Prague Spring 2010 – Not Revolutionary, Yet Remarkable

One week in Prague. A course called “Sites of Everyday Life In Socialist Czechoslovakia”. A good friend as a roommate. A guitar and a harmonica. A supermarket and vegetarian/vegan restaurants. A concert of a Romani-folk-jazz musician. New people to meet and get to know. Who would ask for more?

Well, to be honest, less rain would have been pleasant. Aside from the weather, the week from May 24 until May 29, 2010, was a delightful experience. Socio-political discussions in the mornings, school trip mentality in the evenings. Post-teenage lunacy on a higher philosophical level. Levity with weltschmerz. And Kofola, which – in my opinion – is not drinkable.

“Wer die Enge seiner Heimat ermessen will, reise. Wer die Enge seiner Zeit ermessen will, studiere Geschichte.” ~Kurt Tucholsky 1926

I think we’ve covered both aspects of Tucholsky’s insight. After the caesura of our trip to Prague, the Everyday Life In The University In Postmodern Regensburg seems greyer and  more wearying than ever before… But let me play your travel guide for a couple of sentences to mention some interesting facts about Praha, which are probably not covered in the ADAC Reiseführer:

• the students’ club K4 (in the basement of the Faculty of Philosphy at Charles’ University) is definitely worth a visit (people, music, prices)
• the non-alcoholic plum beer “BERNARD s čistou hlavou Švestka” is very tasty
• a vegetarian/vegan restaurant called Beas Dhaba can be found at Praha 1, Týnská 19 / Praha… The food was great, the prices decent and the staff very friendly and helpful. Band shirts are good conversation starters (The Indecision Alarm)…
• brace yourself for being offered “substances” in broad daylight, in a very polite manner and very frequently… “Excuse me Sir, do you speak English…? […] No, you don’t want to buy? Oh, excuse me, sorry! Have a good day!”
• the Letná Park (especially around the metronome where the Stalin monument once stood) is an amazing skating spot

I’m definitelly going to visit Praha again sometime in the near future… Concerning the photos, I honestly like the portraits (of my fellow students etc) that I took in Prague, but somehow I don’t feel too comfortable with “presenting” photos of people on the internet… Therefore, you have to put up with something else.