News Article

I know I already posted today, but I thought this news article might interest you...

The Germans

After a 5-hour hike, we got on the train back to Prague and the ticket officer on the train didn’t speak English. However, my Czech was so bad, he immediately concluded that we were from Germany! He smiled, began blathering in German, and motioned that everything was going to be OK because in his mind, the language barrier had been broken. I guess my eyes weren’t glazed over enough for him to realize the Canadian flag on Sarah’s backpack wasn’t serving as a patch. For the remainder of the train ride, our officer occasionally walked by, smiled at his new German friends, and once he either told us the time or the number of stops remaining. Again, in German. Sarah and I began discussing if it was socially acceptable to correct him and tell him we aren’t from Germany, even after multiple “conversations” in German. Our conclusion – tell him in Czech that he spoke German very well and be done with it.
Unfortunately, our ticket officer was at the rear of the passenger car when we exited, so we never got the chance. However, at least he thinks that his many years of German language study finally paid off for the "Mullers".

Hiking in Bohemian Paradise

Yesterday (Aug. 12), Sarah and I decided to head far out of the city and explore the rest of the country. We weren’t sure where to go, so we got up early, traveled to the train station, sat down on the ground and played a card game called Monopoly Deal. The winner got to choose our destination. After Sarah won, she selected a very pretty town southwest of Prague, near the border of Austria, but the4-hour train ride didn’t leave for another two hours. Sarah then deferred to me. My selection was a national park northeast of Prague called Cesky Raj and the train left in 20 min. We agreed this was a very careful and thought out decision, so we bought two round trip tickets, covering a travel distance of 102km, costing us 320 crowns or $18.60. The day was off to a frugal start.
We arrived in a town called Turnov and began asking questions about how to get to the national park. We kept getting the same answer – “You’re here.” We were in the heart of the national park and didn’t know what direction to go. We asked the tourist centre and they told us of a hike through the Hruboskalsko Rock Towns. It was incredible! We really enjoyed that hike and we would visit again.

Culture Shock

We have been in Prague for one week now and we have down lots of sight seeing and picture taking. It has been very magical as we wander around our new nation’s capital exploring all the nooks and crannies. We have discovered some awesome local restaurants, majestic cathedrals, and wide-open parks. However, some things have surprised us in a different way. For example, as we travel underground along the metro lines, the public bathrooms have become privatized – 5 crowns per use. I was desperate, so I walked into the bathroom with 5 crowns in hand only to find a woman sleeping at the payment desk. Without breaking my stride, I selected my urinal of choice and began to take a complimentary tinkle, without stirring a mouse. I was careful to use the faucet quietly and we know that the air blower would surely wake her, so forget dry hands. I walked out comfortably and satisfied with my rogue bathroom break.
Our second adventure comes to us on behalf on my beautiful wife, Sarah. As she tirelessly shifts furniture around the room in order to appease her neurotic husband’s OCD for efficient coffee table placement, she takes a break to plug in our North American surge-protected power bar. Sarah isn’t dumb, so she applies a power adapter to the end of the power bar chord so that she can plug it into the European outlet. Sure enough, it worked! ...Until she flicked the switch to “ON.” A flash so bright it could double as a stun grenade fills our bedroom. Sarah leaps onto the bed away from the smoking power bar and all of the sudden we’re in the dark. My fear was that we knocked out the power for the entire building, but sure enough, just our entire apartment. Talk about good news... We spend ten minutes at the fuse box with a flashlight pinned between my teeth and a Czech/English dictionary in my hands. Everything was flipped back into its upright positions but no power. Enter Hradhart - a South African who lives three floors above us. Hradhart comes to point out that the fuse box for our floor is what we need and they are located outside of our apartment. He simply opens up the box, flips the switch, and we’re back in business. Thanks Hradhart, we now know to use voltage converters, not power adapters. We're learning.

Tourists

Once we felt comfortable with our apartment, we decided it was time to head out and see the sights that Prague has to offer. We jumped onto the Metro (subway) and met up with Al for Thai food in Wenceslas Square – a very popular tourist spot. After dinner, we were about to part ways when two Canadian girls stopped us and asked us for directions. They were headed down to Old Town Square and needed to find their hostel as well. After directing them towards the city centre, Sarah and I decided we would do the same. As we walked, we saw the two Canadians again and invited them to join us for the evening. As we entered Old Town Square, it felt like we had entered a new world where centuries of culture and tradition had been preserved. Spires, balconies, and clock towers sprung into the sky and as dusk fell, all four of us went to a rooftop patio overlooking Old Town Square for coffee and dessert.
The next few days consisted of more tourist attractions including Charles Bridge, Frank Gehry's Dancing House, and simply wandering to find the coolest places around our new city. We have yet to visit Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral within the castle walls, but we will soon stroll across Charles Bridge, weave along the cobblestone streets and enter through the gates of the world's largest castle. We are continually in shock of the city's beauty.

First Meal

After getting our bags through the door, our landlord offered us some tea, we went over the basics of the flat (heating, water, garbage, etc.) and then suggested an authentic Czech meal for dinner just around the corner from us. Once they left, we ventured into our new neighbourhood and sat down for some Bohemian cuisine. The menu was extensive, not War and Peace extensive, but maybe People magazine extensive, but without their insightful columns. We asked for authentic Czech food and the waiter came back with two plates. The first plate (Sarah's) was chicken breast coated in a potato-type breading with sauerkraut and the second (mine) was gravy with sides of beef and bread dumplings. The former of the two was tastier, but half of the latter could feed an army. The food was honestly not bad at all and I would definitely have it again, not to mention two pints of Pilsner Urquell beer cost us 50 Crowns or $2.90 Canadian. All in all, a good first meal in the Czech Republic.

July 31st – Departure

Our final day in Canada went extremely smoothly. Like Jed and his family, we piled all of our possessions into the truck and shipped out to the airport. We were to meet my parents and Grams at the airport during check-in so that we could have a final meal with everyone before we left. During check-in, we were graciously bumped up to economy-plus, which was a very nice privilege for a commoner like myself, even if my seat is the Oriental Avenue compared to first class’ Boardwalk. Once the bags had disappeared through the doggie-door along the conveyor belt, we settled down for the finest meal Pearson airport has to offer – Swiss Chalet. A half-chicken dinner later, we were waving good-bye to our parents while sprinting through security. After navigating through Heathrow airport or what could have very well been Escher’s “Relativity,” we found our gate and boarded the plane for Prague.