CynicalGabe's Travellogue

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

Well, the 8th International Youth Leadership Conference is over. Great time was had by all. I was ticked off that the hotel charged 100kc for 10 minutes of net access, so I only got online twice in the last week. Right now I am back at the Hostel Advantage, with the free internet and crappy computer.

Last night we had an all-night dance party at the hotel. Everybody was pretty hung over this morning. I was/am just exhausted. I went back to to my room at 5am only to find my roommate was “occupied”. After apologizing to him and whatever girl was hiding her face with a blanket, I went and sat in the lobby,where I sat until being shaken awake by a bellhop at 7am and told to go to my room. By this time Mystery Girl was gone and I slept until 1030.

Everyone else at the conference is Staying at the Traveller’s Hostel on Dlouha, I am the only one here. I made tentative plans to meet some people tonight at 10 by the Astronomical Clock, but I suspect noone will show up.

I’m lonely. :frowning:

I forgot to mention how the dance was last night/this morning. I cannot dance. There is some genetic disorder I have which makes me totally unable to “feel the beat” or “go with the flow” like people keep telling me to do. Think of Elaine from Seinfeld dancing. I am worse. One girl from my group dragged me out to the dance floor, insisting that if I just give it a try, I’ll be fine. 30 seconds later she was laughing at me.

sigh

The only time I went out and danced for more than that 30 seconds was around 4am when I was so plastered I didn’t care anymore. Also by that time there were maybe 5 people left on the dance floor and the only girl who would dance with me was the lady who runs the conference. She had had a couple of drinks too. Around 5am, I had to exit the dance in a hurry to avoid one of the DJs causing me great bodily injury for something that happened (It was a stupid mistake that I wish to forget, and will not give details).

This morning I bought breakfast from a Trafika stand outside the hotel (slept past breakfast). It consisted of the most disgusting hanburger I have ever experienced. The buns were rubbery and actually stretched. The patty (I believe it was derived somehow from a pig) was heavily processed (the inside was like american hot dogs), light tan in color and very very wrinkled. It was really quite revolting. I almost took a picture of it but decided my mental image was enough.

I am going to take a nap, then maybe get something to eat…

Wait changed my mind. I am going to get something tasty at KFC down the block. Then I shall take a short nap. Then I think I will give TomCat a call and see if he wants to get a drink or dinner tonight, and I can regale him with even more stories of my journey that are too colorful even for this thread.

Until tomorrow!

42

Its my last night in Prague!

I am both relieved and sad to be going home. I love travelling, and I have had a blast, but its time to get back to my life.

My flight leaves Ruznye airport at 650AM tomorrow morning. It is now 645PM. I must stay up all night in order to make my flight. Basically the same thing I’ve been doing for 3 weeks, but this time I can’t be drunk. I am going to meet with the remaining conference attendees for the last time and get some goodbyes out of the way. I’ve met a lot of people and made some very good friends. One of the best times of my life.

Last night we went clubbing again. Started off with some beer, vodka and Absinthe at Al Capone’s, then went to N11 on Na Prikope near the Tesco. Had a few (a loose term) more drinks. After 12 or so I became convinced that I was not as bad at dancing at I had previously thought. The music was good. My clue should have been that all the people who I know can dance were saying you couldn’t dance to the music they were playing. Interesting place. They play old Warner Bros. cartoons on projection screen above the dance floor while the DJ spins from a balcony. More prostitutes than club-goers in there. I was bored for a while so I started half-heartedly hitting on one because all of my friends were dancing. Not as fun as it should be.

Last update will come from my home of Davis when I arrive at 435PM PST (or when I actually get home).

43

Wow, sounds like you had loads of fun! I really need to go back to Europe this summer… or somewhere!

What did you think of absinthe? When I was there, the bartender put some in a spoon with a cube of sugar, lit it on fire, then dumped that into the shot glass. I didn’t drink it flaming though - he blew it out. :slight_smile: I thought it was quite disgusting.

Oh, and I can so picture that hamburger you were describing. Ick!

Please post pictures!

44

Oh, you were part of that leadership thing? We must have missed each other by minutes…I was having coffee there with a friend as the people were cleaning up.

Glad you enjoyed Prague, sorry we didn’t meet up. I had to be a daddy on Sunday (plus I am sick as a dog - you wouldn’t like me giving you a cold for the trip home I bet).

Take care, see you next year.

-Thomas

45

I’m home!

