Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
Second day... Thursday, August 9th, 2012.
So high above that insecurity were we, that every turbulence led me to believe I'd die in the black ocean like Jack in Titanic... and I'd never see Europe.
....
......
.........
But that would be too dramatic, so I prayed, and we landed safely in Prague. :]
And we went straight for the car.
Now, the car was every bit a part of our trip, not just transportation-wise, but like another person.
It had it's own character.
It had it's own opinions.
It had it's own name.
It had it's own complaints.
It had it's own gas tank.
It was.... a Panda.
No, no, no....not that kind of panda, people.
A Fiat Panda. :) (silly people)
A four-door bundle of yellow, settled sweetly in the airport parking garage, waiting for us to meet it.
(my sister was jealous :])
Little did we know how much we'd experience with the Panda in the next 5000 kilometers.
For our first ride, we found our "hotel", hidden in the outskirts of Prague.
Actually, it is correctly called Praha.
Immediately, after somewhat identifying the building where we'd be spending the night,
we started our EXPLORATION.
Now, why did we start with Praha?
My father wisely said,
"You must see the best of Europe so that you would want to come back to it in the end."
And indeed, it is the best of Europe.
Pale, creamy warm-colored cafes, hotels, apartments, shops & offices... snugly nestled together among weaving alleyways & streets...
Cobblestone directing the wayward & directional up and down the hilly narrow roads that could make you lost in Praha for daaaays...
Trees and greens hustling to fit among the walkways & yonder hills to impress you, their flitting strut positions by the lanes...
Grand steeples and eerie gargoyles ornamenting the numerous cathedrals, darkened by memory's sediments.
A vast, long blue, calmly dividing the city's beauty in two, full of tourist "steamers"... with low bridges, adorning the watery gap in their stony stacking & numerous peddlers' booths...
Booths of hand-painted hair clips, glass-blown necklaces, artists complimenting your portrait, musicians exhilarating your experience with accordions & guitars...
You are in Praha. :]
So Father & I parked in a "restricted" area, only to carefree-ly find out later that we were supposed to pay to park there.
(But who knew what that blue line on the road meant, anyway?)
...speaking of blue...
Praha is full of color. EVERYWHERE.
Yellows, oranges, vermillion, gamboge, pale blues, browns, tans, even greens, viridian... rarely a black in sight, unless a building is burnt or very old.
First stop: Karlov Mohst*
*we had such a debacle about this...
...I said the English translation was "Charles' Bridge"...
and he said, "No cultured person in the world would know what 'Charles Bridge' is. They would know, however, that there is a Karlov Mohst in Prague."
(I still hold the position that you can call it 'Charles' Bridge'.)
As you can see, the grandeur is quite awe-striking, but what was the most painful part of this beauty was the 135 unsteady stairs that curl up to the tower's top.
Sure, it was worth every koruna... and every knee ailment there-afterward.
(P.S. My dad is secretly a pro behind a camera. I'll be releasing all kinds of facts throughout this trip.)
We roamed the across bridge,
humbled by the thousands of other passersby...
I never wanted to leave my Dad's sight, for fear of becoming more than a passerby later on.
(Ever seen Taken?)
Second stop: St. Vitus Cathedral
This was my most favorite part of Praha. Yes, it takes tedious efforts & at least 1 hour from Karlov Mohst to roam up the windy alleys & roads before you can actually admit that you are even close to this cathedral.
But, the first sight is breath-taking, in every sense of the word.
First, you see buildings blocking that point of interest.
"Grr," you think.
"How will I ever get inside that cathedral with all these monuments & buildings in the way?"
(By the way, those monuments & buildings are worth staring at, too.)
Then, you finally land in front of the biggest building before it, and say, "Ah, I can now go through this short tunnel & finally see it!"
But then, you & your father meander through this huddled tunnel, waiting for your turn out to the other side.
Lo and behold, it rises before you, the decrepit sanctuary of old.
You tilt your head back as far as you can, and even then, you cannot grasp where the tip-top ends.
All you can think of is, "This is better than Notre Dam," even if you've never seen that one.
You reach for your camera, you attempt to capture it, fail while also getting the ugliest angles of yourself in the shots.
Then, you give up and say, "WOW....", knowing that is the only way you can fully remember it: staring.
Then you see the Asians & Arabs around you with their cameras, doing the same thing you American thought you could do.
And everyone has half-head shots with double chins from the bottom angle in front of St. Vitus Cathedral.
Lovely.... kind of.
