[Part 2] When in Prague, Find Ice Cream Partner
On day two, on the other end of Wenceslas Square (away from my breakdown on day one), my walking tour group* and I gathered around Jirka. We stood closely knit; one wrong step to the right and I could have been listening about Praha in Spanish instead, one accidental turn to the left and I'd have found myself with a group of clueless Japanese businessmen. Sunday crowds during peak tourist season can be a bizarre and surprising mix.
I resorted to sending a sneakily snapped photograph to friends and family back home. My humble brag of knowing the brand was really Czech, not Indian, was countered by smartypants who wanted to one up me. "It's actually Italian", they said. "Look it up, it's Swiss.", they said. To them, I sent citations for my claim ("Um, actually, it was founded by Tomáš Baťa in Czech Republic and it is now headquartered in Switzerland.")
Jirka began talking of the historic significance of the Square but he lost me in seconds. Not physically - I was still part of the right group. As I was adjusting my bag, I happened to look up. That's when I saw it. A wave of excitement went through me and I had the silliest, biggest grin. I was desperately scanning the crowds to see any other Indian who felt the way I did - 1.3 billion strong and I couldn't find a single one when I needed to. I saw the most beloved Czech anything to Indians - enough for most of us to grow up believing it was our own - a Bata Store!
I resorted to sending a sneakily snapped photograph to friends and family back home. My humble brag of knowing the brand was really Czech, not Indian, was countered by smartypants who wanted to one up me. "It's actually Italian", they said. "Look it up, it's Swiss.", they said. To them, I sent citations for my claim ("Um, actually, it was founded by Tomáš Baťa in Czech Republic and it is now headquartered in Switzerland.")
My friend for the day, an American college freshman halfway through her four month solo Europe trip, shot me a concerned look. If only she'd understand. We had met half an hour earlier when she interrupted my quest to be solo-while-being-surrounded-with-people. She had reached out to me, possibly finding my Tamil face familiar since she grew up in the silicon valley area (haha). I, sure enough, had a relative who lived in the town her mom grew up in. Because these are obvious conversations and connections made between random strangers from different continents travelling in Central-Eastern Europe. I don't even remember if we exchanged names but her company was exactly what I needed that day. Americans tend to be highly dependable when it comes to being chatty.
What she did understand was the absolute need to have ice cream that day. In the middle of our walk, we passed the most yummy and colorful looking ice cream stall. The kind that has a magnetic effect, you know it's force is strong and resisting would be futile. But the forces of our group pushed us forward and brought us to a smallish courtyard with seemingly incongruous elements: it had gorgeous, old buildings with a forced-to-fit-in Hard Rock Cafe outdoor seating in the middle, next to an ancient, preserved fountain.
The rest of the walk, through Franz Kafka's birth house, in and around the Jewish Quarters, and Parizska Street (Prague's answer to Champs-Élysées) was of course lovely. But Lisa (I think. Or Jessica.) and I had our mind's eye and inner GPS fixed on that ice cream stall. Magnetic forces conspired too. She had pistachio, I had chocolate (after sampling most flavors for free). It was incredibly satisfying - enough to be un-millennial and not photograph it before devouring it.
Post hogging, we fulfilled duties that fellow solo travelers often perform - photograph taking for memories, parents, and including of backgrounds not captured in selfies. We walked across the Charles Bridge in search of the Lennon Wall.
Here's how the Lennon Wall happens to you: Upon exiting the Bridge on the side of the Castle, you enter the absolutely romantic and charming Kampa Island. Complete with love locks, tiny bridges and quaint streets, it is a little far from the madding crowds and just beautiful. While taking this in and the many seemingly random turns Google dictates, you wonder why the Wall is named after John Lennon (shouldn't it have been Lenin, heheheh #communistpast) - did he ever visit? Then, you notice a signboard for the John Lennon Pub at which point you feel like may be you weren't lost after all. You turn and first see a wall of people. If they're not particularly tall, between the trees, you notice every imaginable color in the world on the actual Wall. There is, of course, background music. Not The Beatles, necessarily. I distinctly remember taking it all in while listening to Wonderwall sung and played by a young guitarist. The graffiti on the Wall seems overwhelming at first but take the time and you find something that resonates with you.
Sarah (I bet she doesn't remember my name**) and I took our own sweet time and then began our quest to find the Castle. We had made a collective decision to not join the walking tour of the castle - exploring it with each other was also cost-effective. Having been out since morning on a particularly hot day, without proper meals, the Castle seemed to high to scale. All of this combined turned us into a bickering old couple. But Becca and I had a telepathic connection. We spotted a guy handing out free chocolate samples, gave each other a knowing look, politely took some and feigned interest in the shop, while sampling some more.
Energized, we were ready to give our relationship and the quest another shot. Those unending stairs led to an unending number of tourists but also to the unexpectedly beautiful view of all of Prague. Victory was ours. Only briefly, though. Those chocolates weren't enough for us to brave the lines going inside the Castle complex. They weren't enough to salvage our relationship, as it turned out. We admired the Castle some and then began walking aimlessly, subconsciously searching for a main road. Upon finding one, we exchanged the briefest of goodbyes and good lucks. As I watched my friend (whose name I shall not invent anymore) take the tram, I wondered if it was time for me to finally use it myself. Wondered if it was time to get over my fear of being chewed up and thrown out by the public transport system, in a foreign language no less. Mental arithmetic skills and a blessed exchange rate let Uber win instead.
*Highly recommend Sandemans New Europe tours - this was the "free" tour of Prague.
**Wouldn't blame her. But I do remember :) (I think)
Post hogging, we fulfilled duties that fellow solo travelers often perform - photograph taking for memories, parents, and including of backgrounds not captured in selfies. We walked across the Charles Bridge in search of the Lennon Wall.
Here's how the Lennon Wall happens to you: Upon exiting the Bridge on the side of the Castle, you enter the absolutely romantic and charming Kampa Island. Complete with love locks, tiny bridges and quaint streets, it is a little far from the madding crowds and just beautiful. While taking this in and the many seemingly random turns Google dictates, you wonder why the Wall is named after John Lennon (shouldn't it have been Lenin, heheheh #communistpast) - did he ever visit? Then, you notice a signboard for the John Lennon Pub at which point you feel like may be you weren't lost after all. You turn and first see a wall of people. If they're not particularly tall, between the trees, you notice every imaginable color in the world on the actual Wall. There is, of course, background music. Not The Beatles, necessarily. I distinctly remember taking it all in while listening to Wonderwall sung and played by a young guitarist. The graffiti on the Wall seems overwhelming at first but take the time and you find something that resonates with you.
 |
| I'm a Barbie Girl? |
Energized, we were ready to give our relationship and the quest another shot. Those unending stairs led to an unending number of tourists but also to the unexpectedly beautiful view of all of Prague. Victory was ours. Only briefly, though. Those chocolates weren't enough for us to brave the lines going inside the Castle complex. They weren't enough to salvage our relationship, as it turned out. We admired the Castle some and then began walking aimlessly, subconsciously searching for a main road. Upon finding one, we exchanged the briefest of goodbyes and good lucks. As I watched my friend (whose name I shall not invent anymore) take the tram, I wondered if it was time for me to finally use it myself. Wondered if it was time to get over my fear of being chewed up and thrown out by the public transport system, in a foreign language no less. Mental arithmetic skills and a blessed exchange rate let Uber win instead.
*Highly recommend Sandemans New Europe tours - this was the "free" tour of Prague.
**Wouldn't blame her. But I do remember :) (I think)
Comments