26.5.10

Revisiting a First



The very first time I came to Europe, in December 2004, with my shiney new passport in hand, I flew from Washington DC to Zurich, connected to Frankfurt, spent a night there with M. and then we headed east to the great city of Prague. In some people's opinion, the city was already spoiled by the great influx of tourists and the Western influence on the culture and economy after the fall of communism.

To me it was simply magic. The beautiful architecture, the cozy restaurants and bars, the delicious food and the impression that it was both exotic and familiar all added up to an unforgettable trip and the best ringing in of the New Year I could imagine.



That was five years ago and I had not been back since until this weekend. It was hard to compare this trip to the last visit. It was freezing cold winter, I had just met M. and Europe was completely unexplored by me. This time it was warm and sunny, I have lived in Europe for over four years and seen much more and journeyed with my Mr. Kilt.

One thing has not changed though. I still love Prague.

We spent one night in a small village outside of Prague, visiting a friend of Mr. Kilt, his wife and 1 year old baby. Lovely and silly. Down to earth people and a smiley, cute baby, and a nightcap of Croatian wine and Bon Jovi on DVD. Then we moved into the city for a second night. The weather was spectacular and since I had already seen most of the sites on the first visit, we just kind of strolled aimlessly, chatted about life, stopped here and there so I could shoot and then joined the massive crowd in the main square to watch the World Hockey Championships Final - Czech against Russia, with Czech winning. The crowd was ecstatic but well-behaved although a few probably overindulged and were teetering around.



The one thing I did not realize before is that Prague is only a 3 hour drive from Munich. Now that I know that, I won't wait 5 years to go back again!



Posted from Munich

2 comments:

Expats Again said...

I enjoyed Prague also, but our weather was miserably cold, wet, and damp. All of my photos show gray skies and people draped in raincoats carrying umbrellas. I would love to experience it on a sunny warm day. I'm sure it would be a much better experience.

Unknown said...

Holy cow, only a 3 hour drive from Munich!!! That's great to know.

I lived there for the entire month of May 2002. It was an awesome experience and I too was new to Europe... I do need to go back again like you!

Love your moon shot.. Keep the pics coming... Love them!!!!