Catching up

Failed in getting Prague entry in, and now must do that as well as recount the last weekend in Northern Ireland, the journey back to California and readjusting to America.

1) PRAGUE

I can't say that we were exactly ready to get out of Salzburg when we had to, but it's all right. This trip was to get a good taste here and there of the different places of Europe, which it had served to do just rightly. We were pretty excited to see Prague, though weather forecasts were not providing cheery news. I guess there had to be an end to the sunshine and clear skies, and it looks like Europe was getting it in general, not just Prague.

Anyway, so the rain and the cold set us back a bit, since neither of us brought umbrellas (nuisances) and were getting physically exhausted from the entire trip. But we did get a good deal of walking around and exploring.

We were quite impressed with the city, actually. Not only is the transportation amazingly efficient--railway, bus, metro, surface-ground tram--the city itself is modern, trendy and clean. All the British designer stores are lined up nicely in every shopping complex we encountered (a lot), and there are plenty of the infamous icons of Western influence: KFC, McDonald's, Burger King and the like.

If there is one thing I regret, it would be that I did not fully appreciate the beauty of the gothic architecture there. Some of the buildings/monuments/tourist attractions are very impressive, looming over the city at intimidating and spiky heights.

A particular instance of "not fully appreciating" Prague came when we walked up to Prague Castle, known as a town within a town. Indeed it was like a miniature town and the actual palace is fascinating, but the sky chose to rain heavily during our time there, so we spent our time huddled under a little shelter waiting for it to get a little lighter.

But I digress. The point here is that as we were making our way to the castle, we saw a great view of Prague. I took pictures at a few angles - you know, the whole shabang - and then just went on, only realizing later that I didn't care. Alan had reached that point already, and I only remarked later, "Huh...we HAVE seen a lot of views haven't we?" Reply: "Yeah, and they all look the same."

Okay, they don't look EXACTLY the same, but city views are definitely similar. We still agreed that Salzburg was the best view because of the mountain ranges and the greenery all around. Prague had gorgeous gothic monuments sticking out here and there, and it was a lovely scene, but I guess...yes, it does look the same as everywhere else.

Even so, we had a great time in Prage. Food was ridiculously cheap, though clothes weren't. We got more international cuisine that was pretty decent, as well. Very good thing.

Oh oh! One more story from Prague visit....


2) Champions League Cup Final - Manchester Utd v. Barcelona

This happened during Prague visit, and there are a number of reasons why we had to watch this:
a. The Carsons have been lifelong avid fans of Manchester United
b. The Champions League Cup is one of the most coveted club titles in European football
c. Both teams playing are at the top of European clubs, so it promised to be a good game
d. No team had ever held onto the Champions League title two years in a row, and since Man. Utd won it last year, if they were to nab this one they would make history

Finding a Sports Bar wouldn't be too hard, we thought, so we just walked down our street and looked at the appropriate time. The first one we tried was a failure because it looked dingy outside and had the smallest TV screens. The second had good-sized screens and a table right in front of one of them, so we took it.

In the middle of the first half, a scantily clad girl jumps onto the bar counter and begins dancing at the pole. See, we hadn't even noticed that there was a pole there, though we did notice that the girl was dressed in a very revealing outfit. So then, we agree that if she's still doing her nonsense we'd leave at halftime.

Near the end of the first half, she's still doing her nonsense, which meant we were planning on leaving anyway. The next thing we knew, we looked at each other and said, "Her top is off."

And we left right then and there.

By the way, Czech beer may be cheap, but it tastes like it. Austrian beer is the way to go. Just a tip.


So this is long enough. I think I'll save the NI weekend and the trip home for a while later. I know this takes away from the accuracy of recounting my true feelings, but as I have been doing absolutely nothing with my life since I've gotten back to the States, I don't think there's much with which to replace those memories.