Up, up, and away
New York Governor David Patterson on planed airline cuts:
I implore American Airlines, as well as the other carriers considering various cost-saving scenarios, to take into account more than profit when they evaluate routes.
Good luck with that.
I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face: we need to work on improving other means of long-distance travel. As James Kunstler says, we have a train system that Bulgarians would be ashamed of.
Failing that, we should all just get used to living closer to that which is most important to us, and traveling less to those places that are far away.
Bad business
Downtown, the cage is up around Market Square, which can only mean one thing: St. Patrick’s Day. The masses are smartly gathering at the end of our street, waiting for a bus to take them to the “fun.” There’s one problem, though: there’s no bus.
I’ve watched the crowd grow from 5 to 20 to probably 50. With each passing bus, the mumur of drunken discontent grows louder. Some Most are abandoning the wait, choosing, probably unwisely, to walk back to their cars and make the trip by other means.
The buses run at a frequency unchanged from their normal weekend schedule, and the ones that do go by fail to stop. I don’t know if the riders are being passed by because the buses are full, or because the drivers don’t want to deal with a bunch of happy drunks in Abercrombie & Fitch.
Either way, it’s a loss for the Port Authority, and for its regular riders. Failing to be flexible and accommodating to the special needs of the day is just fuel for the fire of those who posit the growing irrelevance of our transit system. I can imagine 50 different conversations once the revelers arrive downtown, all going something like this:
“Dude, what took you so long? I’m already smashed!”
“It’s the fuckin’ bus, man. I waited an hour for it and watched three go by without stopping.”
“Dude, the bus sucks.”
“I know.”
Prague, Days 9-11
Our final days in Prague were spent at a slower pace. Satisfied with all we had seen thus far, we took time to visit some of the city libraries, hit a beer garden overlooking the city, visit some of the obligatory tourist spots that we had thus far skipped, and burn some crowns at the many souvenir shops.
Two personal highlights for me were my runs on Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, I set out in a new direction and ended up running to the base of my beloved ikov television tower. It was an unexpected journey, but once I turned a corner and saw it in the distance, I couldn’t help myself.
Before we left on Monday, I went for a short run with the camera and captured (photo, movie) my favorite running trail. Of all the trails I found around Rob’s place, I will remember this one the most. Running across it in the crisp morning air, golden sunlight all around, is a feeling I hope I never forget.
Prague, Day 8
We took another train ride out of town, this time to the village of Karltejn and its scenic castle. The train ride out was awesome, as we got to ride on one of the newest trains Czech Railways has to offer. The ride was so smooth that at times it was possible to forget that we were moving.
The scenic walk from the train station to the castle took about 20 minutes and wound its way through the quaint, but tourist shop-heavy village. We didn’t go into the castle, but the views from the courtyard were good enough for us.
Back in the village, we had ourselves a very European picnic of cheese, bread, and apples. We took a quick nap under a tree then headed back to the train station.
The ride back was a marked difference from our journey out. The train that pulled up was probably 30 years old, and was akin to riding a wooden roller coaster for 20 miles. However, it got us back on time and, all told, the entire trip cost us only about 170 CZK — less than nine dollars. Have I mentioned how much I love the trains here?
Prague, Day 7
We allowed ourselves a relative day of ease, opting to not leave the apartment until nearly 2:00 in the afternoon. We crammed a lot of sights into the last several days, and a vacation from the vacation was in order.
When we finally did muster the will to leave, we headed over to Vyehrad Castle, which sits on high ground along the river. The views were great, as was the church located inside the castle walls. The weather was perfect, and we sat and watched the kids run through the park under the somewhat-watchful eye of their mothers.
We left the castle and sought out a vegetarian Indian restaurant that we had found while researching for the trip. Unbeknownst to us, the restaurant had closed at 5:00 p.m. for the day. Strange. But we did come across another place, just down the street, that served good food and some decorative drinks (for future reference, here are some more vegetarian restaurants in Prague).
And what trip to a foreign country would be complete without a visit to a mall? We took the subway there, which was cool, but a mall is a mall. The pet store, though, did contain a couple of these things, which could be had for about 3500 CZK (approximately $175). I’m sure you can’t get these things in America.
Also in the mall was an 8-screen theater, so in the interest of research (and to satisfy our cravings for M&M’s and popcorn), we took in a show (given the available remaining shows, it was the best we could do). I don’t know if this is common in other theaters, but when we bought our tickets, we were allowed to pick our seats beforehand. Not particularly useful when there are only about 10 people watching the movie, but fun nonetheless.
Prague, Day 6
Having taken in our fill of Prague over the last several days, we decided to leave the city and travel to nearby Kutná Hora via train.
The ride out and back reaffirmed our strong pro-train position. It’s a civilized and convenient form of transport that, when done right, can be faster and more efficient than the car and is more humane than the cramped confines of an airplane. It can be affordable, too. It’s unfortunate that our sorry excuse for a national train system is neither convenient, fast, efficient, or affordable. Maybe we need 40 years of Communist rule to build a good rail system?
Our time in Kutná Hora was spent walking around the village, taking in the sights. We also tried our first real bit of “traditional” Czech cuisine, which, as a vegetarian, is not an easy thing to find. It’s also not very healthy. But it does taste good.
