Arriving in Prague

An uneventful journey from DC to Heathrow and Heathrow to Prague...As the plane approached Ruzyne, I was surprised to see many green and fallow fields while still seeing the Castle in the distance. The entrance to the Duty Free shopping area was startling! Elegant shops selling Armani, Coach, Swarovski, fine crystal, beautiful jewelry; merchandise rivaling Rodeo Drive, at the airport? ...Had the Velvet Revolution been only 22 years ago? Once out in the lobby area the view was pretty standard classic airport...taxi stands, rental cars and the omnipresent Starbucks and McDonalds. Is there anywhere these "icons" of American culture haven't reached?

The drive from the airport with my fellow classmate, Ian, whose luggage unfortunately was still in London, was rather civilized compared to similar trips from the airports of  New York, Budapest or Entebbe. As we neared the city, graffiti splattered Soviet era concrete block housing - who ever thought that was a good idea - gave way to lovely old buildings and red tiled roofs...Bridges crisscrossed the Vltava River and the spires of the city loomed. It is only 3:30 but the shadows of late afternoon are falling across this lovely city, so I will have to wait until tomorrow to explore by day. Thank goodness I have help carrying my luggage up three flights of  winding narrow stairs, but the view from my balcony is quite lovely!

Tonight, I meet two more of my classmates, Ashley and Carrie, for a stroll around our neighborhood, Žižkov. We stop at what appears to be a Italian restaurant - the menu is in Italian, Czech and English -  but also offers traditional Bohemian meals. Carrie orders a goulash with bacon dumplings, I go for the Svickova, creamed beef with dumplings - do you see a trend here? - and Ashley settles on the spaghetti...all three accompanied by a tall Pilsner Urquell...great food and company made for a great first night in Prague. We said děkuji to our hosts and made our way back to our apartment building, just around the corner from the Church of St. Procopius.

We made plans to visit the old town center tomorrow. I think there will be many interesting days ahead!

Dobrou noc!