Prague, Day 1
It’s nearly 1:00 am, and I should be in bed, but the last 36 or so hours have been so exciting, it’s hard to convince myself to go to sleep.
Our flight to Prague went about as smoothly as that kind of flight could go, I suppose, and we arrived here at about 9:00 a.m. It’s a six-hour difference between Prague and Pittsburgh.
After a short nap and a shower, Arielle and I took a walk around the neighborhood where Rob, our host, lives. It’s a garden-style neighborhood dotted with Communist-era paneláky, which have been cleaned up and painted bright colors so as to dull the drab, mass-produced concrete aura they create. I find the buildings quite intriguing, though Rob assures me that the interior is not at well-kept as the exterior.
I took two pictures from Rob’s balcony that give an idea of what we see when we look out of his windows. The view is quite amazing.
Later, we all went into the heart of the city and ate dinner. Transportation to and from our meal was flawless and left me further despondent over the sorry state of mass transit in Pittsburgh.
There are so many good things here that we would do well to duplicate in America. As Rob said over dinner, although the Communist era left a lot to be desired, it instilled a sense of disciplined thrift that other countries (read: the U.S.) lack.
Perhaps as America’s financial markets continue to reveal their charlatan ways and Wal-Mart’s warehouse on wheels runs out of steam, we will be forced to deal with economic hardships unseen in the short history of our country. It won’t be pretty, but it’s about time, I say.
Thankfully, there are other places that already get it, and they are planning for a far better future. I just hope we don’t ruin it for them.