I have my own bed, my own shower, and my own cat. One of the first things I did upon arriving was hop on the bathroom scale. 200 pounds! I weighed 247 last winter at this time and I’ve been trying to shake off the last stubborn 10 pounds. If I had not been eating 3 free meals a day at the swanky hotel the conference was at for a week, I think I would be closer to 190. Time to have my gray suit resized again.

My last night in Prague was a blast. I met up with some of the guys from the conference and we went to a Jazz show at the Ungelt Jazz & Blues Club from 9-11PM. Then all those guys flaked out and went back to their rooms to go to sleep. My flight left at 650AM, so I had no intention of sleeping. I was about to swing by a couple of favorite hangouts to see if I could spot anyone else I knew, and then go to the airport and sleep. But on my way through Old Town Square, one of my conference friends was sitting in front of the Grand Hotel Praha, eating at their overpriced outdoor cafe. We sat there and BS’d for awhile, went to Al Capone’s looking for others (noone there, but I had to have one last Apple Pie Shooter), and finally he was tired so I showed him how to get back to his hotel.

I was about to give up on having fun that night, when as I was walking back through the passage between OTS and Na Prikopye, this woman (Mary) stopped me (no, not one of those women) and said she and her friend (Colin) had just come to Prague to meet up and were looking for a nice bar that was still open. They were relieved that I “spoke American” and I took them back to “U Prince” on OTS, where we had a few beers (on them) and watched more live jazz being played. U Prince was closing up for the night (this was about 1AM), so I told them about Al Capone’s (can you tell I like that place?). Al Cap’s was closed (close at 12 on Sunday nights. Doh!) so we went to Club N11, which was the only other place I knew of in that area.

There we had beers, I had a B52 shooter and multiple White Russians. Mary was a little liquored up, having been drinking whiskey all afternoon while waiting for Colin and dragged me out on the dance floor, where we danced amongst the club’s resident hookers. Then Mary danced with a hooker, and a great time was had by all. Incidentally, I saw the same one I had been hitting on the night before (Hi Lucy!). One of the best times I have had in a long time.

Then left, and I insisted on walking them back to their pension so I would know they got there ok (we were all just a little drunk). Turns out that was a good idea, and I had to drag Mary out of a “Cabaret” (strip joint) she had run into trying to get more beer. So we hung out for another hour or so in their room talking, then I left about 430 to go to the airport. On my way through Wenclesas Square, I dodged hookers and grabbed a AAA taxi, went to the hostel, grabbed my suitcase and rucksack and drove to the airport (total taxi fare: 600Kc).

It was still too early to check in for my flight, so I ate a sandwich, M&Ms and a beer in the airport cafe. Then I went to check in, flashed the check-in counter lady a winning smile and got myself an aisle seat. I then bought a bottle of nice flavored vodka in the duty-free shop and BS’d with some of my friends I spotted at another departure gate. Then when it was time to board, I stowed my carry-on, and passed out. Next thing I knew the plane arrived in Frankfurt. No arrival gate, had to take the stairs down (brrrr). Then I walked about 200 miles to the gate my flight to SFO was to leave from (I hate Frankfurt airport) but it was blocked off, so I went down to the next gate and, using my wool coat as a blanket and my backpack as a pillow, took off my shoes and slept for another three hours.

Then I waited, and caught the plane to the USofA, slept, landed (cue Kill Bill airplane landing music). I called home, called the airport shuttle and came back to Davis.

LoganDear: it depends on which brand you drink. Hill’s Absinthe is nasty, it’ll burn a hole in your throat. The stuff they serve at Capone’s is better, goes down warm. I suggest washing any of it down with a beer or White Russian.

Now comes school. Arrrgh! I have a weeks worth of work to catch up on. Not to mention all these dirty clothes that aren’t going to clean themselves.Now I start planning my trip next year! I am thinking maybe Central Asia.

46

Photos from my trip are ready!

http://www.gabemartinez.com/pictures/euro.html

47

Looks like you had fun! I’m jealous because when I went to Budapest two years ago, they didn’t have ice skating in front of the Parliament. I totally would’ve been up for that. And your “unknown cathedral” is St. Istvan (St. Stephen in English). Isn’t it beautiful inside?

If you’re interested in the Balkans (I saw your other thread), Kutrubes travel has the option of either individual or group travel. They’re at http://www.kutrubestravel.com/index2.htm . Adventurecenter.com has a lot of neat trips in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and they’re quite reasonable priced.

48

Thanks for the ip on St. Istvan! I had written the name down on a scrap of paper, and somehow I could not keep track of a loose piece of cocktail napkin in my luggage for 3 weeks. I’ll update my site.

49

Ok, its now St. Istvan’s Cathedral. Thanks again!