Descent of Speed

I haven’t been doing a very good job of keeping up on the blog. In Prague I was usually out late, and just came back and hit the sack.
We started off in Kazokov, the location of our latest race. We found some locals who had a large van, and offered us a ride to the train station. They were going home via Turnov, but I thought we needed to go to Semily. Semily is only about 20 kilometers away, so they said no problem. When we got to Semily, we found the fastest way to Prague was to take the train to Turnov and switch to another train!
I already had a hotel room in Prague, but Will and Kolby, the two guys I was travelling with didn’t. They had come through Prague on the way to Kazokov, and had found a place right across the street from the train station. I thought my hotel was within walking distance, so I headed off. I made the wrong turn, and knew I was on the wrong street. I stopped at another hotel, and they gave me directions. Recommending I continue down the street and make a left. The street I was on, the street I should have been on, and the street I ended up taking a left on formed a triangle, so I took the long way to my hotel.
I finally got to my hotel, after about a half hour, of dragging my four heavy bags. I stepped into the hotel, and said they had a room for me, at least I hoped they did because I was done walking. I was tired, and hungry. I just wanted to drop my stuff off, and head back to find Will and Kolby for a late lunch. Well I was informed there was an accident and they were going to move me to another hotel. The hotel is supposed to be nicer, and was only two blocks away. But they would call me a taxi. When they showed me where it was on the map, I was ready to walk it. I really didn’t want to wait the 10-15 minutes for a cab.
After dropping my bags off and the new hotel, I hooked up with the Canadians and then we went and had a late lunch. Kolby and I walked around a bit and saw a few of the sites, and hung out and enjoyed the breeze on the Charles Bridge. As it got later, none of us were extremely hungry for dinner, but I did want something light. But first we decided to call one of the locals that we met at Kozakov. We were supposed to hook up with some of the other riders, but hadn’t heard from them. Turns out they were all with the locals. After grabbing a quick donner, we hopped on the subway to meet up with everyone. They were hanging out at an outdoor bar overlooking the city. It was an amazing view of the city, and an awesome way to spend the evening. The bar closes early, so we walked back into two looking for another pub.
We passed one pub that was supposedly expensive. But they took us inside, to check it out. From the outside, it looks like a very small pub. There are two or three tables, and a bar, and that’s it. But you go into the back, and downstairs and the pub takes up the basement of like three buildings. It was enormous, with nooks and crannies all over.
But the beer was expensive, so off we went, to a pub near my hotel. As we approached the pub, the door was closed and locked! I was planning on walking with the guys to the pub, then head to my hotel. Everyone decided they didn’t really need any more beer, so we split up and went our separate ways.
My plan for Prague was to rest. I woke up early enough to have breakfast, and then I went back to bed. I finally got up just after noon, and decided it was time to head out and do something. We didn’t do much, had some lunch and visited a few skate shops. Kolby was looking for a shirt that he saw at the race. The clothes at the skate shops were more expensive that I expected. My shorts were too big for me, so I thought about getting some new ones. But the shorts at the skate shop were $45 or more! I only spent $10 on the pair I was wearing, so I figured I’d wait till I got back home.
We were supposed to meet everyone else at 6:00pm, at the outdoor pub. We got there about 7, and couldn’t find them. Turns out they were eating dinner on another hill, we decided we would meet up at a bar around 10. So we got some sausages from an outdoor vendor, and dinner with another rider we randomly met in the park!
At 10pm, they told us to meet at a subway station, so off we went in search of a subway. Turns out the station we were supposed to meet them at, was about the same distance from the outdoor pub as the station we walked to was! When we got to the station they texted saying we would be late, and to ask someone for directions. Well it feels awkward asking for directions in a language people might not know. So we took off in a direction, and miraculously found the bar! The bar was pretty cool. There are all of these motors (car motors and stuff) hanging from the ceiling, with moving parts (hooked up to windshield wiper motors) with circuit boards hanging on the walls. It was a pretty crazy bar. One room had a “second” story, about 6 feet high. Gotta be careful standing up, or you’d bang your head on the ceiling.
The Canadians had to take off for England the next day (a long 24 hour train ride) so I slept in late again. I didn’t do a whole lot, walked around the city a bit. I ended up running into another set of riders in the Old Town.
Prague is a really beautiful town. Unfortunately it is also full of tourists. But it was a great city to relax in. You have to be careful though, some restaurants are cheap, but some are very expensive, looking for the tourists dollars.