A Ruff Time in Prague

Prague was fantastic. I loved Prague. I had a ruff time in Prague.

Upon arrival in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, it seemed that the area was, by comparison to Vienna, dim and almost bleak. This initial perception can likely be attributed to the four-hour train ride preceding our arrival and the foggy-grey weather into which we were welcomed. As our class exited the train station and finished boarding a tram to reach our hostel, the tram operator gave their best shot at going from 0-100Km in under a second. The operator didn't succeed. They did, however, accelerate fast enough to cause the entirety of our class, our quite obviously American class, to lurch backward in unison as the Czech people got a taste of our presence in their wonderful capital city.

All of that is just to say that my mindset going into Prague was pretty empty in terms of expectations. And that lack of expectations ultimately led to a pretty ruff time.

Having few expectations tends to lend itself to ambiguity and inaction. When it came to experiencing Prague, having no expectations turned into an unexpectedly great time- a ruff time.

A lack of plans led me to the highest point in Prague- an old television broadcasting tower modelled after the Eiffel Tower; a lack of plans led me sprinting down the side of a hill straight toward the American Embassy; a lack of plans led me to a cellar-turned-bar, downing a flaming shot of absinthe.

A lack of plans led me to the Czech Museum of Music where I found replica (wearable) versions of the standard garments of up-class women in the 17th Century. The neck piece is called a ruff, aaaannnd that's pretty much the joke... Prague was great. Inquire for details about Turtlenecks.