Old Town Square in the Evening

This is Old Town Square, the main tourist area and right next to Small Square (Male Namieste) where the NYU buildings are.  I was on my way to the surprisingly nice NYU welcome dinner and the light was great so I took a picture.  This is the same place where the famous astrological clock is, I will probably take a picture of that another day.

A Fancy Food Establishment?

For lunch today we decided to go to this modern fancy looking lunch place around the corner from school.  They mostly serve chicken and since my arrival in Prague I have seen distinguished elders, in suits and ties as well as local teenagers eating here.  The restaurant above is actually owned by the gentleman below.

It's true the colonel has a huge following in Prague.  Not only do they love KFC here but the KFC's are really nice, they put any establishment back home to shame!  Aside from the swank modern inside, they have modern artwork and a outdoor garden in the back where you can enjoy your meal.

The menus at the front of the restaurant even make it look like they have completely upgraded the food aspect of KFC for Europe (they haven't).

The menu sports some additions such as tiramisu and yogurt with berries.  These additions come at a grave cost, in the Czech Republic they have replaced the biscuit with french fries.  The fact that a KFC could not have biscuits boggles my mind, but I guess thats more culture shock.  Once I got my meal I was pretty disappointed by the look of my food in comparison to my experience thus far.

KFC does taste a lot different here.  The regular chicken seems to have been baked instead of fried.  Also I think a few of the colonels secret spices have been taken out and replaced with paprika, the national spice of the Czech Republic.  It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great, I can most certainly wait until I get back to America before I need KFC again, plus they don't have the bowl full off everything that KFC makes covered in gravy, so what's the point of coming back!  At least they have an in store hand washing station to get the grease off of your hands when you are done eating.

Czech Chess

Apparently in the Czech Lands there is a three player version of chess.  As you can see above, you can be attacked from two fronts, but other than that it is the same rules as regular chess.  There is no second place either.  The first person to take another king is declared the winner.

Culture Shock!

They kept telling us that we will experience culture shock after a few days here.  Except for the lack of tap water in restaurants the only real culture shock is the child peeing tradition of Prague.  This city could use a few of the above signs.  Andrew C and I were on our way to the metro station when we turned the corner and there was a kid with his pants at his ankles peeing on a tree with this father next to him.  Now if this was the first instance of this pants-around-the-ankles public urination by a small child I would not be so surprised (I suppose).  But as Andrew C was telling me, he and Andrew S were walking by our building a few days ago and there was another kid with his pants dropped peeing on the family car as his parents were packing the car for the weekend.  Confounded by this behavior, I later asked one of the RA's if this was normal Czech custom.  She laughed and said that she never thought about it but as a child most little kids in Prague are brought by the street or a gutter to pee if they have to.  I can only imagine that this comes as a result of the European way of charging for the use of a public bathroom.  In New York I occasionally come across a child, or otherwise, peeing against a wall or tree but at least in NYC they make use of their flies, a tradition that should be adopted here in Prague, or they can at least find a somewhat secluded alley.

The Most Perfect Song on my Computer Right Now

I have been listening to The Black Keys more and more as of late.  My interaction with them has been similar to my original interaction with The White Stripes, I have been told to listen to them far too many times until I finally do and realize that its amongst the best music I have ever heard.  The song Psychotic Girl is an incredible song that shows off the respect that The Black Keys have for the past and the great music they can create from it.  The song starts out with a simple tune plucked out on a southern sounding guitar.  As soon as drums come into play the rhythm guitar starts a goosebump raising, soul chilling, chord progression in arpeggio.  The funny thing about this progression is that it reminds me very much of Mark Ronson's work.  An almost eery piano line comes in right before the vocals start.  The vocals pay homage to the worn, soulful voices of the blues, with certain words stretched out with a feeling of want and need.  They resemble the vocals of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, but far smoother and less scratchy.  A macabre gospel of soft voices make there way into the background to fill out this song, giving it a round but plushy sound.  Right before the middle of the song the drums drop out allowing the vocals to shine through with the rhythm guitar keeping time.  Half way through the song another guitar part comes in that has a southern twangy style distortion very similar to the distortions used on Icky Thump.  This guitar sound has a solo toward the end of the song before its place is taken by the original southern guitar that began the song.

Enjoying European Café Culture

After my first class of the semester, Kafka and his Contexts, I ventured over to Anagram Bookshop to buy The Golem and to start reading.  What better place is there to read then at a café with a snack.  So as you can see above I ordered a tea drink.  It's a jasmine tea with honey, lime and fresh mint.  It was really refreshing but holding true to what I have read about tea in Prague, the jasmine flavor was weak.  I guess I will have to do the true café culture thing and switch to kava (coffee).  I had also ordered a croissant, they were out of the ginger cinnamon strudel.  But since I am still new to this picture taking thing I had forgotten to shoot away before it was gone.  It was a perfect croissant though, flakey and browned on the outside and that soft almost chewyness on the inside.  Overall a great place to get a snack and get some reading done.

If I Could Live in Any Czech Palace...

The area surrounding Prague Castle is filled with these elaborate palaces where many state officials and dignitaries lived through Czech history.  Across the street from the subject of this post and down the block from Prague Castle is a set of palaces where the film Amadeus was filmed.  I instantly fell in love with the palace in the above picture.  The amount of detail contained in the facade of this building is astounding.

I went with the large photos for this post but I encourage you to download these photos and look closely at the intricate reliefs and patterns in the walls.  From the back to back cournucopias on top to the guardian faces in the bottom row.

The curved overhangs feature vines with leaves that are shaded.

Even the most basic design block is simple yet elegant.  There is a terrific balance of light and dark in the pattern that seems to create a perpetual sunset over the front of the building.

There were no shortcuts, even the inside courtyard is filled with the same gorgeous decoration.  If only it was still a home and not a museum, perhaps I would be able to hold on to an irrational desire to live here (that little hiccup will probably not stop me anyhow).