DAY 1
Thursday, April 2nd, 1998 (BUS FROM MADISON TO O’HARE AIRPORT)
We just left. The grass is very green outside. I’m sitting here on the bus and don’t know exactly how I feel. I feel calm and am ready to take everything in. In a way I feel like I’m going on a field trip to stay only a few days. I know I’m going to enjoy all the senses of where we’re going.
My mom and I talked last night about the three things I want to get out of this. The first was to find a simpler way of looking at things and to find myself. The second was I think the senses thing. The third was to have fun. This morning in the shower I thought of another. I want to be able to find God and experience something for the first time. I’ll write later. I’m going to read now.
DAY 2
Friday, April 3rd, 1998 (6:30pm their time)
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC: HOTEL BELVEDERE
I have had the weirdest day in my entire life today. Getting on the bus today and entering Prague was both a physically hard thing as well as a cultural shock! Right now I’m writing from my hotel room window sill with Marie writing nearby. We’re on the fifth floor and our room number is 503.
Where do I start? The buildings are stone, tall, and all have a special uniqueness to them. Our tour guide took us on a two hour bus tour right after our plane ride. The plane was very nice. Swiss Air is tidy, has good service, and would be worth taking another time. The plane was hardly full and I had room to sleep across three chairs. Right now pigeons are purring above me on the window sill above. They flew up towards my window and almost scared me to death!
Everything seems so secretive and I could never fully understand the people. What seems so strange and rude to me, is their lifestyle. Today on the way to the subway a man took my ticket and without even a uniform on balled me out because it wasn’t stamped. My tour guide Eva yelled at him in Czech and called him some bad horrible names. I have never been so scared in my life. I thought I was going to die! After seeing the gun an army/police officer had at the Zurich airport I had no idea what he might do. Fortunately Eva got us out of it.
The trolly system seems so odd. You punch a ticket once and can ride 24 hours. The odd thing is no one checks it, except the no-uniform guy happened to stop us. Ashley asked Eva how the heck the system worked and she said “It just does.” But really how could it really work?
The overall roads and driving here are also very random. Cars go super fast and already today I have seen three or four police cars zooming in and out of traffic with their sirens on.
I can’t forget checking into the room. It was such a hassle after the bus tour to get our luggage up to our room. Marie and I laughed so hard I almost lost complete control of my bladder. To get into our room and find the funny high toilet, which at first didn’t flush, and the tub water coming out yellow, was so funny to us we could hardly take it. I felt totally insane and both Marie and I felt better after we washed our hair anyway and at least had a room to call our own, at least for tonight.
-High heel black boot shoes
-Prejudgements that are obvious
-Old buildings
-More smoking
-Girls (friends) walk with latched arms
-Cobblestone streets
-Police
-Trolly-fast
-Rudeness
-Unleashed dogs
-Less Smiles
(After dinner 8:30pm)
Tonight I sat with Linda, Mary, Patty, and Lacy. We decided not to complain anymore. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
The banks seem unreliable and one closed earlier than it said it would. Things are pretty cheap though. I found out 30 Korunas equals $1.00.
I’m tired now and Marie and I will go to bed and get a wake up call for 7:00am tomorrow morning. Tired.
Here’s a couple photos and a brochure of our hotel from this day:
* Disclaimer: This is a work of creative non-fiction based on actual journal entries at the dates and places included. However, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of all the information included, as it was written solely from what I remembered at the time. To respect the privacy of individuals, many names have been changed. The journal has been edited for grammar and punctuation. This is not an advertisement. I am not being compensated for sharing anything from my journal including, but not limited to, places we stayed or visited. Alcohol should be consumed responsibly. Mentions of consumption of alcohol in my journal is, to the best of my knowledge, in accordance with local laws for the places we visited abroad at the time in 1998.
Read all journal entries from this trip! here