#i might ignite if paying so much we only get rabbit portion

[ryllen]

do u know that even the size of the different size of vegetables at another country amazed me because from where i came from they are all smaller and scrawnier

[leggigoesabroad]

do you remember when we got lost in the city?

Lyric from Steve Moakler’s “Cleveland” that’s been stuck in my head this entire trip on repeat.  I had full intentions of wandering around Prague and getting lost, but I’ve made a friend so it didn’t work out that way and I’m still thrilled!! I’ve been hanging out with Lizzy, the friend I mentioned in the last post who lives here in Prague and will be ER’s new local host for our Prague apartment this summer.  She’s one of my friend Mckenzie’s best friends from Denver and is here for school with her husband.  We went out to our last group dinner last night (MORE ON THAT COMING) and then she and I went to a wine bar afterwards and met up with her husband, who I also fully love, and then hung at their apartment a little bit.  Their penthouse place in Prague looks directly over ER’s apartment!  Small fuckin’ world.  Right now it’s 11:30 am on Wednesday, May 1st, and Lizzy and I are at a cafe across the river doing “work” (she actually is, I’m writing this blog and researching my trip to Paris.)  It is incomparably amazing to have an American friend here who knows the city but is also from Denver and gets everything about that life too.  Basically I adore her.

So!  Yesterday my two colleagues and I went on another private guided city tour, of course this time in Prague.  Our young male guide was nowhere near as enchanting as Ilse and I found myself pining for her and her quick wit and humor and princess-like red hair.  This guy wasn’t great at reading the room and said a lot of facts that were too detailed and I zoned out during.  HOWEVER, I did still learn a lot of cool facts about Prague! For example, 80% of the country are athiests!!  Back in the day, all sorts of folks and crusaders tried to bring Catholicism here and they protested, saying church and state should forever be separate and that religion should be a private relationship, etc., and one of their kings/emperors whatever was burned at the stake dying for the right to be religiously free.  (Facts are shoddy but you’re getting the gist.)  Then the religious folk thought the problem was squashed, but actually his public death just ignited their flame even more (no pun intended) and they all said FUCK THIS! and became athiests!  There’s this gorgeous memorial that says “ZAPRAVDU” that is built such that you can only see it on sunny days for a few hours a day (which I got to see) and it means “For the Truth” and it’s built to remember this martyr.  Pretty baller shit.   Idk what I’m willing to be burned alive for... maybe Taylor’s honor? JK but really?  Or one of my nieces?! 

We also lucked out having another dope-ass gorgeous weather day, which really adds to the whole vibe.  I was very sleepy when we got home and Gina decided to bail on dinner because she’s pregnant, fair, and I was dreading it.  It was just going to be me, Lizzy, Marlena (colleague I’ve been with the whole time who let’s just say... I’ve had enough meals with), and Yiri, our other local host who is Czech.  I was so tired and couldn’t fathom making conversation over pretending to like fancy food and being embarrassed.  Side note, Yiri is cool as shit - he’s quiet and Czech, but married to a Chinese woman who he met in Prague when she was working here as a Chinese/Czech translator.  They have three GORGEOUS boys (obviously) and are incredibly into hockey, so we obviously bonded.  I showed him my phone background of Ovi hoisting the Cup and he says, “Do you know Jakub Vrana?”  Um, DUH!  Jake the Snake!  I get overly excited and he tells me Vrana is from Prague (should have realized) and brought the Cup here this summer and paraded through the streets.  His son also plays on the same junior team Vrana played on in Prague and Jakey is basically a celebrity here.  Hockey: the universal language.

So we get to dinner, and turns out it’s a Michelin star restaurant.  Double fuck.  I read the menu and it all looks literally repulsive.  I try to be classy and just order the least gross-looking things... here are the words of my appetizer and entre: “raviola with beef cheek and saurkraut sauce,” and “veal fillet with green peas, seasonal mushrooms, and Perigourdine sauce.”  I was like “.............”  It was either this or rabbit?!  JFC. 

I vowed to myself I’d try not to be embarrassing and I’d taste everything. Luckily these dumb fancy restaurants give small portions so I knew it wasn’t much to get through if it sucked.  They start with an amuse bouche that’s some cold-ass pink beet soup.  Pass.  Then they brought lots and lots of bread and I had All Of It.  Safe way to guarantee being full if everything sucked.  Then I actually really enjoyed both the starter and the entre!!!!!! I was extremely, EXTREMELY proud of myself.  It was also paired with a very light Sauvignon Blanc and I can honestly say it was the first time I’ve ever seen the point in a “pairing.”  Yes, it’s a happy coincidence that I chose the appetizer that paired with my favorite wine, but it also actually tasted really nice with it!! God, who am I.  Then we ordered dessert and I got a gorgeous selection of sorbets that I’ll post a picture of after this.  And it was entirely paid for by Marlena’s company, and free food does taste better.  Afterwards, Lizzy asked if I was up for wine by the river with her husband, and we stopped at this awesome wine bar and sat in window seats with cushions and a palette for a coffee table and had three glasses each.  Everything is so cheap here - I secretly paid the waitress at the end and they were so floored by the generosity.  But I haven’t spent a dime since I’ve been here since Gina is expensing everything, and I am so grateful to have American friends I’d pay any dollar amount for their kindness!

Went back to their apartment after and played with their dogs and smoked a little from their vape pen - ahh, feels like home.  Which, by the way, update: no more insane sleepless detox nights since that other one I talked about in my last post!  Could be because I had a Unisom, half a Xanax, and a sleep gummy before bed... but hey, whatever works.  I doubt I’ll have any more #weed while I’m on this Europe trip and I think I’m all out at home, so I might ride this train and see how long I can take it.  Look into that “clear head” feeling all the people talk about.

I booked an Airbnb right near Lizzy, and I’m storing my bag at her house for the day until I check in later.  We’re going to keep walking along the river and then see the Prague Castle in the afternoon, and then get some dinner and meet up with her husband again.  I’m researching options for tomorrow.  Originally I was going to head straight to Paris, but I realized I don’t really need five nights in Paris when I’ve already been.  I might take a train to Nuremberg for the night because it’s along the route, and then stay in an Airbnb and take another train to Paris on Friday morning and spend the weekend there with Angie.  All TBD but it’s kind of fun.  “Penniless, she’s flying by the seat of her pants...” 

Pictures to come!  Prague is dope.  (Hot travel takes from Leggi.)