-landscape along way is similar to what I've been seeing- in many ways reminds me of driving along Rte. 20- many fields, often just grass- with houses and little towns here and there, interspersed with patches of forest, all with lush ground.
biggest difference is that mountains/hills seem farther away:
The sky is a thick -just-rained- steel blue, and the sun is shining below. It looks so nice on the white stucco houses with their tile roofs! The mountains have a deep blue color right now, but they're not that tall.
Just had a conversation with Chris- he's definitely someone who scrutinizes every word I use- which makes for longer and more in depth discussions, but can be really tiring after a while! It kind of makes me feel very defensive about everything, especially when I'm talking about something very important to me and can't express my thoughts well- it's very discomforting.
When we got off the train in Prague we were assaulted by so many people (about 3 or 4 in the first 30 seconds of having our feet on the ground in this country!) trying to offer us a place to stay. Their prices were just as low as the youth hostels, and they were pensions- rooms within their own homes! Chris said there weren't as many as during high tourist season, but I was still amazed by it. And they were pushy, too. One man followed us around and insisted that youth hostels closed at the end of August, which we knew was false, because Chris was here in mid-September. So we got enough money in Czech kronens and called the hostels we had numbers for.
As Chris was talking a woman came up to us and offered us rooms in her apartment, that were actually cheaper - 3000kC (less than US$10!) She seemed very nice, and it sounded like a good offer, and very safe, so we took her up on it. There is a game of deciding whether someone is nice and friendly or potentially dangerous that is involved in such a deal- on both ends- and Monika seemed like a good person to trust- much more than the smelly guy that kept harassing us! It really amazes me that she takes people into her own home like that- I don't think I'd feel safe doing that. She was very nice- she spent the trip back to her apartment explaining where the good restaurants are, where to change our money, what to avoid, etc. Her apartment was very comfortable- it amazes me how little we paid for the accommodations we got, and I think it would have to be a hard way to make a living.
Chris and I went out to find something to eat, and I was pretty skeptical about going to a restaurant without stopping for money first, because we only had 250kC between us (~US$8). But we went in, ordered a good meal- soup AND entree, and still had a little money to spare! That was really my first realization of the cost of living here. We spent ~US$3.50 each on a meal that we couldn't have gotten for less than US$15.00 (CHF20.-) in Zuerich!
We spent some time walking around the city, which is absolutely beautiful at night. We walked through Old Town Square, which was really cool, because I had seen so many drawings, models, photos of it with all the theater designs there! (Do you ever get the feeling you're walking through a context model?) :)
We walked across the Charles Bridge, and I was really wishing I had my camera with me- all the prominent buildings were lit up, and their reflections glistened in the river- in that way it reminded me of Dresden- I really like it when a city things enough about its nighttime appearance to spend money and effort on good lighting like that. (Of course it helps when it HAS the buildings to begin with!)
So my first impression of Prague was at night- come to think of it my first view of a LOT of cities was at night: Dresden, Rome... And it is an image that will stick in my mind, which is good because I thought it was fantastic!
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