Things you miss the first time

As I wait for my teaching project to begin, I continue to settle into Central European life. Today Shane was kind enough to show me how to travel to Prague. There is a direct bus line that only takes an hour, but these things are confusing and scary the first time. Shane was on his way back to Slovakia, but stuck around the city for a few hours to help me explore some new places. I have been to Prague before and thought that I would be fine traveling by myself. Once I got on that departing bus, however, and starting thinking about how the day would spread out, I began to remember how much of an anxious traveler I am. I was suddenly very glad to have a helper for part of the journey. In an effort to combat my travel anxiety, I decided to not even attempt a schedule. I am realizing that I either enjoy making a schedule I don't have to implement or following one that I didn't have to make. I decided that the safest route for my sanity was to wander aimlessly through Prague.

If I had made a plan, I would have picked out the most significant and interesting museums and churches to visit. I would have plotted the most efficient series of Metro stops to take, to cut out

transit time and increase site-seeing time. But then I might have missed:

* An unexpected oasis in the middle of the city, tucked away behind tall, crumbling walls,

complete with a mausoleum and peacocks. I might have trespassed on private property to take pictures of the peacocks, but come on, they're peacocks.

* Arguing in English with a non-English speaking store owner that: coffee+creamer packet does not equal cappuccino, and no, I should not have to pay for an extra creamer when you are already charging me cappuccino-price for a non-cappucino.

*Eating roast duck and cabbagecabbagecabbage

with dumplingdumplingdumpling. I had

planned on eating my packed lunch, but luckily Shane talked me out of that plan, and I was very happy with my traditional Czech meal instead. The red cabbage is sweet and the white cabbage is anise-y, and both are great complements to the chewy dumplings and flavorful duck.

*Walking by the Ministry Kultury, with an important looking man standing watch out front.

* Central European Modern Sculpture Art.

* The fun and exhilaration of "trusting your instincts" rather than "using a map because you are a tourist who does not know the city."

* Running to catch a bus that is minutes away from leaving, because wandering without a map has made you late to catch it.

I found out that part of site-seeing is not just photographing the famous town hall or getting an all-inclusive tour in English. The bumps along the way--both from uneven cobblestone and uneven translations--are every bit a part of the life and movement of a city. You can get pictures of Charles Bridge from a book, but a book doesn't show you what ten thousand tourists on one bridge feels like.

And the bus ride is much better with your gaze outwards, past the glass, rather than frantically scanning your guidebook, hoping you haven't forgotten a church or a bridge or a pigeon that your trip will be incomplete without seeing. Western Czech Republic (Bohemia) is beautiful, with green, shaggy mountains that are sometimes far off in the distance and sometimes close enough to make you crane your neck, but always hedging the villages and streams and crumbling bridges that pass by. My view on the way home passed by too quickly for me to take a picture. I didn't bother trying, since a picture could not convey the sense of calm and nostalgia that over came me, as I watched centuries-old bridges stand stoically still, while little streams merrily bubbled underneath and unkempt grass billowed on top.

If I want to grow a little everyday, then today helped me see the fun in no plans and the freedom in no expectations.