There is no Czech mix in Prague

If I left my heart in Lisbon, I left my liver in Prague.

I decided on going to Prague based on music (if you can't tell, I'm driven by 2 things when I travel - concerts and cocktails).  Damien Rice was FINALLY playing shows this summer, and I found a weekend that worked to go see him.  I was happier than a kid the night before Disneyland.  I left on a Thursday night (guess what, of course, my flight was delayed - but I did get to run into a good friend at the airport, that put a nice smile on my face - though he really should have just come with me to Prague in the first place).

I had a "Natalie schedule" for the weekend... I stayed in 4 hotels for 4 nights.  Yeah, not the best idea, but that's just the way it works sometimes.  After 1 night in Prague, I left the next morning for the Colours of Ostrava (yes, Colours is spelled that way, I'm not just trying to be annoying).  If you ever want to go to an outdoor music festival, I'd definitely recommend this one.  If I didn't want to see Prague so bad, I may have planned to stay.  But I was there for Damien alone, and booked a decent hotel close to the venue - but not close to the city centre (see there, I was trying to be annoying).  And the hotel ended up being a great choice to creepy stalk band members... no I did not camp out in front to wait for Damien to arrive/leave.

I got to the festival around 4, and I gotta say going to a music festival alone is a little weird.  I am that creepy person for sure.  But, really, if I didn't go, I would regret it.  I'd checked out a few bands I wanted to see while I waited.  There were some decent ones, and me being Natalie, of course, I'd met someone at the hotel who I'd planned to meet up with later (with the band called the Inspiral Carpets - don't let their lead picture fool you - they are old men now).  I saw 3-4 other bands, nothing super sensational, but it was a beautiful day and such a fun venue.  And of course, there was the 0.29 CZK beer...go ahead, look that up, I'll wait...I know, right?!  And imagine that my first beer I "wasted" a whole 0.89! Bah, all for a wheat.

2 pts for who can guess what song he's gonna sing...

After piddling around, chatting with my hotel friends, I headed over for prime real estate for Damien.  A few more friends were made (though I wished I hadn't, the one guy was all about singing loudly, off-key, and with the wrong lyrics...), they were still safe company to keep. The show was fantastic, I mean Damien could have played all night for all I cared.  Even though he did look a bit homeless...

Concert over, I ditched the loud singer and what proved to be a very handsy Aussie and re-found my hotel friends.  And then discovered the love of my life...Woodkid.  I still can't get over what an amazing, unreal experience that show was.  Didn't even matter that I didn't know a single song (what DID matter was that the band was residing at my hotel, and I saw them, knew they had to be a band, but not being familiar with them...I didn't get a chance to go completely nutso...poo on that).

Such a fun night, and now for the rest of the story...I had a train out of town at 6am or something to head BACK to Prague.  Guess I was in the wrong frame of mind, because I was not ready for a train beer at this hour, unlike the biker train companions...

I spent the next 2 days meandering around Prague, I gave myself the walking tour, went to the Kafka museum (WEIRD), found the Hemingway Bar (and didn't break a rule there!), wandered around the Wallenstein Palace, the Prague Castle complex, the St. Vitus Cathedral, the Jewish cemetery, and "illegally" took pictures in the Black Angel's speakeasy.

I really enjoyed this central European country/city.  It was everything I would have expected with it's Gothic architecture and industrial feel.  Some highlights of the weekend:

1. Chatting with a man on the plane, who drew me a map of the city and gave me a free train pass (and then turning him down when he offered me a ride...)
2. Of course - seeing Damien Rice play again, but finding a new favorite artist
3. Hanging out backstage with the roadies
4. The random parade of Corvettes in the midst of all the old architecture and tourists
5. Meeting an east coast Jew (who is a chef in Houston) in the Jewish Cemetery, then while looking for food, having him talk to a couple of random guys on the bench, only to get pointed towards a great, authentic Czech restaurant.
6. Being grateful my camera battery hung in there for most of the trip and taking too many pictures to reasonably fit on this blog :)