Prague Journal

Thursday, September 2, 2004

During rush hour on the Prague metro one sees all types of people, presumably going to work, school, or shopping. The long escalators connecting the metro lines are an interesting example of Czech culture: no smiles, no eye contact. Californians would say the people look dour and/or angry. To a Midwesterner, the Czechs look serious, almost gloomy.
Riding the 131 bus and taking the metro into town seemed quite familiar, from the little kvetiny (flower stand) and Asian market stalls near the Hradčanska metro station to the winding tunnels connecting the A and B metro lines, to the recorded voice announcing the stations. Even the graffiti on the old buildings seems unchanged.
Pink umbrella in hand, I met Hana’s parents at the Křižikova metro station at 9 a.m. They greeted me warmly and, despite our lack of a common language, exchanged pleasantries and gave me the coveted ADSL modem.
Back home, things became a bit complicated when I tried to install the modem, whose instructions were only in Czech. The pictures helped, and the icon on the computer indicated that I was connected, but I could not access a webpage. I struggled to connect for over an hour before I called Český Telecom for help, only to find out that my account would not be activated for another several days. The woman on the phone said she would mark my order “urgent” and call me when it was set up.
Having failed at getting connected at home, I set out for Hradčanska to meet Eva for lunch at a little Mexican restaurant near the metro station. Eva asked for the menu in English, but the Czech menu had enough English and Spanish for me to easily understand the offerings. After lunch we tried to find mobile phone deals at several of the banks to no avail. In my wanderings around I found an internet café to check e-mail. Stymied again, I was not able to log on. When I got home, I found that Rick had had the same experience trying to log in to his account. I spent another few hours fussing with the computer, and at least was successful in setting up the wireless router.
Nearly 7 p.m. we set out for Letná with the intention of going to one of the events at the Letní Letná circus festival, but were not able to get in as promised by Jules and Fanny, who perform with the French troupe Cahin-Caha, whom I had met at lunch. The walk through Letná, overlooking the city from below the Castle, was lovely and the people-watching – lots of rollerbladers on the paths – was interesting. We changed course around 8:30 and headed toward Malá Strana, looking for a suitable restaurant. Prices are noticeably higher than when we were here seven years ago, complicated by a very unfavorable exchange rate. Getting dinner for two for $10 does not exist anymore, but it is possible to eat dinner for around $20. We walked across the Charles Bridge around 9pm, and headed toward one of Rick’s favorite places not too far from the Center for Theoretical Study: U Pinkasů, a brewpub of sorts that has been around for over a hundred years. The restaurant’s first owner was Jakub Pinkas, a tailor who came to Prague in the first half of the 19th century from southern Bohemia. Through marriage he acquired a taproom on Perlová Street, later moving to its present location on Jungmannova. In 1876, Pinkas acquired the adjacent building, with extensive Gothic cellars, to expand the beerhouse which, by then, had grown in popularity. As the story goes, in 1843 Pinkas asked his friend Martin Salzmann to bring him a sample of the then new lager from Plzeò to taste. The new beer not only found favor with Pinkas, who had by then also decided to abandon his tailoring work for good, but also with the guests at his beerhouse. Since then U Pinkasů has, without interruption, only sold Pilsner Urquell, giving Prague its first Pilsner beerhouse. Sources say that around 600,000 liters of beer are drunk here every year. Rick claims they have the best beer in the world. We had our first “real” Czech dinner – lots of dumplings and gravy with a bit of meat and poppyseed/cherry strudel for dessert.

posted by JWinn @ 11:22 PM