Friday in Praha

Hello!


So, today was supposed to be a 5-hour tour of Prague with my fellow Study Abroad peeps (Alejandro, David and Travis) - but I missed it. I was supposed to meet them at their flat (called A1 by the school) at 10a, and was told that the tour guide would not wait more than 10 minutes for me. So, I set off at 9a to get there on time ... they live outside and above the city itself. First I took the A metro (green) from my stop (Namestri Miru) to the stop for my school (Malostranska); from there I took the 5 tram to Vystaviste - which is apparently by the local stadium (Tesla Arena - see below); then I transferred to the 17 tram out to the Severni Mesto ... suburb maybe ... on the map this name is in the same size/font as the name of my neighborhood (Vinohrady).

So, this was next to Tesla Arena - I don't think it is part of it per se, but I was trying to get the tower in the distance ... it was really cool looking!

Back to the trip ... unfortunately, I didn't prepare enough (in terms of directions) for the trip - - believing that my map would suffice, and that (like the city) the streets would be labeled. Not so ... on either account. I managed to get off at the right tram stop, by pure luck as the stop name was two letters off from the street name I was looking for & so I thought maybe I had written the street down wrong. Nope. So, then I had to choose a direction - and as it turns out, it was the wrong one. It was 9:50a ... and I had 10 minutes before I should be there (20 before the guide left) ... so I just started walking around looking. I found a street that looked right (as I had seen images of the A1 flats on Google Maps before I left), so went that way ... and didn't find it, but found cool stuff to photograph at least! At this point I gave up, I wasn't going to make the tour. I was not terribly upset - as I had been touring Prague since Tuesday ... and will continue to do so!

Here are some images I saw along my travels of being lost ...

Soooo ... this staircase is actually a street! If you look on the Picasa version (as it is bigger) you can see the address plagues ... blue for house # and red for area name and "zip" code (same format as all over Prague).

I think this is a little Gypsy camp!!!!!! WAY FREAKIN' COOL ... Look at the sweet little Gypsy carts!

I just loved the look of this super old building ... oh yeah, and the PLANTS growing out of the NOT SO STRAIGHT roof! Too quaint!

At this point I decided to head back home ... it was WAY warmer up there than in the city, and it was hilly so I was exerting myself walking up and down the streets. The main street was downhill in the direction of the city, so I decided to walk to the next tram stop down from where I got off ... a little more exploring, downhill and on the shady side of the street!

Then ... low and behold ... like two streets down the hill ... I turned my head and saw the Nad Hercovkou street sign - the street I had been searching for!

I found the A1 flats that house my study abroad peeps! Hurray! 

So, I rang the bell and the owners wife stuck her head out the window and then sent her husband down to find out what I wanted. He was very nice (George), and I explained that I was supposed to meet the "boys" (his word!) and the tour guide there @ 10a (it was now 10:20a) ... so we walked around the corner to their entrance and went in. Alejandro was there, as he is heading to Budapest this evening to see a friend for the weekend, and he said I had missed the others by 10 mins ... oh well.

I left and continued on my journey back into the city ... continuing to walk down the hill to the next tram stop. Although I took a slight detour so that I could get some city shots from this high advantage.

Nice above-the-city shot ... can really make out any landmarks though.

When I got back to the city it was about 11a, so I decided to hit the noon meeting. This time I got some shots of the AA clubhouse! It was a good meeting, we read from "As Bill See's It" ... and (thank you HP) the page chosen by the chair (thanks Jimmy!) was about doing Step-4 ... ha ha - yes, I see the irony Shawn! 

Also, a guy visiting from Toronto (Carl) asked to take a pic of my arm ink ... and then got really excited when I told him about the AA inspired one on my neck ... so he had to have a pic of that too! What a nice guy he was too ... knitting in the meeting and all! Found out that the chair Jimmy lives here, so he'll be a good source of info ... from Britain originally. Also saw Greg there, he was at Tuesday's meeting - so nice to see a familiar face. Met a guy named Casey from San Fran - woo hoo!! He was super helpful too. Yeah for peeps all over the world in recovery!!!!

I talked about my experience with Step-4, having done one and now doing another, and a little about BBSS too and that whole phenomenon in Boston ... Casey said there was a guy there recently named Matt who was from Boston and described doing the steps in the way I did and was able to help quite a few people while there - people that were previously unable to get it! Way to go BBSS!!!! I just love to see the programme work ... and hear about someone that might be BBSS sharing the message over 3000 miles away in Europe!

AA clubhouse in Praha!

From there I headed home, Skype'd with Tra and the girlz (poor Olive cried and kept trying to touch me through the camera), then with sis Kim and nephew Pete, and finally with Shawn (with a little hello from Mrs Day too - cool!) ... woo hoo to all, I freakin' LOVE being able to see and talk with my peeps back home!! Thank you all.

Had some lunch, chatted with the newest tenant - a guy named Matt who spent the spring semester here at AAU ... then went traveling to Israel and just got back. He and his brother (coming in in a few days) will be staying here for about 10 days. Nice guy ... actually took the Prague Art and Architecture class that I am starting Monday, with the teacher that I have - - he said it was great, and that they spent about 50% of the class time in museums ... but that I would probably spend more because the weather is nicer. Woo hoo!!

And for this eve ... I am gonna shower again and head out to the evening AA, maybe even the NA that directly precedes it. I won't be able to make one tomorrow because of the Karlstejn Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlštejn) tour and then the Free Museum Night (all museum in Prague are free @ 7p ... ALL!!)

Sooooooo ... I am off for the eve then. I may not blog again until Sunday morning, as tomorrow is gonna be chock-full of cool cool stuff!!

Love to all ... and thanks for coming along on the ride.


Here is a link to the day's photos via my Picasa page ... The Day I Missed the City Tour - oh well!

It's 5:31p ... Momma!

;-}