Walking inside of the St. Vitus Cathedral, there has never been such height nor light to fill a sanctuary. And because it is so, the price is also as cash never been found in your pockets.
So you only stand in the foyer, admiring the grandest sight of what is probably carved marble & stained-glass Bible & Catholic images.
You know, I'm so glad that the Church used to erect such hollow & high places, full of light & shadows to make any soul feel seen and yet hidden. It feels like a sanctuary, because it is.
After that whole experience, I definitely felt like the trip was worth it just for that sight.
If I could spend hours anywhere, it would probably be in St. Vitus Cathedral (if they would let me roam the entire cathedral, like Quasimodo).
Yonder down the list of things we did:
~We booked it to the Astronomical Clock back over the bridge.
Dad tried explaining the whole logical, religious meaning behind it... it was quite intricate.
~Stopped by this tiny tea shop in a quiet courtyard
(This is here I bought Diana a non-traditional tea cup!)
P.S. Jumpy was the name of a car!
"I drive a Jumpy."
(sounds like something an Aussie would say.)
~We lunched... at Pilsner Urquell
Now, Pilsner Urquell is almost like the McDonald's of Czech Republic, but superior-ly more scrumptious. Meaning, they have a bistro every couple streets.
Never have I eaten so much delicious, greasy goulash with kielbasa & potatoes so satisfyingly painfully.
It was dripping with fat, but the flavors were worth their price in yum.
Yet, I am sure one can easily feel heartburn within minutes of horking it down. (Mind you, every dish needs potato here.)
The waiter could speak at least 6 languages, including Italian, English, Russian, Spanish, German & of course, Czech. He always said "thank you" after everything he said.
I was reminded that a bottle of juice in U.S.A. is not the same size as in Europe. In fact, half the size + the thickness of glass to for less juice. (maybe that's why people are half the size here?)
Nevertheless, our wailing tummies were finally filled with real Czech cuisine. :)
Now, some of my other family members decided to cross paths in Praha around the same time, so we actually had a small reunion while starting this trip. :)
God has blessed me with simple family members, who always took me in wherever I went. They are always welcome to our place, the same, so it's nice to have that kind of simple bond with my family.
We decided to accompany each other's dinners at an antique restaurant "Prazan" near a fair.
Here, I found out that a plush Superman hangs on walls by antique decor...
Needless to say, with such an interesting situation of decoration (interior designers, I'm not sure you'd approve of superheros next to ornate oak), we had an even more interesting time just talking & catching up on life.
(P.S. The bathroom is never a safe place for a passport.)
Oh, if only the night ended there!
Dad & I finally drove back to our "hotel". (Remember how questionable it sounded in the beginning?) Upon arrival, we walked through the door, only to find out it was a restaurant.
Oh now, we were doomed! The address was wrong!!
NO, we weren't and no, it wasn't.
A lady kindly escorted us through the restaurant to the back right side, where a foyer beheld a woman reclining by a computer. Ah, were we in luck?
Yes, in fact, we came to the right place. But, this 3-star "hotel" was structured by poured-concrete walls (or of the like) and faint lighting.
I booked it straight to our room, he- tired, and I- in DESPERATE need of a shower.
(Mind you, we hadn't done that since flying in that afternoon.)
But wait! I opened the door, and-- BANG!
I hit the wall.
Yes, my friends, I know I am the clumsy one, but I wasn't even escaping the smoke-stunk corridor when I walked in!
Turns out, .... the "hallway" in our room was less than a yard wide, due to a closet immediately to your right as you entered. After squeezing past that, with hefty-weighted luggage (with mainly my clothes), I thought the room was going to become something modest & nice for it's price past the "hallway".
It was a tad bit bigger than my room, with two twin beds, a T.V. and a bathroom w/ 2 towels. Plus a gaping tall window.
VERY modest.
Oh, and here's a funny note:
Dad suggested I not bring shower gel until we arrive, so as not to waste luggage weight with items we could buy in Europe.
So, here I enter, remembering that we have not yet bought soap of any sort.
Gross....
But, my mother, in secret, stashed some body wash in his bag. So, I considered it was better to smell like Eucalyptus & Mint than like tired sweat & greasy goulash.
(P.S. The lights turned on outside of the bathroom,
so that was kinda awkward.)
(P.P.S. The door didn't have a lock. Even more awkward...)
So, day one ended with the women's Olympics on air with subtitles, no A/C air, and an open window where you could hear the airs of strolling loiterers past the willow-like trees.
The next day, we'd be in Praha a bit more before driving on to our next destination....
