My last few days in the Czech Republic have come and gone. This morning, I boarded a British Airways flight in Prague bound for Auckland, via London, Bangkok and Sydney (not exactly direct). During my last week, we experienced a “real” snow in Prague – the first of the winter. About 8 inches fell, blanketing the town in white and silence. Despite the cold, it was fun to get outside early and take photos before the snow became dirty and began to melt away.
For my last weekend, Joel, Greg and I boarded a 3-hour train with a 10-pack of beer for the town of Olomouc (O-lo-moats) in northern Moravia. We stayed in the Poet’s Corner Hostel, which despite being a bit pricey (especially for the off season), was pretty nice.
One of Prague's names: The City of a Thousand Spires.
Olomouc is a college town with an established nightlife. On our first night, we drank some beer with a guy we met on the train at a bar called 9a. For those of you who don’t (rock) climb, “9a” is a term describing a level of difficulty for a given climbing route. This bar had a bouldering room in the back, complete with crash pads and climbing junkies. We stayed there all night.
On Saturday, we explored town and ate cheap Czech food (which I will not miss). For breakfast, I had fried dumplings with eggs and bacon fat, followed by fruit pancakes with chocolate and whipped cream. I couldn’t eat it all, and even so, I felt sick for the next day and a half. But, all that, along with coffee, cost just $5 US, including tip.
After being shut out at the local swimming pool (which left Greg VERY upset) because our swimming suits were too long – only Speedos allowed – we wandered through town seeing the cathedrals and museums, and even bullied some little kids to take their sleds. (Okay, it was only Greg, and he asked nicely.)
Greg in Charles Bridge Tower
It was a fitting end to an amazing month in Prague. Greg and Joel, thanks for everything – more than you’ll know. I look forward to this summer with great anticipation…
That’s it from Europe (for now)…next post’ll be from New Zealand.
Olomouc (pronounced: O-lo-moats)
The airplane bar - classy
What can I say? Shenanigans
2 comments:
Gorgeous stuff, Fitzy Fitz, gorgeous stuff. Hope you have a good time getting to and being in New Zealand - A trip to Europe in late summer might just happen (my pocketbook will be fat with Cheley-money ;-) )
I still don't know what I'm doing with my life next fall.
Possibly CSU, possibly Austin.
It's a familiar situation. Here's to hoping I get 6 digits for the screenplay.
When this adventure ends, whereto will you go next?
The blog-link you have Is the correct one - I could update it more frequently, but I don't, so I don't.
Heh Heh.
Johnny Cash! Johnny Cash!!
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