Now the beer tour pamphlet only had a tiny map of the beer tour starting point. It showed it between a Starbucks and a Hard Rock cafe. There was no larger map to indicate where in Prague this Starbucks and Hard Rock cafe were. There was only a picture indicating it was near the Old Town and Astronomical Clock.
I didn't have a map of Prague with me. All I had was the metro map. I literally guessed which stop might have been the Old Town based on a spot that was near the river. I figured the city would be small enough that once I got to that stop I could follow signs and find the Old Town.
The first tram came and left. I stood looking at my map wondering which tram to get on. When the second tram came, I figured I'd get on it. Then once on the tram, I looked on my map and realized I was heading in the wrong direction. Luckily when I realized this I was at a metro stop so I got off the tram, and on the metro, which is what I should have done back by the castle.
I saw another traveler (his gigantic backpack gave him away), walking slowly with a map in his hand. I worked up a smiget of confidence and said to him, "Are you as lost as I am?" hoping we could find our way together. "Sorry, no English" was his reply." I felt awkaward. "Oh".
I went up to the counter and shyly asked the station agent if he spoke english which he said no. I showed him a picture of the Old Town on my beer tour pamphlet and he pointed out the station I needed.
However, I got on the wrong side of the platform and when I came to the end of metro's line, I realized this, got off, and got on the correct side. Now I was going the right direction to the Old Town.
When I got to the old town, I was greeted by out door markets, musicians, and hundreds of tourist walking around. I found my way to the Astronomical Clock which was sticking up in the air. I thought it was a made up word, astronomical. It sounds like a made up word, like humongous, or ginormous. I asked for directions to Hard Rock, and when I found it, I located the location of the pub crawl.
I did have some reservations about going on the beer tour. I wondered what sort of crowd it drew. What if I was with really cool travelers who all found me incredibly boring? The beer tour pamphlet had a photo of a group of young attractive people having the time of their life and I was a bit intimidated by it. It was a risk I had to take.
There was also free internet on an ipad to use at the office and I went on expedia. No flights were remotely affordable. So I would be leaving Prague the next afternoon.
After I paid, I went outside, heard 2 Americans sitting and chatting on the steps and introduced myself to them. Immediately we started speaking American. Yes, we Americans have our own language, the way Jamaicans or Britans do. "Oh my gosh, really?" "Wow that's so cool" "I totally get what you mean". LOL. NO ONE ELSE talks like this. hahaha. No wonder the British people are always making fun of us.
My new friends were both from Chicago, recent university graduates, one working with autistic children, the other starting culinary school.
Our tour guide was an energetic Czech man who told us stories that I couldn't fully understand due his accent. I did take away the fact that Czechs drink A LOT. 150 liters of beer per person per year in fact. They drink the most beer per person in the world. And the prices are much responsible for this. Beer is cheaper than coke, lemonade and water. Czechs drink daily, mutiple times a day, starting with breakfast!
The first pub we went to was down in what looked like a cave. Our guide said with great pride, "See, you would have never known this was here!". I agree, but how is that good for business?
We were given an light beer and a dark beer. I had about half of each when he shouted to me across the room to finish my drink. "I don't drink that much! I have to pace myself if I'm going to make it to the end of the night!". He said, "That's typical of women. Always talking so much that they never finish their drink".
We had the famous Pilsner beer, famous really for being made in Czech. Its not something I would really order. And a darker beer I liked less than the lighter one.
We went to another pub where were were allowered to walk though the back where they make the beer. There were had another drink.
We finished in a pub with 2 more drinks. The most irresponsible and dangerous thing I could do was to get drunk in a foregin country. The worse I've done while drunk is make out with random people in clubs, jump over someones fence in Crete, and slide down an escalator in the Washington D.C. metro. I count myself lucky.
I was really careful to monitor myself. I had half of the two drinks at the first pub, and most from the second pub, so I was on my third drink at the last pub. We stayed at the last pub for a couple of hours getting to know each other. There was an Irish couple maybe in their mid 50s who told us about there couchsurfing experiences hosting ohter travlers. There was 3 other Americans who were doing a hop-on-hop-off driving tour of Europe. And a man to my right from Oslo, maybe about 50, who is a beer connoisseur his photographer companion, a man who looked in his 40s. We were a mixed bunch of all ages and backgrounds but found plenty to talk and laugh about.
The 2 girls I had introduced myself too said they out to be going at the metro closes at midnight. It was well past 10pm at this time. So I told them I'd walk with them to find the metro since I needed it to get to my hostel too.
We walked around the Old Town and Tameron told me the things she remembered from the walking tour she went on.
I stumbled on the sidewalk and nearly lost my balance. In my best British accent I said, "Mind the gap" and Tameron burst out laughing and said, "At least you learned something from living in London!"
We made it to the metro. I was really sad to part ways with them. I think they were worried too about me finding the hostel by myself but I told them I have the address and enough money for a cab in case I get lost. Tameron said, "I heard cabs are really expensive". It was my last resort.
Luckily no such thing happened. I got of at the stop I needed. Then I asked a Czech man which tram I needed for Delnika street. He was also going that same direction so we got on and off the tram together. And he was headed down the same street as my hostel so I wasn't alone walking to it from the tram. Now the street was pretty dark. Its was after 11pm at this point and there were just the handfull of people who got off at Delnika around. I suppose conceivably this man could have been lying about his true destination, lead me in the wrong direction, and do horrible things to me, but there is something about a friendly looking person with a nice smile when you're by yourself in a foreign country that makes you trust them.
No comments:
Post a Comment