November 12 Prague

Our last day! We’ve been in Prague long enough the we can get around pretty much without a map. We’ve “done” the big sights, heard jazz, and street and classical music, and eaten our fill of Czech bread, pork and marinated cheese. Today we wound up our trip by going back to some places we loved; the elegant Bella Vida coffee shop where the waiter remembered us, the old square to look at the clock, the Wenceslas Square and nearby art nouveau buildings. I finally stopped in at a souvenir shop to buy an enamel mug I’ve been admiring, and found a store selling porcelain like my beloved Czech coffee pot that broke in the earthquake. Mike bought some books at Shakespeare and Sons, the English bookstore. We walked by the river through a favorite park and made our final crossing over the Charles Bridge.

Rain fell pretty seriously today and fewer people crowded even the most touristy areas. We made a few new discoveries, but mainly enjoyed the familiarity of our neighborhood and our route to the center of town. As we walked, we had the conversation we’ve had upon leaving Venice, Florence and Amsterdam: what would it be like to live here for a while? I calculate the cost of an apartment and think about the part of town I like best. I think of taking language classes or teaching ESL, local shopping and cooking, doing a “ museum a day” plan. Mike talked about the music clubs he’d like to go to, studying and drawing buildings, walking all the neighborhoods.

I’d noticed that once we left the cruise tour, we are on the old end of the tourist age spectrum. How much longer could we do this? We talked about our walking. We keep track of our step count and average 7-10 miles on our independent days. The walking tires me out especially on cobbled streets. Some nights I’ve had leg cramps or aches, and I’ve had three major blisters. I’ve been sleeping very well! I can’t imagine how we could we possibly keep up this level of activity at home, but we have to stay in shape if we want to return to Europe. Of course we won’t be eating chimney cakes or dumplings at home either.

Tomorrow we head home, over ten time zones; two continents and an ocean. I’ll be glad to get home but I’m already thinking about what the next trip to Europe will be.