Tuesday, January 24, 2006
The cherry pops
Been planning this for I don't know how long. My last efforts at blogging, White Trash Travels lasted all of about a month before I ran out of steam. Of course I was in the midst of great life decisions: Do I stay in Azerbaijan or not? Well, as you can see by the name of this page, I decided to leave my adventures in the South Caucasus and return to my adopted city--Praha, Prague, Prag.
Often referred to as the city of a thousand spires, I think better is to think of it as the city of a thousand villages. Beer being one of the fundaments of the culture, the pub remains king, despite EU homogenization. Every street has its pub and every pub has its regulars.
While I have yet to adopt a local, I do have a few favorites--Na Slamniku, in Prague 6's bourgeois Bubenec neighborhood defies its tony surroundings (it's just across from Le Bistro de Marlene, a favorite of local diplos) by remaining above all a smelly, chilly, beer swilling, heavy rock playing, bring your own toilet paper kind of pub).
Na Slamniku definitely has its own crowd, and while I'd assume they live in and around Bubenec, you just don't see these leather-jacket wearing, mullet sporting, haggard looking types around the neighborhood. Here, I tend to spot well-dressed teens sporting brand-name shoes and high-end mobile phones, speaking Czech, Russian, French, English. The houses in the neighborhoods are all villas, many of which have been converted to embassies or ambassador's dwellings.
Most recently, I've been frequenting speak easies. Places not exactly legal, or at least that's the way it seems. Similar to smoker's clubs, which I first learned about in the '90s, these places have no sinage and you have to ring a bell for entry. Blind Eye, in Prague 3's Zizkov neighborhood is a good one for late night drinking with creatures of the night, while Na Dobesce, in Prague 6, seems to be a house with a bar in the basement.
So I'm back in my adopted city, and finally, more than a year after returning I can say I'm here.
Often referred to as the city of a thousand spires, I think better is to think of it as the city of a thousand villages. Beer being one of the fundaments of the culture, the pub remains king, despite EU homogenization. Every street has its pub and every pub has its regulars.
While I have yet to adopt a local, I do have a few favorites--Na Slamniku, in Prague 6's bourgeois Bubenec neighborhood defies its tony surroundings (it's just across from Le Bistro de Marlene, a favorite of local diplos) by remaining above all a smelly, chilly, beer swilling, heavy rock playing, bring your own toilet paper kind of pub).
Na Slamniku definitely has its own crowd, and while I'd assume they live in and around Bubenec, you just don't see these leather-jacket wearing, mullet sporting, haggard looking types around the neighborhood. Here, I tend to spot well-dressed teens sporting brand-name shoes and high-end mobile phones, speaking Czech, Russian, French, English. The houses in the neighborhoods are all villas, many of which have been converted to embassies or ambassador's dwellings.
Most recently, I've been frequenting speak easies. Places not exactly legal, or at least that's the way it seems. Similar to smoker's clubs, which I first learned about in the '90s, these places have no sinage and you have to ring a bell for entry. Blind Eye, in Prague 3's Zizkov neighborhood is a good one for late night drinking with creatures of the night, while Na Dobesce, in Prague 6, seems to be a house with a bar in the basement.
So I'm back in my adopted city, and finally, more than a year after returning I can say I'm here.
# posted by VMH @ 11:47 AM 
