« Hay on Wye | Main | Small Grand Tour »
August 03, 2007
Dobrư Deň
Had a great time in Prague but not necessarily because of the city itself. There are hordes of tourists everywhere, British stag & hen parties that invariably go wrong and it's basically all a big Kafka amusement park. And people who never read a line by the man flock to where he lived, where he studied, where he pooped and where he fucked since these are, of course, landmarks of touristic interest. "I often hear Kafka described as a Czech writer, but he wrote solely in German and considered himself a German writer" says Kundera. The irony of it all.
****
What I've learned: the Americans are loud, the French are arrogant, the Estonians are lazy, the Dutch are cheap and the Portuguese like to stereotype.
****
The Dutch: Portuguese is just bad Spanish.
The Portuguese: Dutch is just bad German.
Ah, the joy of making friends through mutual insult.
****
Somehow, found myself driving a Ford on a Czech highway on the way to a town that is today practically owned by wealthy Russians, with a Belarusian sitting by my side, a Kazakh, a Kyrgyz and a Dutch on the back seat while Johnny Cash sang on the radio. Carlsbad (or Karlovy Vary) is one of the prettiest towns I've ever visited. If it weren't for the Escada and Chanel shops I could almost say it had frozen in time.
****
The Philosophical Hall.
Highlight: the beautiful libraries of the Strahov Monastery and the remnants of an 18th century Wunderkammer that are housed there.
A dodo.
Posted by claudia