, and I felt like telling her to "put a sock in it - if you don't like it here go home - you didn't come hear to see Canadian culture, you came here to experience the local culture".

Sorry to hear about your weather related problems too. Things like that happen, and it's probably a good reminder for all of us to pack a Poncho or something in the Day pack and maybe a zip-loc bag for the Camera. I know you probably won't appreciate me telling you this, but six months after you're home you might remember the experience with some fondness, as one of the "interesting parts" of your Czech visit.

Lastly, with regard to feeling "worn out", that's perfectly normal. Rick Steves calls travel "accelerated living" and in my travel experiences, he's spot on with this!

Good luck with the rest of your trip, and hope there are no more problems!

Cheers!!!

[WillTravel]

Paint, sorry for the friend misunderstanding issue. And getting soaked is miserable. Give yourself a chance to rest and get something really good and substantial to eat. Hope you feel better by now.

[paint]

Thanks all - I do feel better now. I left the Czech Republic for London yesterday and parted with my friend the night before... it was solemn but we didn't say goodbye, we shook hands and said "We'll see each other again some day." I promised that I would return, and since I keep promised like that, I'll have to plan a trip again - hopefully within the next few years. I didn't get to see Cesky Krumlov or Kunta Hora so I'll at least have to go back for that.

I ran into some Canadians at the hostel that were from the same city as the close-minded guys, and they were really embarassed to have encountered them as well. They really affected the mood at the hostel, and eventually left. Good riddance! I feel sorry for the people they will enounter at their next stop, which I think was Budapest. I shouldn't have let them make me so angry, but at least they made me realize how well I had prepared for this trip - by studying cultural etiquette and trying to learn as much of the local language as possible. Although I did have some problems with cultural differences (unknowingly offending people) they were minimal... and the situations I did get into were mostly because I was in such close contact with the people and not just an "outsider" tourist.

I'm running out of time at the Internet Cafe so I'll post more as a "just back" report later. I have some good things to say about the hostel and would like to elaborate on my "off the beaten track" trip outside of Prague. I look forward to visiting the country again some day, and hopefully seeing more of Central and Eastern Europe as well.

--Paint--

[uktrail]

Paint, I've enjoyed your comments about your trip. Sorry to hear about your misunderstandings with your friend -- it's so difficult for those of us who are careful to plan and cater for eventualities to relate to people who have a much more casual approach to appointments. It would have been foolish for you to have relied on meeting him when, a few days before, he had not contacted you. It's like those people who promise to drive you to the station and then don't do so until the very last minute when you are on tenterhooks because you hate having to rush. But he probably has a different mindset and cannot see it that way.

Talking of making arrangements, Ray said in another thread that he was about to email me re visiting Prague. That was 2 weeks ago. Anyone know where he's gone?

[dumbdiety]

uktrail said:

Talking of making arrangements, Ray said in another thread that he was about to email me re visiting Prague. That was 2 weeks ago. Anyone know where he's gone?

Well, from reading other stuff from Ray, he seems to be in his own 'Ray Timezone', where 2 weeks is about a day or so... ;D

[me]

wonder what Einstein would say about the Ray version of relativity regarding the pasage of time?

after all, Ray *does* seem to know about Light! ;D