Prague Journal

Saturday, May 14, 2005.

The weather today was nice, with no rain until shortly after 5pm, but the only walking around we did was to go to the grocery store in the morning. In typical fashion, the checkout took about half an hour. There were two lines open (there are three registers) for the busy crowd. The stores close to us close early on Saturday, so everyone is there to do weekend shopping.
We had dinner with Charlotte and Bruce and Michele and Liz. Bruce put chicken on the Weber charcoal grill on the deck behind their flat and Charlotte made salads and rolls and strawberry shortcake for dessert. The evening was relaxed and fun – the six of us telling stories and reminiscing about common experiences growing up around the same time in the US, and of course talking a bit about current politics. As we all learn a bit more about the Czech culture, we get in touch with our own just a bit more.
We were on our way home when Charlotte sent us a message on our mobile phone that the Swedes had just tied the score with the Czechs in the semifinal world cup hockey game: it was now 2-2 with 10 minutes to go. So Rick stopped in a bar to watch the last few minutes of the game. (I elected to go back to the flat instead of hang out at the very smoky bar.) The Czechs won with a miraculous goal in the last seconds. The goal had to be reviewed because the puck was in and out of the net so fast that it wasn’t clear that the goal had taken place. At every metro station on the way back to the flat, the entire crowd loudly chanted “Češi, Češi,…” Now we’ll have to see if we can watch the finals.

posted by JWinn @ 9:58 PM