We arrive at the train
station. This will be simple. All we have to do is get a cab.
We search outside; find nothing and decide to ask a policeman. He groans and forces himself to point at something. We have no idea what. We follow his suggested direction and then ask a shop assistant. He doesn’t like being disturbed by people asking stupid questions. He waves an answer. We try and follow up with more info which is a step too far. Two questions is way beyond...we’ve really wrecked his day now.
Eventually we jump into the first cab we encounter. The driver thinks it’s time to prove to us he should have raced professionally. He weaves cars and jumps lanes then races down some narrow cobblestone lanes while dodging pedestrians.
Arriving at our hotel my stressed, anxious demeanour contrasts with his relaxed, joyful manner. He has enjoyed himself. His happiness is about to increase. He gives us a bill he has just thought up.
Later that day we meet the reason we came to Prague. A couple of young guys who live here. They say, “Everybody who comes to Prague says the Czech people are rude. They are not really like that when you get to know them.”
They do a very good job of proving the people in Prague are not rude. They are both well-behaved, hospitable and friendly.
Next Day in Prague
We do a self-guided tour of Prague. Every building has an interesting story.
We randomly choose a cafe for lunch. We sit thinking it’s our fate to occasionally glimpse the cruising waiter. We then make the cardinal mistake of signaling to him for the menu. He then decides that we are rude, arrogant foreigners who always complain about shoddy service and don’t deserve to be treated. We eventually leave searching for anyone to serve us anything.
At the next cafe we get to place our order and then wait. Nothing happens but we feel committed. We have placed an order and I catch occasional glimpses of the waiter so we may eventually...
The afternoon involves touring more old buildings with modern uses. Our accommodation was originally built 800 years ago and now provides Wi-Fi.
In the evening we go out with our Prague friends.
5 of us order. Two meals, including mine, come in pretty normal time. The food is good and I finish my food and then we wait for the other meals. Eventually we ask the waiter for our other food. Two meals come after about ten more minutes; they are eaten and then we don’t know what to say to the one who has still not received her meal.
It turns out they had forgotten about her. She didn’t starve. She eventually got something to eat.
Our Prague friends shake their shoulders and one says his Czech is not good enough to complain and if you complain in English you are just reinforcing stereotypes.
I see this as a legacy of communism. Many of the people can’t remember the communist days but a lot of the work practices have endured.
I can’t conclude much else except that our countries are very different. Though we both have pretty strong tennis cultures in common.
We search outside; find nothing and decide to ask a policeman. He groans and forces himself to point at something. We have no idea what. We follow his suggested direction and then ask a shop assistant. He doesn’t like being disturbed by people asking stupid questions. He waves an answer. We try and follow up with more info which is a step too far. Two questions is way beyond...we’ve really wrecked his day now.
Eventually we jump into the first cab we encounter. The driver thinks it’s time to prove to us he should have raced professionally. He weaves cars and jumps lanes then races down some narrow cobblestone lanes while dodging pedestrians.
Arriving at our hotel my stressed, anxious demeanour contrasts with his relaxed, joyful manner. He has enjoyed himself. His happiness is about to increase. He gives us a bill he has just thought up.
Later that day we meet the reason we came to Prague. A couple of young guys who live here. They say, “Everybody who comes to Prague says the Czech people are rude. They are not really like that when you get to know them.”
They do a very good job of proving the people in Prague are not rude. They are both well-behaved, hospitable and friendly.
Next Day in Prague
We do a self-guided tour of Prague. Every building has an interesting story.
We randomly choose a cafe for lunch. We sit thinking it’s our fate to occasionally glimpse the cruising waiter. We then make the cardinal mistake of signaling to him for the menu. He then decides that we are rude, arrogant foreigners who always complain about shoddy service and don’t deserve to be treated. We eventually leave searching for anyone to serve us anything.
At the next cafe we get to place our order and then wait. Nothing happens but we feel committed. We have placed an order and I catch occasional glimpses of the waiter so we may eventually...
The afternoon involves touring more old buildings with modern uses. Our accommodation was originally built 800 years ago and now provides Wi-Fi.
In the evening we go out with our Prague friends.
5 of us order. Two meals, including mine, come in pretty normal time. The food is good and I finish my food and then we wait for the other meals. Eventually we ask the waiter for our other food. Two meals come after about ten more minutes; they are eaten and then we don’t know what to say to the one who has still not received her meal.
It turns out they had forgotten about her. She didn’t starve. She eventually got something to eat.
Our Prague friends shake their shoulders and one says his Czech is not good enough to complain and if you complain in English you are just reinforcing stereotypes.
I see this as a legacy of communism. Many of the people can’t remember the communist days but a lot of the work practices have endured.
I can’t conclude much else except that our countries are very different. Though we both have pretty strong tennis cultures in common.
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