Shopping for Souveniers

All of you know, or probably do, that I buy souveniers only when absolutely necessary. This time it really is. I need a wallet. Some $%&/§() in Prague managed to lift mine while in the train station waiting to leave for Vienna, which is another story. You thought I was headed for Salzburg, didn't you.

Moral of the story is:
1. Men, carry your wallet in a front pocket, it's a litte harder to get at.

2. Put your backup credit/debit cards somewhere other than where you carry the primary ones.

3. Carry enough cash at all times (somewhere other than your wallet) to take care of a hotel and food, etc. for several days.

4. Make sure you have the card numbers and phone numbers stored safely away so you can cancel them.

I, dummy that I am, only did number 4, even though I knew better. This time. And there better not be a next time.

Fortunately, the guard at the US Consulate at 1 PM(only open from 8 to 11 AM in Vienna) suggested calling someone and having them send money via Western Union. That works, once you figure out how to get an international call through when you don't have any credit cards. A few problems making that work, but why bore you?

Cards are now cancelled, and replacements on the way, I hope. We'll see on Thursday or Friday. And when the CC company says they will call back within two hours to confirm your information, don't wait around for the call. They call at 06:30 the next morning.

Filing a police report is an experience. He spent a good 5 minutes trying to convince me that I had lost th wallet, that it couldn't have been stolen. I won out, he took the report, over an hour's time span. I had to explain to him what CitiBank was, what Western Union was, and what a Debit card was, among other things.

So all is fine now, or at least as fine as it can be, considering the circumstances.

Back to Prague.

Sunday was pretty gloomy all day. Walked around a lot to get familiar with the downtown area, and that was pleasurable.

Had dinner in a crowded restaurant, and ordered a "traditional" Czech dinner; duck, ham, pork, white and red cabbage, and dumplings. The dumplings looked like sliced white bread, just a bit thicker texture. Crowded restaurants beget shared tables, so I joined a young German girl who was visiting friends in Prague. Very interesting, and well travelled. Been all over Europe, of course. Also the US, and had lived in China for, I think, 18 months.

After dinner, I saw there was a "Black Light Theatre" (4 or 5, in fact) so I decided to see if that was what I thought it was. It was, black background so you can't see the folks behind the actors who make the special effects special. Show was a take-off on Faust. Rather funny, a lot of pantomine, so I could understand it.

And that's it for now. I'm going to save this, I HOPE, and continue with the rest of Prague at a later date.

Next day, and I now have a wallet. Thought about a biker style, with chain, but couldn't find one.

Now for Prague on Monday and Tuesday. Turns out all the attractions are closed on Mondays, so I just wandered the town. Took the Metro south, and started wandering back toward the center. The area appeared to be the University, or a University.

Stopped for lunch and ordered a "big" beer, which I'd come to believe was the .51 liter glass. Not in every case. This place it was the liter mug!! That was a challenge for lunch. At the table next to me, I heard a familiar accent. Right, Wisconsin. So I had a pleasant lunchtime conversation with two ladies. One now lives and teaches in Germany, and the other once did, but is now back in the states, and here for a visit.

When I got back to town center, it was near time for dinner. I found a really nice restaurant, Marco Polo IV. The pepper steak is really good. My 1000 batting average at striking up conversations ended. The couple at the table next to me would answer only "Yes", "Yes", "Hum" to my three atempts, so I figured three strikes is out, and gave up.

Then on Tuesday, the weather cleared up, it got somewhat sunny, and very enjoyable to wander. I first went to the train station to change my plans for Salzburg. Initially I'd planned on going there direct (one train change in Linz) but I got antsy. One scedule said I could do it, with the change after 23:00. But another schedule didn't have a train from Linz to Salzburg after about 22:00, and I would have arrived in Linz at 22:44. I chickened out, and made reservations from Prague to Vienna (6 trains daily) and Vienna to Salzburg (29 trains daily) I liked those odds better.

Then went to the town square for lunch. Sat at an open air restaurant facing the square, and really felt relaxed. In my best broken English, I asked the couple next to me if they would mind taking my picture. He replied, in a mild Irish brogue, that it wouldn't be a bit of a problem. They were from Dublin. So I got the picture, and my conversation striking average moved up a bit.

Then went to see the Prague Castle. The biggest attraction is St. Vitus Cathedral. I really enjoyed that. Lots of pictures of stained glass, organ pipes, etc. The castle portion wasn't too impressive, but not a waste of time either. Lastly, there was the Golden Path, where the goldsmiths used to work, I think. Now the smithie's shops are filled with souveniers, a new way to make gold.

I wanted to visit the ghetto again, but as my trip coincided with a Jewish holiday, the museum and all the tourist spots were closed.

So back to pack. Then leave for the unfortunate events of my trip to Vienna. Maybe I'd have been better off missing the train in Linz, Ya think?

Guess I'll close for now, and leave my experiences here in Vienna for the next update.