Ages and ages back, I bought tickets to the Hogwarts Express. Now, we make the journey out of Ireland and into Scotland, visiting friends and exploring the highlands on our way to Hogwarts!
Our first stop was a flight into Glasgow, where we met up with two friends of Andreas – one of her oldest friends, actually, who she’d met in middle school, and his wife. With them as our excellent tour guides, we set off into Glasgow itself, exploring and seeing the sights – cafes, universities, and even an absolutely lovely museum!
Tuesday, 25-June-2024, through Saturday, 29-June-2024
So I’m going to just come out and say it, straight up. I didn’t really like Prague. I’d say that it has the honor of being my least-favorite city of this trip. It’s not that it was horrible, by any means, but… it just wasn’t nearly as enjoyable to visit and explore as any of the other cities have been.
I think the crux of it was that the people I interacted with were a lot more on the extremes than I’ve experienced in other cities… most of the places I’ve been, interactions have been generally good. People aren’t extremely excited to take my order in restaurants, but… I wouldn’t expect them to be. They’re also not antagonistic to me sitting at their tables… which I also wouldn’t expect them to be.
In Prague, though, it was the opposite. I had two restaurants where people were incredibly excited to have me there, and a handful where I was clearly a burden that they’d prefer to avoid… one place actually went so far that I walked out almost immediately after ordering. And yes, I did tell the waiter to cancel my order. I’m not a barbarian.
All that being said, Prague was still a lovely city. Absolutely beautiful architecture, great parks, and a few really interesting interactions added to the adventures. Like this one time – I was out buying a new duffel bag since my old one broke (again), and a super cute goth lady made a point to tell me how awesome my dreads looked! Then we chatted a bit, she mentioned that her eyes hurt from all the pollen, and I helped her out with some A-grade USA-made eye drops (because obviously I have them in my satchel just in case). We then went our separate ways… but it was still a fun little interaction that made my day a little brighter.
Anyways, yeah. For me, Prague was a city of extremes… which can be fun, but simply isn’t really something I’m looking for right now.
Now then, food. What did I eat while adventuring in Prague, and where did I eat it? Well, let me fill you in…
San Man’s Tongue – Just about as American as you can get. Which is weird, since it was an Australian bar. But seriously – this place could have been copy and pasted from the place I used to get nachos in Wilsonville, Wanker’s Tavern. It was a little creepy how similar they were.
Cafe 11 – Not bad. Not good either, though, and this was the start of my experience with just how unhappy the wait staff could be at my mere presence. Seriously, pretty sure they’d have shanked me if they thought they could get away with it.
Pauseteria – I walked out. First, they ignored me waiting for a table… instead seating other people who walked in after me. I had to actively track down a waiter, who ignored me, then asked the bartender who finally got me a table. The waiter nearly smacked me with the menu, then was just an absolute dick about taking my order… so I got up, told him that I was leaving and not to worry about it, and left. He yelled something about “You’ll be back” as I left. Trivia fact: I did not go back.
POINT Cafe – I went here after Pauseteria, and holy crap my poor emotional whiplash. They were amazing, jumped up to seat me, and the wait staff were literally dancing to the playlist the bartender was playing. Happy, positive, and a complete 180 turn from the previous place. I stayed a while, and ordered extra.
Smetanaq – Amazing desserts for a midday snack, along with an excellent latte… and a return to some rather harsh servers who probably would have preferred if I’d just not been there. Not rude enough that I felt the need to leave… but there were still some undercurrents.
Hell Smoke – As is tradition, we give Ben emotional whiplash. Hell Smoke was a newer restaurant, from what I could tell, making smoked BBQ. It was absolutely amazing, simply delicious, with a great flight of Czech beers on offer (that I took full advantage of). The folks working there were excited to talk, even through the language barrier, and were just amazingly friendly.
Fat Cat Cafe – Finally a return to the middle ground. A simple comfort-food restaurant, with traditional options from a variety of countries. A tourist restaurant if I’ve ever been to one, specializing in getting people food from their various home countries. Simple and good.
My first day of adventures in Stockholm hit a bit of a snag… I’d planned a full day of museums, but unfortunately Mondays turned out to be their weekly day off, and so I arrived at closed doors, one after another… closed, closed, closed.
You know what, though? I kind of needed a day to let my brain rest and process all of the different things I’ve been seeing and learning over the past few weeks. It would have been a bit nicer for my mental state if I’d been able to have that as The Plan, so I could have expected it… but hey, growth opportunities. Helping forge myself into a more relaxed and flexible person, at least in mind state.
I still followed the walking route that I’d laid out for myself the evening before, even as it became more and more obvious that none of the museums would be open. The path led me around Stockholm, regardless of my entry into the waypoints, which made for a good wander for the day – a wandering that led me to the old naval base / island of Skeppsholmen. It was a bit perfect; nice trees, lapping waves from the passing ships, and lots of neat informational placards for me to read and learn from.
A pivot from the plan, to be sure, but a welcome one.
