Just About Another Week Or Two

Hey everyone, and by everyone I mean myself, and the few people that stumble upon this blog from time to time. As it stands, it's January 27th, 2008, and I am in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. In terms of a quick recap (this whole thing will likely be a quick recap, as you all know how long-winded I tend to be) Liz, Derek, and I left on the 25th for London. A few hours later, we hopped a flight to Prague, and as it stands, well, we're there.

There's not much to say about getting here, especially considering that my sole experience in England for the length of my stay in Europe involved a COSTA coffee shop and playing House of the Dead 3 in the airport arcade. I'm pretty sure the wonderful people of England would not want their country evaluated on such minimalist terms. I certainly wouldn't want someone doing the same with mine. Other than that, I just want to remark that when on flies EasyJet or Semi-Scrapped-Together Airlines, or anything else of this sort, be aware that NOTHING is free. Not the itty-bitty cans of soda, nor the cheap coffee that they spill on you, or the minature alcohol bottles. I'm pretty sure that you can fly on a propeller-less plane, if you don't check the correct boxes when reserving one's ticket.

As for Prague, the first night went...decently. Both Liz and Derek were impressed with my preparations in terms of researching the mass transportation system to get downtown via buses and the metro. From there, finding the first hostel on my list wasn't difficult either. Well, finding it wasn't the problem. Getting in was. Here we are at about 7:10 PM, almost a full HOUR before reception is to be closed, and the door is locked, no lights in the windows to be found. We buzzed the according floor, only to have a man answer that claimed that he didn't have any control over the operation. But yet, somehow, he was there.

In attempting to find the backup, Hostel Atlas, we accidentally saw a sign for Atlas. Except...this was for Atlas Cabaret. Instead of walking in to find bunk beds and friendly reception, we ended up walking into a swanky disco place with scantily clad women and massively overpriced drinks. Derek and I didn't consider it a total loss, though. We did find Atlas though...and it was supposed to be open. It wasn't. We ended up, much to my unhappiness, in a lodging place down the street for about 15 dollars more a night. It was bearable, but had some disturbing quirks, which I'll go into later.