Back to Cairo - Prague Day 1

Well, Emily and I made it back late last night. We eventually got home around 3pm. I don't know why Cairo has such late flights coming in, but what are you gonna do? Where to begin with Prague? I guess the beginning makes the most sense.

Prague ---

We left Cairo at 3:30 am. Originally this seemed like a horrile flight time, but it actually worked out very well. I fell asleep before take-off and woke minutes before we landed. I think Emily slept most of the way too. After we landed, we were happy to find our driver waiting with the customary name card. He drove us to Prague-Holiday, the company who took care of our living accomodations. The problem was that it was 7:00am and the apartment wouldn't be ready for another four hours. Anyway, we left our luggage with a group of strangers in the building lobby and headed off to explore the city. It was so amazingly quiet. True, it was very early, but for a major city, it felt like a ghost town.

We didn't expect the weather to be as cold as it was either. We knew that it was supposed to be in the 30's with the chance of snow, but when we stepped out of the airport it hit us hard. Luckily Joe had bought a couple of sweaters and I had borrowed a fleece from Betsy. Otherwise, we really would have been in trouble. Walking around in the early morning, we quickly remembered what winter felt like.

We walked through the streets, just taking in our new environment. In Prague, all of the buildings are old and decorative. There is a mix of Baroque and Art Nouveau. You can walk down the street and all of a sudden, notice the statues decorating the building or a mural on the side of a wall.

At first, we just tried to get our bearings. We ducked into a McDonalds to have an espresso and cappucino. There was a light rain and mixed with the wind, we were already very cold. We decided we should try to sit and memorize four or five words that would help us out. We learned the words for thank you and excuse me. We didn't get too much further than that. We at least wanted to have a few polite words to begin with.

We watched as the people began to come out onto the streets. So many more people that looked like us. Although it's nice to live in a foreign country like Cairo, there is this strange sense of comfort when you are around people who look like you.

After leaving McDonalds, we went to get our apartment. When we finally saw it, we were very pleased. It was very clean, and although it was a small, attic apartment, it was more comfortable than staying in a hotel. With the apartment we had privacy and accomodations like a stove, microwave, refrigerator, etc. It was definitely the way to go. We settled in and set out to explore the city.

We spent the day strolling around the city. It was the end of fall, and trees still had some of their leaves. We walked along the river and snapped photos of the architecture and buildings. We could see Prague Castle on the hillside, but at first, we decided to just explore the neighborhood of our apartment. We stopped in to a shop to try some authentic Czech kolaces. It was a vegetarian shop, so they were a little wheaty, but very good. In Prague, the kolaces are all poppyseed, lemon, some nut mixture, or a strange cheese. They were good although not as sweet as the ones at home.

Joe got to have a traditional Czech dinner for supper. Sausage, sauerkraut, dumplings, pork... He was in heaven. Pork is almost impossible to find in Cairo, so this was a treat for him.

We spent the night hanging out and trying some traditional Czech beers like Pilsner Urquell and Budweiser Budvar. The Czech beers are all pilsners and very light, but so much better than the Egyptian-made beers. Joe talked me into trying a shot of absyinth which was totally painful and strong. I can't say I'll be doing that again. It makes your throat burn even into the next day. Let's just say, I got a little bit sick that night.

We decided on our first day that Prague was a beautiful city that we would one day like to live in.