A New Continent, A Nice Change...

Prague, Czech Republic

August 27, 2007
N50°04.920
E014°24.425

We took the red eye from Bombay to Zurich and then continued on to Prague. It was time for another country, another language, and another currency.

It was 9:00 AM local time when we arrived in Prague. The morning weather was a little crisp for an August day; a major difference from the oppressive humidity we soaked up across SEAsia over the past three months. Needless to say, it was a very welcome change. We strapped on our packs, easily navigated the public train system and arrived at our hotel within 45 minutes. Ohh, it’s so nice to be back in a country that has process and procedures…

We got a great deal on our accommodations on Priceline.com, but couldn’t check into our room until 2:00 PM. Not a big deal, we dumped our gear in the luggage room and headed out to find the nearest café and a real cup of coffee. After our first cappuccino in over three months we wandered through a shopping mall looking for shoes and pants. We need something besides Tevas now that we’re in Europe and the weather is starting to get cool. Plus, Marc needs a new pair of pants since his khakis are now light-blue; the result of washing them with a blue shirt that seemingly won’t stop bleeding.

After Marc found a pair of shoes we headed back to our hotel a little after 2:00 PM. The walk helped us get familiar with our new neighborhood and some of the key landmarks in the area. We quickly showered to get the grime of the nine hour flight from India off of our bodies and then set out to explore our new city.

We walked through the Old Square in the center of town in complete awe. The architecture from the historical buildings ranged from Gothic to Baroque to Renaissance to Art Nouveau. At every turn we were staring up at another impressive building like nothing we’ve ever seen.

The day ended with dinner in a microbrewery where we enjoyed beef dumplings and a half liter of tasty beer—our first non-lager beer in months. We knew we had just scratched the surface of the sites in Prague, but if day-one was any indication of what lies ahead, we are in for a real treat.