Well, mostly on foot. We “cheat” and take the number 11 tram from Pod Jezerkhou (on the bottom in the middle) to Muzeum but that’s because it’s way too hilly and/or early.
We had a very interesting lecture this morning from Jiri Pehe, the Director of the NYU in Prague program. I had a rough idea of Czech/Czechoslovakian history, but loved all the holes he filled in. Of course like any good lecture, it left me wanting to know more so I spent part of the afternoon on a quest for books. Came up empty, but I’ll find some when I get home. There are many more bookstores with English books than before.
After the lecture, Professor Boland–he wants us to call him Bob, I can’t do it so I don’t end up addressing him at all–introduced the course and outlined the overlap between sports and tourism. I like the fact that we’re each going to be responsible for teaching a section. With my being the only tourism student in the class, I don’t foresee difficulty in getting the section(s) I want, so I’m looking forward to my day.
Shortly after 1 we adjourned and scattered. A few of us went to lunch, more pasta for me. I seem to be replacing my sushi fix with a pasta fix, odd because I don’t usually like pasta. Today’s pasta was spaghetti with italian bacon and chili peppers. So far have yet to end up in a restaurant without an English menu even though we keep wandering off the square. I think it’s partially because Prague is such a tourist city. There is a ton more English than last time, which is good. Makes it a lot easier. I never did find the post office though 
On the plus side, I did find Citibank. On a related note, I LOVE Skype. I’m still having issues with my Debit card pulling from the wrong checking account so I looked to see if I could call 800 numbers from Skype. Yep. It was as easy as calling from home and I think/hope it’s finally fixed.
I posted a few photos. I’d say I really have been behaving but in truth I kept 27 of the ones I took. I just find editing photos in Gimp to be annoying so I don’t end up posting them. I have been taking a ton of photos and in preparation for this weekend’s trip, I went to Tesco and got the second set of batteries and second memory card I’ve been talking about. Prices here are pretty good: 256mb Sony Memory Stick Pro and 2 rechargeable NiMH batteries for $56. Probably would have been cheaper had I gotten my act together to get them at home, but I didn’t and so they weren’t too bad to get here. I’d already run out of memory card space in London and don’t want that to happen.
It’s interesting as I walk through the city, take pictures and think about the photos I took last time. I passed Namesti Miru on the tram today and remembered the church before the name of the place. I’ve gone across the Vlatva but not up to the castle yet as we’re doing that next class so I don’t feel the need to do it twice.
I didn’t really have a destination in mind today, just wandered until it got chilly. Boland said that Prague’s old town is like “old town on steroids”, which is one way of putting it. I think what I love about Prague is that with the castles, churches and other old buildings, you feel as if you’ve stepped into a time machine and gone back three hundred years. I’m glad that the Soviets and Nazis didn’t destroy the heart of the old culture, and that it escaped serious damage in WW II. That’s the big difference with Japan, where there’s history but it doesn’t feel like it because everything has been rebuilt so often.
