This is How We Balk on the Moon

I’ve still in the midst of trying to explain, as accurately as possible, the city and country I’m in, to many friends and family. I am a pretty verbose guy, and I consider myself a pretty adequate writer additionally, but sometimes I can’t convey the full experience of any of what I’m doing. There are points in e-mails or skype conversations that I actually feel like it’s impossible to communicate, even if given all the details, and it leaves me alone in my experiences, save for those who were physically there with me. The best storytellers can successfully reproduce an image seen by one in another person’s mind, but I’m not that dude. Not yet.

So, to not take a cue from soulstress Sharon Jones, I feel like showing you, rather than telling you. If it will ease the process, feel free to invoke the spirit of Peter Frampton and sing, at an acceptable volume, “I want Drew-ew-ew, to show me the way.” That’ll probably win you friends and lovers.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings- Tell Me

Last Friday, I decided to use the weekend to actually take a day trip to a city in Northern Bohemia, Hradec Kralove, which is an above-average-sized town, at least when talking in Czech terms. It was a $7 train ride round trip, or about the price of a ticket to see Norbit, and I went with four friends, without much of an agenda or sightseeing plan. With eight hours to walk around, it’s amazing how impressive the place was, even if it was a ghost town for much of the day. Seriously, there were fears abound among the group regarding vampires coming out at sundown. Because, Dracula Dead and Loving It and Was (Not Was) taught us anything, it’s that vampires and freaks come out at night.

Most towns of fair size wouldn’t seem to be able to boast a wide array of museums, but Hradec Kralove has that on lockdown. We went to the Museum of Eastern Bohemia, which was in a building that had undergone many uses over since its creation. At one point it was a school in the early part of the 20th century, and some of the learning materials were on display. This one was a bit perturbing:

I suppose it’s logical.

After that, we went to an florist school’s student exhibition, and it definitely was more memorable than my own science fair experiences.

I often think to myself while walking around Prague that this is what I always imagined Europe to look like. I don’t know why, as most American kids think of Europe in Eiffel Tower and Big Ben terms, but I constantly have this memory of a European town that is almost completely replicated in what I see on the streets of my neighborhood in Letna. Similarly, Hradec Kralove has a center town square reminiscent of what I thought small European village all looked like. The town square was a wide-open area that practically screamed for a public hanging.

When I returned to Prague, my roommates and I ventured to nearby Stromovka Park, which is one of our favorite places in the city. I have tried to tell people, even those living in Prague, why I love it, but it doesn’t seem to affect them much. The main draw for me is two-pronged: there’s a carnival there, featuring the insurmountable sport of bumper cars, which has undergone an unexpected resurgence in my heart akin to the Colorado Rockies recent run, and also a convention center. Now this convention center was built by architects who had to be on some 2001 shit, and it is one of those space-age buildings that now looks like a relic from another planet, almost achieving what 60s-era architects aspired to achieve. Or at least, it looks like the the colony where Space Mountain would be located

The carnival is very obviously geared to little kids and tourists, but the most attention-grabbing aspect of the fair are some of the random paintings featured on their rides. I think they’ve done an admirable job of capturing American culture:

Japan’s “Sumo Culture,” touched upon briefly in There’s Something About Mary is even represented, albeit in a much more tight way, perhaps:

Anyways, I’m going to Berlin tomorrow, for a long weekend, and I hope to come away with more than a few superb experiences and sights. Also, I promised myself that I would sing “Take My Breath Away” for the duration of the trip. Danke.

Love,
Drew R.