wrong tram, getting out at the wrong metro station, or occasionally missing the stop all together. I've jogged a few blocks to make a tram, missed connecting trams and I've had to wait 30 minutes for the next night-tram, but I realize that the public transportation is one of the things that makes this city so great, since learning the lines, I haven't been really lost.
The experiences on public transit have been interesting. When we first arrived we Americans were the loudest and largest group wherever we went, which made many of us crammed into one metro car pretty obvious. I've narrowed down my three most interesting experiences to three:1. An elderly woman (not the lady in the photo) sat across from me and all of the sudden, she smiled at me. This doesn't happen often, especially with the elderly, so you can imagine my surprise when she began speaking to me (in Czech of course). Luckily, I was able to respond with "Nerozumím, mluvíte anglicky?" which means "I don't understand, do you speak English?" Most people shake their heads and continue on at this point, but she made my day when she started laughing and says "Oh of course. I just wanted to say you look just like Kate Middleton. Just like her! Isn't it funny how some people look just like other people?"
2. This is more of a metro-station occurrence, but as I am going to the transfer escalator I am standing behind a woman and her daughter who looks about 5 years old. She turns around, blowing spit bubbles, and winks right at me. I smiled and winked back. She winked again. It was one of those deliberate, I-just-learned-this-today winks, and I have to say, she has international cuteness down pat.
3. A group of my friends were out one night, already running late to catch the last metro home we decided to cut our losses and get food for our wait for the first night tram home. After we all got our food I realized that we had 4 minutes to make the metro, a much easier ride than the tram. I announced this and at once, everyone was in motion. We are all concentrating so hard on making it, all with different strategies: Vicky and Evan are leading the pack, with David and I close behind (we could have been first, but our technique of eating while running slowed us down). Amanda and Hannah are taking up the rear, as cross-country star John sprints by them checking himself out in the reflective paneling all the while. This happened quite a while ago, maybe in February, but it goes down in our memory as the ultimate victory when we all stepped on that metro just in time.*Photos by the amazingly talented in fields of photography & Czech impersonations, Oliver Rew.
I've ridden that metro! What great stories. I feel like I was there with you, being surprised by the smile and common language, entertained by the winks of a child, and most assuredly, running to catch the last train - what a hoot! I can just see you all tripping down the sidewalks and clip-clopping down the stairs :) What a picture. Thank you for all your posts, Elizabeth. It has been a joy to read and join you on your adventures. I hope you will keep on posting even though the days in Prague are winding to a close. I can't wait to read about the next journey. -Wendy
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