Day 15

At the Czech boarder we had to stop for 20mins as all of our passports were taken from us and checked by security – apparently if anyone of us had any problems they would just leave us right there as they had done with some Canadians on a previous tour. Despite getting lost briefly on the way we arrived at the Prague campsite with enough time to kick a soccer ball around on the nice big field before dinner and then heading off into the city for a quick tour. That night many of the Contiki campers we quite upset as they had not been told that you could not buy alcohol at the camp and they sat around moaning for a while.
The next morning we had a quick guided tour of Prague castle and the city by Christina where she showed us a astrological clock that was made hundreds of years ago. It was liked so much by the King at the time that he summoned its maker to him and then had his eyes plucked out so that he would not make another like it. After a cruise up the main river in Prague with lunch on board we had free time which I spent with Taz and Jaya generally ambling about. Most of the other Contikians had headed back to camp so that they could get ready for that nights partying at the clubs. For dinner Taz, Jaya and I ate pasta in a cosy restaurant where we also ordered cocktails (they had non-alcoholic ones). We were planning on just having water, but when we were told that you had to pay for it we all hastily chose drinks from the menu. As it turned out I ordered a pretty effeminate drink – ‘coconut lips’, I didn’t think anyone would really notice – but it was highlighted when the waiter offered it to both Jaya and Taz before sitting it in front of me – later on he asked me if I wanted another ‘lips’ with a grin on his face. We had to quickly finish dinner because at seven we had booked tickets to see a black light theatre performance, which involves using UV lights to make what happens on stage appear trippy. The show was really weird. It did have some cool parts where hands appeared to be flying in the air and clowns juggling in slow motion (I must love jugglers…) but I couldn’t really follow the story line – it was meant to be about how Alice from wonderland grew up after the storybook finished. I guess I could see the change – at the start she was playing with toys and wearing a dress, and at the end she was topless and making out with a magician – but that’s hardly a storyline.
Overall Prague didn’t really grab me in any way – it was quite pretty, it had old buildings, and the streets were narrow and wonky and European, but it just didn’t grab me…