Beyond the Moon

so for those of you that wanted to know more about prague than "the fucking moon" this is what's gone down lately. despite staying up all night sunday night i barely got any sleep during the flight, but oh well. i got into prague around 7 in the morning. the year's first snow had just ended but it was still several inches thick on the ground. I found out from the girl who was at the hotel to welcome me that it was almost as exciting for her to see as it was for me, since it apparently didn't really snow last year. She gave me a minitour of the area i'll be staying and studying in (called Prague 9, it's sort of Prague's New Orleans East).

I'm in an apartment with a private room and a kitchen/bathroom i'll be sharing with one other person, who hasn't moved in yet. the apartment is definitely what jef would refer to as a "human storage unit." the building is a perfect example of the sterile, functionalist architectural style employed by the communists. I find it charming rather than depressing, since all I have to do to see some of the most beautiful architecture in the world is walk 30 seconds down to the metro and take a ten minute ride. after she showed me around Prague 9 I hopped on said Metro and went down to explore the streets of Stare Mesto (old town). It's even more amazing than pictures suggest. Every street is like something straight out of a fairytale.

In the last three and a half days all i've done is walk and walk. every muscle, joint, and bone in my legs and feet aches but i can't help but keep going. Here's the lowdown on some specifics:

The metronome isn't in working order right now but it's still a beautiful sight to see and it's right next to a gorgeous park scattered with what look a lot like douglas firs and blanketed in a few inches of pristine snow.

The Charles Bridge is really a lot more amazing than I expected. It's just a walking bridge and from it you get a really great view of the Vltava and both banks (each of which are full of beautiful buildings). Each statue (there must be at least 20) is a great work of art in itself.

The Kafka museum is a lot more entertaining than i expected, considering how boring of a life he led. the moving sculpture/fountain out front of the two men pissing towards each other is really something to see, though one of the men's gears must have broken down, so he only pees in one spot right now. Inside the museum, the documents, pictures, letters, manuscripts, and stories of his life are all spread among a handful of rooms, each with its own theme very much in keeping with the feel of his works. Like the room about his job, which is walled in with towers of menacing black file cabinets. i don't really know how to describe it well, so i'll just say that the whole feel of the place is very kafkaesque.

Next to the Kafka museum was a small exhibit about the life (thus far) and work of Vaclav Havel, the great Czech playwright, revolutionary, and president. His role in the Velvet Revolution was even more inspiring and exciting than I had previously thought. Gotta love a great leader who's more than eager to make fun of himself or crack a cheesy joke at the drop of a hat.

other than the metronome, park, and the museums, i've been avoiding exploring the real tourist mecca of mala strana (the west bank of the Vltava), which is Hradcny, the largest palace complex in all of europe. I think i might wait until i meet some of my fellow students before embarking on that journey.

Other than that, I've actually spent most of my time on the east bank so far, mainly in the sections called Stare Mesto (Old town), Nove Mesto (New Town, which is only 7 or 8 hundred years old), and Zizkov.

The center of Stare Mesto is Old Town Square, which is the home of the old Town Hall, the breathtaking church of Our Lady before Tyn, and The Astronomical Clock. Supposedly the king at the time had the clockmaker's eyes poked out after he finished his work so no other city would have such a beautiful contraption. Seeing the clock toll isn't really anything special in itself beyond the fact that you're looking at such a beautiful clock. No need to stand around like a tourist fool waiting for it to strike 12 though, because it's just got a skeleton ringing a bell and a cast of sculptures of saints paraded past 2 windows.

the Fred and Ginger building looks awesome and actually blends in with the surrounding baroque architecture a lot better than i thought it would.

i haven't yet even ventured into any of the old buildings and churches. their exteriors alone will make your jaw drop. It's almost impossible not to get lost in Stare Mesto, even if you've got a map. the streets bear no resemblance whatsoever to a grid. but getting lost in a maze like central prague is more good dream than nightmare.

there's a long boulevard in the center of nove mesto called Wenceslaus Square. The national museum and a statue of wenceslaus riding a pony are at the head of the street, which is filled with shops and restaurants. It kind of reminds me of Canal Street, only with nowhere near the automobile traffic and it's generally more magnificent.

The hostel I stayed in the first night was called Hostel Elf and was located in Zizkov, whose buildings are only about 300 years old. I went out to dinner that night with a scotsman, an englishwoman, and an italian guy, all of whom were staying in the dormitory-style room with me. All of whom were full of their own fascinating stories that I don't have time to go into right now.

Last night I went to this nightclub called the Cross Club. It's this amazing 3-story complex that's owned and designed by a sculptor. The first floor is a dance club decorated wall to wall with moving sculptures made almost entirely from car parts. all the chairs and tables are made from rebar and various other pieces of junk metal. the bar and seating area is separate enough from the dancefloor to enjoy what the DJs spinning but still be able to have a conversation. the second floor is yet another industrial nightmare but has a stage more suited for bands. there was this lame czech metal band playing that was sort of like a cross between evanescence and no doubt. then bizarrely enough, the third floor is more of a coffee and wine bar with an earthy hemp feel to it. the whole place is a wild maze of rooms. you can walk two rooms away from the metal band and take a seat at one of the junk tables and only faintly hear the metal band below the sound of "mas que nada" playing over the speakers. whatever picture you've drawn of the cross club in your head from whati've described, i guarantee you it's 5 times cooler. i didn't drink too much because i had to get back to the metro before it shut down at midnight and i turned into a pumpkin.

today i had to make the rough choice between checking out a Dali exhibit and a Mucha exhibit. I chose the former and ended up regretting it. Not to say that Dali's work wasn't beautiful and darkly hilarious, but it was all just lithographs, sculptures, and woodcuts, and my favorite things about Dali (beyond his content of course) is the amazing amount of detail that he could capture with a brush. I mean, that Melting Clocks painting is pretty tiny in real life.

the food here is... interesting but mainly pretty good. i'm sure i'd be enjoying it more if i ate meat, but oh well. it's a palate i'll have to get used to. i've had several different varieties of fried cheese so far, all of which have been good. the beer here is delicious and cheap, a very good combination.

it's cold as shit but im wearing enough layers to handle it and i'm growing to like the spur of life that the chill gives to your bones.

anyway, that's all i can think of right now, though i know i haven't covered half of it.

im gonna go see if i can hunt down some of my fellow students that should be in town by now.

Edit: Apparently this week is the coldest it's been here in many years and the snow is a fluke, so if I can handle this with no problem, I'm set. Might be needing to pay a visit to a solarium in a month or so, though.
Also, I finally visited the castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. I can't stress enough how beautiful the cathedral is in person. Any church that can bring tears to the eyes of an agnostic must be something to behold. If you're Catholic, or even Christian, you need to see this place before you die. It's truly a magnificent, inspired work of art.