Wednesday, January 18, 2006

What I like about Prague

The cafes: There are a thousand of them, many with great character. You can eat all kinds of sucky food all day long and linger as much as you want. Some are nouveau, some are deco, some are bohemian, and I want to see them all. The service is sullen, the food is nothing to write home about and the Czech have an unfortunate penchant for really excrutiating pop music. Versions in Czech of gems like Grease and Take me Home Country Roads, par example. It must be an aftershock of living in communism for so long.
The beer: Peeps, you've been living in the dark. I had an epiphany: beer doesn't have to taste and smell like a putrid sock. After you try any Czech beer on tap -- extra cold, crisp, refreshing and freaking delicious -- you will never ever EVER want to order a beer on tap in NY again. Now you know.
The museum of communism: A funky little hole of hatred and resentment, and with good reason.
There are more working theaters in this town, considering its size, than anything I've ever seen. The Czechs are nuts for the stage. As for the quality, who knows. I'm not gonna sit into a Long Day's Journey into Night in Czech.
There are people who try to sell you tickets for classical music concerts as if they were trying to sell you ecstasy. They pester you so much I'm afraid to try.
Culture is cheap (museums are expensive). I went to a concert by the Prague Symphony in the amazing Municipal Theater, an art nouveau marvel, and I paid $30 bucks.

Booze is cheap.
And that's a good thing.

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