Day 3 (9 Jun 2005): McDonald's meets Communism
The highlight of my day today was the Communist Museum in Prauge which gave better insight into a subject than almost any topical museum I've been to anywhere. What made the museum particularly fun to go to was that it was upstairs from one of the largest McDonald's I've ever seen and shared the floor of a building with a casino--probably not exactly what Marx was thinking.
The museum was just off Wenscalas Square which is where a number of the protests that brought about the end of Communism in the Czechlosovakia took place. The area is today one of the main area of modern Prague for shopping, fashion, and spending money. Its hardly distinguishable from parts of New York City and not perticularly exciting.
I spent the morning in the Old Town Square area, which had its charms and cool old buildings and a nice clocktower, but for some reason was the only place that most tourists went since I saw very few at the Prague Castle or in the Museum. It was almost difficult to enjoy the square because there were so many people around. Maybe its too difficult or scary for tourist-type people to venture across the river or beyond pedestrian only zones?
I had dinner of goulash and dumplings at the oldest pub in Prague which looks and seems like its out of a movie about Germany and it has all of the characteristics of a stereotypical German beerhall. Another fun fact of the day is that there is more than one Budweiser beer; in fact the Czech version brewed in the town of Budvar is much older and not surprisingly better tasting.
Later in the evening I followed some people from the hostel, one of whom had been in Prauge for several weeks to a pretty much locals only bar/club since it was in an out of the way part of town. It had to be one of the most interesting 'nightlife' spots I'd ever been with a maze of rooms and no sign outside and stairs that went into the basement of a building through what looked like an abandoned bus sitting in a random parking lot. The inside was decorated with old computer parts glued to the walls and ceilings and had predictable euro-style techno DJs.
Econ type question of the day: There is no checking tickets on public transportation and no turnstiles to go through here. It seems to work almost like an honor system; your supposed to buy a ticket and get it validated. Everyone seems to be buying the tickets and validating them, which I don't think would happen in the US. Actually on my way to the airport on the BART train from SF I saw a couple of people jumping turnstiles that are designed to stop people and make sure they pay. Why does this type of system seem to work here? