notes on prague

the following is a mini guide based on my experience in prague

1. do not, under any circumstance, not go to prague
2. be wary of advice telling you to otherwise not go to prague due to "hyper tourism" . yes it is true that there are thousands of drunk poms on bachelor party excursions (what do you expect when you can get flights for less than 1euro out of london), but as long as you don't go to the main drag - which feels uncannily like bondi junction after 10pm - then you'll be sweet
3. wear well worn in shoes, the less tread the better: makes it much easier to scrape off the dog-shit that was well avoided by lucy but not so daintily navigated by one who will not be named
4. do not read excruciatingly poorly constructed novels about rome that flow like trash-bin hollywood screenplays while in the very same city that franz kafka wrote his penetrating social commentaries...
5. most definitely go to the internet and shopping centre near the strawberry youth hostel before you get ripped off in the main square by opportunistic over-priced internet cafe owners!
6. go to the castle and walk through the royal gardens, they are incredibly quiet and peaceful and suprisingly devoid of large tourist groups. then go inside the walls and do the standard cathedral, castle and 'golden lane' tour (if you're rich then get the full ticket but the 2-nd level still gets you to the money sections: including the vitius cathedral tower which offers a lovely view, including that of the workings of the 300 year old clock mechanism inside the walls.)
7. if you are a kaldor then beware the endless and speedy escalator "from hell" which whisk you off your feet. also beware revolving doors which are similarly un-navigatable...
8. make sure that you eat in the vegetarian cafe (which is a buffet, so steer clear if you're obsessive compulsive about culinary cleanliness) situated just outside the main square. will be impossible to find unless you stumble upon it by chance so definitely walk through all streets systematically until you get there. it is great and you'll walk out feeding two hungry backpackers for about 165korunas: equivalent to 5 euro.
9. only go to prague when the art of alfred mucha is showing - the most famous art nouveau artist ever; a czech who lived and worked in prague amongst other cities. if it is not then go somewhere else until it is because there is nothing better than looking through a magnifying glass at the sweeping symmetries and intricate stylised ornamented embellishments on hand-drawn postcards of the early 1900's. he made bigger things but this exhibit displayed all of his post-card series, which was a finer form of art than the medium has evolved into; particularly because travel was priviledged and mystifying and a product/symbol of modernity.
10. do not knock over (empty and hopefully cheap) vases in the alfred mucha museum with your elbow
11. drink the delicious czech pilsner in the "draft" style but do so only in places 1km outside the radius of the old-square. preferably buy beers from the strawberry hostel who sell them for about 10kn (about 50australian cents or 25cents euro). b-b-b-bargain
12. see a concert - the prague symphony orchestra is adequate, but if you can find tickets to a performance by the czech national outfit then spend money on it because it is always worth it
13. in sum: resist temptation to eat take-away/chinese in eastern europe

I am writing to you from vienna courtesy of the incredibly kind and generous hospitality of donna monds who has opened her doors to us. fortunately my email/blog fame proceeds me and unfortunately i have to thank liam for this connection because, technically, he exists steadfastly in the degrees of separation that have made this opportunity in vienna available. thankfully i can happily claim that i knew laura independently from liam and, through the incredibly warmhearted gregariousness of her mother, diane (hi diane!) lucy and i have been lucky enough to meet donna and even luckier to be housed in their apartment. our clothes are washed (and our packs subsequently empty due to the fact that 100% of their contents were dirty clothes), and our stomachs are full of fine home-cooked pumpkin soup. which is, interestingly, a rarity in these parts. the pumpkin usually tasteless or tainted - so for all these things we are grateful and most definitely ready to sleep soundly.

very much looking forward to seeing the leftovers of the austro-hungarian empire. donna has taken on the role of resident tourguide so i'm sure we will see most of what this town has to offer.