Praha

It's raining in Prague. Just like it rains everywhere I go, always, without fail. But I suppose a city like this looks good in the rain - it adds a sheen to the cobblestones, and to the gold decorations that top the grandest buildings. I arrived today after five nights in Cologne, staying with Lena, who was a most gracious host. On Thursday she took me around town, showed me where tourists go, and where people who live in Cologne go. The Dom (see below) is the cathedral in the centre of town, it's the quintessential Cologne photo-op. You can climb up to the top of it, but I didn't. Thursday night the planned pub crawl didn't go ahead, but I made a soggy stirfry with the closest thing I could find to egg noodles in a German supermarket. Friday I walked around by myself, following an itinerary and map hand-drawn by Lena - unfortunately the big Travel Outfitting Store (where I was supposed to try out the Ice and Rain rooms) was closed due to the public holiday, and the directions were wrong to the park where I was supposed to "sit on a swing and think about life" (it was a cute game). At night I was taken to a smoky and very loud club where I danced like a foreign fool until 4am. I couldn't believe it had become so late - apparently you can have a big one on any night of the week in Cologne. Saturday was beautifully warm and sunny. I staggered through the flohmarkt (fleamarket) in the afternoon, hoping to find some interesting junk that might fit in my backpack, but spent the rest of the day nursing a killer headache. Sunday Lena put on a big breakfast, with that dense brown German bread and wurst from a tin, which looks like Spam but is infinitely better. In the evening we went to a tiny pub where people sat in absolute silence watching a German crime show, the name of which translates to "Crime Scene". It's some sort of long-standing tradition for people to go out and watch this show every Sunday night, even though it plays on free-to-air TV. Obviously I couldn't follow the dialogue but it looked ten times better than Inspector Rex. The plot was explained to me once the show had finished. After this I was taken to the Havana Club to watch Lena dance salsa, and we didn't leave until after 1am despite my complaining... Today was spent mostly hanging around Cologne-Bonn Airport. My cheap flight was delayed two hours so I sat watching rain fall on the tarmac for a long time. It's a shame to be back to staying in a hostel. It was such a great experience staying with a local and being involved in local things, not having to negotiate lockers and sticky communal showers, not feeling like a complete alien. I've done a lot of walking around Prague this afternoon, had a Czech sausage sandwich and a few of my remaining Portuguese cigarettes as I've orienteered with my little tourist map... The city feels like the cusp of Eastern Europe. It has a strange criminal feel to it. I've been uneasy since the lady who sold me my sandwich called me "Sexy Boy" for a 5czk tip... I seemed to spend a long time trying to find somewhere I could drink beer and read a book without feeling like a sociopath. In the end I found an internet cafe instead. I have three nights in Prague. I plan to see the Communist Museum (ironically located "above McDonald's") and take in a puppet show!