Day two, from Praha

Poem for the day, from the restroom wall...

I am a million miles away
Floating like driftwood on the bay


This is day two, and I am sitting in my new favorite breakfast place in the city, Bohemia Bagles. Cheap coffee, great bagles, and an internet cafe--what more do you need? It is about 11, and while I have been up and have been out and about for several hours, we haven't really begun our adventure for the day.

Yesterday was wonderful. Great weather, and just a laid back day fo walking around and getting the lay of the land. It was and is fun to see familiar sights through new eyes, and Steve is a good traveler. Yesterday we walked off our travel-induced sleep deprivation, and lasted until all of about 8PM. I was in bed and asleep by 8:30--quite the international partier.

It is interesting to try and interpret the political winds here. There is a strong anti-American buzz here, due mostly to the war and to the anti-missile system that Bush wants to put in the countryside. It is opposed by 70% of the people, but the Czech premier has gone along with this. Made him unpopular, and the US even more unpopular. No real anti-American sentiment that I have sensed per-se. Perhaps most people realize that their leaders do what they want, despite the will of the people. Democracy is great!

It humbles me everytime that I am abroad on how much of a world view that others have. We have not been anywhere where English is not spoken well enough to conduct business, and often well enough to converse with the people. Often you hear the same person speaking two or more languages beyond English...makes our basic high school Spanish seem pretty inadequate. I am sure that the US presidential election is important to the world, but Prague could read about it, along with seeing pictures of McClain and Sen. Clinton on the front page of all of their papers. I don't that 99.9% of Americans even knew that the Czech prime minister has ever visited the US, and he was there last week. We are an insular nation, and while we might be able to afford that now, it also makes us a nation ignorant of the rest of the world. And insensitive.

Steve and I are going to just wander today and try and develop a better sense of where we are in the city. We are about 5 blocks from Old Town Square, and it is a great location. But, it took us a while to figure out where we lived last night, so a better spatial awareness needs to be developed or we will just wander around all night. I am bringing my 4X5 out today for the first time, and that should be interesting. Great light today, bright overcast, and it is too nice to pass. I will come back buff from all the walking and the carrying. Wait, I mean I will be buffer!

Have a good day, all, and know that I am collecting stories to share when I make it back. A few photos, too.