Hah hah. Hah. I walked right into that one, worrywort, I'll give you that
JLV - yes, it's a word. For pronounciation, start with the german Stettin, then go to Shchetsin.
In any case, writing this next bit the fourth time, I decided to just use google docs instead for a saved copy and post from work.
So, after spending a couple of hours in the hotel room, we decided it’s time to see that town. And I must say, Prague is very climatic (though I imagine it’s hell for drivers), with the narrow streets and old buildings and whatnot. We managed to get to Charles’ Bridge with still some sunlight, and the sight was, indeed, beautiful. Over the river we went into the Old Town, and as a highlight besides just walking down alleys and streets, we climbed the clock tower - damn, the walkway on top is NARROW AS FUCK. NRW. Needless to say, with my fear of heights, I was quite nervous up there. She, on the other hand, was totally carefree as she loves heights. I was slightly emasculated but I managed not to cry like a baby and took some photos with my back to the gaping abyss beyond the railing - and even managed a faint smile or two.
Sometime later it was time to head back to our side of the river. We took the offer of a free evening and spent it at the restaurant at U Schnellu - it was pretty decent, though to be honest it was nothing special, on the food side of things. Beer was, by czech tradition, excellent, though!
Back to our hotel, and for all you need to know let’s just skip to the next day. We started off very lazily staying at the hotel till about 12 before heading off towards the Prague Castle - which was just about next door, if you discount the elevation difference. Managed to catch the changing of the guard, but what impressed me the most was St. Vitos Church - that thing is extremely impressive. After fooling around the castle a bit and managing to forget the gorram Golden Alley, we went to the Old Town again, and sadly decided to eat at one of the restaurants on that side of the river.......
It was so fucking shitty. The service was rude and hard to catch/contact, and the food was pretty pale and devoid of any sort of feeling, like it was frozen. What’s very telling is the toilet - a piece of shit hole in the ground that was more basic than what you’d get in the cheapest hostel. It felt very bad parting with any sort of money for this kind of experience. Sadly, I don’t remember the name. What I can remember though is that it was near the Powder Tower (on the Old Town side of it) and had some green and gold and brown going on on the front.
In any case, we took a stroll towards the hotel again, spent a couple of hours there again, then decided we could do with another bite. I’ll not that it was about 11pm, and Prague doesn’t really live much past 10pm in this sector... We went uphill but for about half a mile didn’t find anything open, so came back down and came down a set of stone stairs that were right gorram in front of our hotel and our windows... just at their base was a pivnica - U Sedmi švábů - and it was a real revelation. Excellent food, great atmosphere, out of the way of most tourists and with kind and helpful service - and right at our doorstep, no less! Pity that this was already saturday evening.
Back to hotel again, and skip to the next day - it’s time to part. I’ll spare you the whiny details, but I’ll say this - the gut feeling I had back before New Year’s was right - she is a wonderful person, full of life, kind, optimistic, happy, giving, spontaneous - so many qualities I thought dead in this day and age. I am, myself, changed by the experience. It's quite certainly the best time in my life.
To quote her, "Life's always good."
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
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McLovin, on 08 January 2012 - 01:20 PM, said:
