Day 9: Heaven in a Pancake

Monday, May 21, 2012 

Our first night in the Penzion. There are several loud snores in the room (there are five of us, so statistically, that was almost guaranteed), so I will try to get to sleep as early as possible from now on. It shouldn't be a problem. 

We continued with lacemaking in the Fibers class; having mastered the chain stitch, we now move on to the linen stitch, which requires five hanging pairs of bobbins and one pair of "walking threads" that weave back and forth like a shuttle between them. This is even more fun than before! 

After lunch, I drew comics on my laptop for a while, then went out to take more photographs for tomorrow. We are now focusing on things that remind us of lace, presumably as a precursor to creating the patterns we will eventually be using.

I stopped behind this building, the church-with-houses-wrapped-around-it. I really should learn its name sometime.

There I found a little food stand where a woman was making crepes. They were only 55 crowns (about $3), which was about how much money I had on me at that point. I got a chocolate and butter one and ate it on the steps of the church's back door (see below) while listening to what I'm fairly sure was a choir rehearsing inside. 

Basically, a crepe is a flat pancake filled with heaven and folded into sixths.

It was gone far too soon. I will be going back to this place. 

After that, I wandered around until I got lost, then got out my small map and found that I had circled all the way around the Institute to arrive in Betlémské Náměsti (or Bethlehem Square). This is a nice place with benches, so I went to a little Vietnamese food stand nearby for dinner.

Dinner was spring rolls (they had two kinds; I got the mushroom) and gelato (the tiramisu flavor, which was quite good). Added together, these cost almost exactly as much as the crepe earlier today.

Even spring rolls here are different than they are in the US; thicker, meatier, and full of more savory crunchy bits. Perhaps this is the Czech version of Asian food, as opposed to the American version of Asian food we get in the US. 

Two of the things I've found myself missing the most here are public seating and water fountains. As far as I can tell, Prague has neither. If you want water, you get it from a tap (or, if your tastes run that way, get beer instead); if you want to sit, you go to a park, or you find a convenient ledge or stairway. It's surprising to be so surprised at this. I hadn't realized before how accustomed I am to finding benches and water fountains - free sitting and drinking - in even slightly urbanized areas at home. I've been taking them for granted without realizing. 

The public bathrooms on the sidewalks are another issue entirely. (According to other students, you have to pay to use them, and sometimes you have to pay again so that the people who make their living by occupying them will stand up and get out of your way). Between the various hotels and the Institute, I have not had to use these small and aromatic buildings yet; if possible, I think this is one aspect of Prague's culture that I will be content to miss. 

At another student's suggestion, I walked from the Penzion to the Institute and back today, instead of taking the Metro. This turned out to be more difficult than I expected. Prague is built around the river Vltava; the Old Town, where the Institute is, is right in the middle of a bend in the river. This means that the Old Town is downhill from everything else, which made the walk from the Penzion to the Institute in the morning an easy fifteen-minute stroll. It also means that everything else is uphill from the Old Town, which made the walk from the Institute to the Penzion a half-hour endurance test. It was rather pleasant, though - almost like mountain climbing with different scenery.