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Continued from the previous post…

Monday started with a quick jog to the metro station and a ride to the other side of the town where Dave and I met three of his friends for a Czech countryside adventure. We were headed to Mělník to check out a few sights and observe a peculiar Czech Easter tradition.

After a 45 minute bus ride, we arrived in what looked to be a deserted town. Apparently the day after Easter is also a bank holiday so everyone was off doing exciting things. This was great news for the five of us because we had no tourists to compete with (not that foreign tourists even go to Mělník). After snapping a few photos, we managed to find the only place serving food and sat down for a mid-morning Italian meal complete with Czech beer. How better to start a day of touring?

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Note: I’m writing about my trip to the Czech Republic and Hungary in parts because I’ve managed to do a lot and not write a word about it. This is part one of (hopefully) more than a few.

I left San Francisco on Friday, April 6. Oh, the joys of public transportation. I mean, how better to start a trip than by taking Muni and BART? I flew out of SFO and stopped over in London, where I randomly met the former UN ambassador from Cyprus. He and I talked about “the Cyprus Problem”, international travel, the Iraq war and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Nothing makes a 2 hour layover fly by like good conversation.

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So I made it to Praha (Prague) safely and I’m working on writing up a rather extensive chronological retelling of the events that have transpired in the last three and half days. It’s been a lot of fun but my time at this cafe is running out and I’m supposed to meet David for dinner in a few minutes.

As a teaser: I’m now the proud owner of the famous Czech Easter stick. Story and pictures to follow shortly.

I share a birthday with:

• Jackie Chan
• Francis Ford Coppola
• The Internet

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The next time I write I should be somewhere in central Europe. Fourteen days in Prague with Dave which include sleeping on a couch, seeing the sights, eating vegan food (thanks for the recommendation, Allan) and drinking local beer. I can’t wait.

I should be posting periodically on Flickr, too. (And yes, my rant about Flickr has resulted in absolutely nothing because the alternatives leave quite a bit to be desired… oh well.)

My Dad wrote to me yesterday to update me stuff happening down in southern California. The one thing I appreciate most about his e-mails is his propensity to write as if the caps lock key were stuck in the ‘on’ position. This latest e-mail, however, was great for an all together different reason:

“WE PRACTICED THE VOLCANO CAKE-PAUL HAS VIDEO IF YOU WANT TO SEE IT!?”

A little context: my brother is getting married in early June and he wanted a different kind of cake, so he and his wife-to-be have decided on a volcano cake, complete with explosion (I’m assuming more on the baking-soda-vinegar side of things than the C4, but who knows with this one).

Needless to say, I cannot wait for June. It’s going to be one hell of a party.