You'd best put seatbelts on your eyes, because I'm about to take them for the ride of their lives.

Okay, so, finally. After nearly a week of internet silence, I have found a half-decent internet connection. So here's what's been going on, with various anecdotes included.

After the last, proper blog post, I went for a walk to the palace to get the following night time shots of Prague.

Remember that story about walking on the Charles bridge my first night in Prague?
Well, this is the view I had from the bridge.

The Palace gates.

Through this corridor.

And this is what you get, the moment you exit said corridor.
Oh yeah, this is the top half.

 

And look, I know I'm a bit strange somedays, but fuck if I didn't want
to go waltzing through this almost deserted courtyard.

I was walking back from the Palace, and I walk past two very loud, drunk Americans, who are making lewd comments about the passers by. And then they say (about me) "Look at this guy, he probably doesn't understand what the hell we're talking about... DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?"

My reply?

"Exclusively, and probably better than you, Yankee."

Commence ardent, drunken apology from said Americans.

So you know what? for every ignorant Australian, who travels, and feels like a jerk because they only speak English. Just remember, there are always a couple of drunk guys making a fool of themselves. and much worse than you ever will.

It made me feel all warm inside.

And some random graffiti I thought Jordan would want a picture of.

So anyways, on the way back from the palace at night, I stopped off to get myself a meal, hich was A-Mazing. The food in Prague is really quite special. Then after that, off to a street vendor for what I thought would be a nightcap. Hot, spuiced wine. I know, it sounds really quite horrible, but I've since decided that Czech food and drink is going to be my 'thing.' Delicious.

Anyhow, as I said, what I thought was going to be a nightcap. I went to the commonroom area of the hostel, and encountered the first of many issues with computers which would plague all of last week. So instead, I got involved with the conversation, and then we all decided to go drinking.

And take photos.

 

And after the club we went to afterwards closed (oh yeah, we went to a bar, which had a stripshow, but they assured me it wasn't a strip bar), and the hostel told us we were making too much noise, we decided to head to the Charles bridge and continue drinking. Awesome, awesome fun.

Next day was kinda quiet. I found a little English bookstore, and bought myself a copy of 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' by Milano Kundera. A Czech author. I'd wanted to read it for quite awhile, and I was kinda hoping I'd find it in the Czech Republic. So I spent most of the day sitting in the main square, and reading.

It was really quite special.


After which, I ended up going out to a pub crawl with a few of the people from the night before. It was a whole lot of fun, but I, like an idiot, tried to dance like a fool, and sprained my ankle.

Still kinda hurts, but I am NOT letting anything get between me and this trip. Do I've basically been using the idea of 'walking it off.'

Next day again, I went to Plzen, home of the original Pilsner beer, and went on a tour of the place where it was first invented. Went with a friend from the hostel, and... well, I don't really know how to explain it, it was all a little strange.

With actors pretending to be statues.

And one free beer.

But, after the propaganda film, in the revolving theatre, we went on a tour with the heavily Czech-accented (sounds Russian) girl, who showed us many things. Including the place where the Italian diggers for the cellar sold their soul to the Devil, so he would dig them instead.

The outside looks like this. Don't go.

It kind of just wore us out. Afterwards, we just wanted to go home. I mean, Prague. The tour was creepy and weird, and we wanted something awesome. So back we went.

Also, in the Czech Republic, you catch your own fish in the supermarket.

After a few quiet drinks with friends, and an early night, it was off to Dresden for me!

Strangely enough, when I went to check into the hostel, who should be sitting there, but one of the girls I'd gone drinking with a few nights before (In Prague).

Now, Dresden is known as the jewel of the Elbe (river which runs through it.) It was a very, very beautiful city, which towards the end of World War 2, was bombed to hell, killing about 25,000 people, and destroying much of this beautiful city.

While this was going on, a group of Allied soldiers were being kept in a large, locked freezer room. One of which, was Kurt Vonnegut, who told tale of these events in a book which bore the name of the place he was kept, Slaughterhouse 5 (Schlachthof 5).

And this is it.

Although, admittedly, we did get quite lost first. About an hour or two of wandering.

Just to find the sign we'd been looking for. Which we'd walked past once already.

Although, I gotta admit. Worth it.

View of Dresdens Altstadt

After a big day of this, it was off to a bar Devon told me about.

Oh yeah, that's right, as in 'The Big Lebowski.'

Where we all drank White Russians

Bowling shoes hanging from the roof.

And they play 'The Big Lebowski' on repeat. From open, until close.

And they also serve Duff Beer. Which I had to try, and wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be.

The next day, well, this might not usually be the wisest of choices, but we saw this awesome picture in a magazine, and we wanted to go see. By now there were four of us, all from the same room. Devon, Lucas, Cat, and myself. And before the place we saw in the magazine, we went to Konigstein, to see a castle/fort.

Couldn't resist skewing the perspective slightly to make it look like an Escher picture.

After that, not knowing the name of the place (no really, I still don't know), and only knowing that it was the next train stop along. We went in search of a place we saw in a magazine.

We did, however, have to take a ferry ride across the Elbe.

And no, the way wasn't up that path, although we did try. It and about three other paths, which also weren't it.

These pumpkin mice had nothing to do with it either. But c'mon, they do look cool.

This is close to the picture we saw in the magazine that made us say 'Oh Cool' and decide to go.

It took a hell of a lot of work to get here. But god damn was it worth it. Picture do not do it justice. It was really special.

Devon and myself.

And I'm sorry, but catapults are always going to be a special kind of awesome.

We were trying to figure out was this was. It didn't have any access, and this was as much as my camera would zoom in. Kinda weird, kinda creepy.

That night, we made a communal dinner, we aimed for a carbonara, then all of us realised that we didn't know the German for a lot of the ingredients (Two Aussies, one American, and one from England/Australia). All things considered, it didn't turn out half bad.

And the next day, I went off to explore the Altstadt.  Which has had a tremendous amount of effort put into restoring it all. And it totally breathtaking.

Someday, my summer home will look like this.

FYI Germany, the Ninja Turtles were Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Raphael, and Donnatello, not Steinbach.

And I really like the Dresden coat of arms. Even on a manhole cover.

After that, I just wandered aroung the Neustadt. Which is also quite nice.

And it makes me happy to see an Australian film playing in a German cinema. Especially a GOOD Australian film.

This place enchanted me. It's like a video store. In a similar fashion to an old library. With the ladder on wheels and all. And quite a few of the titles were ordered by director. They had a good selection of David Cronenberg, which also makes me happy. Phase IV, it was called. And the music was some good swing music, and the girl at the counter was pretty... Okay, probably too much information. But I just felt that place belonged to people like me.

Not good graffiti art by any means, but it made me think.

As did this bars title.

Anyway, I guess that's about it for now. Today I caught the train to Hamburg. And tomorrow, I get to see a very dear friend of mine I have not seen for far too many years. From the hour or so I've spent here, it seems lovely here too.

You are in my heart always.