Prague Journal

Saturday, September 04, 2004

The buses don’t run as often on the weekends, so getting places takes a bit longer. Most stores around our house are closed; the Julius Meinl grocery store is open until 2 p.m. Rick picked up a few groceries while I went to Hradčanska to the internet café, this time to finalize plane reservations for our trip to Athens. Prices on the internet seem to be the best we can get and, although I found tickets for a bit less in Czech crowns than in dollars, the cheaptickets.com site was easiest to maneuver despite the fact that they would not issue an e-ticket. I checked the “pick up at the airport” box but we were charged a mailing fee and it appears as though they will send the tickets to our address in Colorado. I hope this doesn't pose a problem when we try to board the plane.
A note from Matt assures us that he’s OK, adjusting to his new quarters and new roommate and successfully registered for courses that seem to suit him. Our renters wrote to tell us that they are enjoying our house, so things appear stable there. I didn’t take time to read notes from the university, since the internet service has already cost us $2-4 per day. It makes the monthly fee for broadband seem reasonable. I do worry, however, what our phone bill will be with all our futile attempts at connecting with the Český Telecom modem line.
A successful jaunt downtown yielded another extension cord for Rick’s office, plus a few miscellaneous office supplies and postcards to send for the upcoming holidays. The Tesco, still in the same location, has had a face-lift. Everything is bar-code scanned. No one will bag your purchases, but all departments appear to take credit cards. The store was brimming with shoppers for school supplies – the same familiar brands and sizes of paper and notebooks. The grocery store below the first floor was even busier than the main floor of the department store. There were long lines at the now-pristine deli and meat counters. The only salad dressings I’ve seen are creamy (even those that are labeled “Italsky”), so I decided to buy olive oil and vinegar instead. It took me quite awhile to find the vinegar. I had found the olive oil easily, near the salt and sugar. I had expected vinegar to be close by, but this was not the case. Nor was it near the olives and pickles or near the mustards or soy sauce or spices. After walking through nearly every aisle, I finally found a row of vinegars on a shelf the frozen pizzas.
Roaming around Můstek and Wenceslas Square is on the one hand familiar, and another disquieting. Saturday still brings out lots of barkers handing out flyers for concerts to lots of tourists. The Dunkin Donuts has been replaced by a pizza parlor; there is a big New Yorker clothing store below the disco where a CD store used to be. Public bathrooms are still 3 Czk. Amongst the t-shirt and souvenir shops are several cell-phone boutiques, lots of jewelry and glass stores and clothing boutiques. Prague does look more typically European; higher prices come with more style.
Then came a slow but uneventful trip home, where dinner was waiting. Our first home-cooked meal: roast chicken with veggies, salad, fresh bread (traditional Czech chleb), and an ice cream cake for dessert. Rick, of course, enjoyed the Staropramen beer that he had bought earlier in the day. Czech beer always makes him happy.

posted by JWinn @ 7:27 PM