Prague (or Jolene, Jolene)

What a beautiful city! I read that Prague is the fifth of all major European cities in drawing tourists (after London, Paris, Istanbul and Rome). We could certainly tell by the throngs of people roaming through the cobblestone streets and plazas. We had a hotel a short way from the bustling old town, but the underground rail system was right around the corner from us, and it was efficient and easy to get to any of the destinations we wanted to see.

Our trip from Berlin to Prague by train was somewhat of an ordeal. First, we didn’t have seat reservations and the train was entirely packed with travelers and screaming babies. We were forced to stay in the aisles with all our luggage for the first hour. After a few stops some seats opened up and we quickly grabbed them. Unfortunately, we sat across from what I think was a neo nazi who espoused a supposed upcoming German/Austrian uprising. I thought I was back in the states!

Carrie and I toured the Prague Castle and the Jewish Museum, which included the centuries old Jewish Cemetery. Both were fascinating. We also enjoyed the delicious hearty Prague dishes and the cold Pilsners. While dining in the cave-like White Horse Restaurant, we were entertained by a musician. Again, we were surprised when he sang Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”. That’s twice this week we’ve heard the tune!

We are now in our fourth week of travel! We’ve been moving from place to place rather quickly, which is wearing on us. We hope to slow things down more in the weeks ahead and employ the practice of slow travel that we envisioned.