We also exceeded all previous trip records for walking. The main train station in Kutná Hora is about a mile out of town, and rather than take a bus in, we (mostly I) decided the walk in and back out would be “fun.” It was, for the most part, but the unusual smell of human (not animal) poop lingered a little too heavy in the air as we walked by the Phillip Morris plant. Why people smoke is beyond me.
Arriving back at the apartment at 10:30 p.m., as we collapsed into bed we agreed that tomorrow would be an easier day.
Prague, Days 4-5
On Monday and Tuesday, we donned our walking shoes and climbed towers (and were rewarded with some great views), explored the Malá Strana, or the “Little Quarter,” and visited Prague Castle. I don’t even care to think about the number of steps we climbed and miles we walked down cobblestone streets. Our sore legs are keeping track well enough for us.
Getting around the city and figuring out where buses and trams run is far easier than anything I’ve encountered in America. All of the stops have schedules posted for that location, and the map of the city that we’re using, by the Marco Polo company, has the route numbers and the stops drawn right onto the map. The level of detail captured on a single page is astounding.
I also found time to fit in another run. I like the Czechs propensity to make trails through any place that doesn’t have a sidewalk but should. There’s an unusual field/park/forest just south of where we are staying, and it contains enough variety that I haven’t yet been down the same path twice.
Prague, Day 3
We spent most of today at the Prague Zoo. I don’t think either of expected it to be as big as it was. In about 6 hours, we probably only saw about three-fourths of it. Families were out in abundance, and rightfully so. Besides all of the animals, the zoo has a lot of play stations (including mock sword fighting) spread around the zoo for additional diversion. There are several adult play stations too, in the form of stands that sell big cups of beer. Although it was tempting, I did not participate in the fun (dueling, drinking, or dueling and drinking).
We were pleased to see how well-behaved all of the Czech kids were. A zoo is normally a pretty crazy place, but not once did we see a mom or dad yelling at their kid to shut up or get away from something, as is all too often the case back home. At the same time, it looked like the kids had a lot more freedom to roam at will. I’m sure this is not coincidental.
Following the zoo, we fought our way on to a packed bus and ventured back to Old Town, where we found a pizza place that had some vegetarian options. The food and beer was excellent, and cheap. We walked off the meal through winding, narrow streets until we found our way back to a metro stop and then home.
Prague, Day 2
Our first full day in Prague, and we seem to be escaping whatever effects jet lag may impose upon us.
As noted earlier, I took my first run around the city this morning. In the course of five miles, I got to run on neighborhood streets, next to trams, up cobblestone hills, through a park, and on dirt trails. Not bad for the first time out.
The rest of the day was spent on an island in the Vltava River at the redundantly-named Happy Beer Days (isn’t “beer” an synonym for “happy?”). Except for the fact that I couldn’t understand a word that anyone was saying, it could have easily been any county fair in the Midwest. Fried everything, beer tents, and live music was in abundance.
Listening to the Czech bands was enlightening, as it was interesting to see that although the language is different, the song remains the same. Led Zeppelin was right. Plus, the between-song banter is pretty much universal — it’s always “thank you”, “you guys are great,” “we have CDs for sale over there” and “we’ll be in Ostravar next month.”
Several bands played covers of American and British music. Dylan and Bob Marley were combined in a strange medley, but perhaps my favorite was a Czech cover of “Wild Horses” that snuck up on me as the chorus began.
I most enjoyed the bluegrass and honky-tonk bands, one of which reminded me of Accident Clearinghouse, save for the occasional scat singing and Eminem-inspired rap breaks.
After the festival, we took a ferry ride back to the city and wandered around some more. The liveliness of the streets at night is amazing. To walk, drink, and eat amidst such history is humbling.
Prague, Day 1
It’s nearly 1:00 am, and I should be in bed, but the last 36 or so hours have been so exciting, it’s hard to convince myself to go to sleep.
Our flight to Prague went about as smoothly as that kind of flight could go, I suppose, and we arrived here at about 9:00 a.m. It’s a six-hour difference between Prague and Pittsburgh.
After a short nap and a shower, Arielle and I took a walk around the neighborhood where Rob, our host, lives. It’s a garden-style neighborhood dotted with Communist-era paneláky, which have been cleaned up and painted bright colors so as to dull the drab, mass-produced concrete aura they create. I find the buildings quite intriguing, though Rob assures me that the interior is not at well-kept as the exterior.
I took two pictures from Rob’s balcony that give an idea of what we see when we look out of his windows. The view is quite amazing.
Later, we all went into the heart of the city and ate dinner. Transportation to and from our meal was flawless and left me further despondent over the sorry state of mass transit in Pittsburgh.
There are so many good things here that we would do well to duplicate in America. As Rob said over dinner, although the Communist era left a lot to be desired, it instilled a sense of disciplined thrift that other countries (read: the U.S.) lack.
Perhaps as America’s financial markets continue to reveal their charlatan ways and Wal-Mart’s warehouse on wheels runs out of steam, we will be forced to deal with economic hardships unseen in the short history of our country. It won’t be pretty, but it’s about time, I say.
Thankfully, there are other places that already get it, and they are planning for a far better future. I just hope we don’t ruin it for them.
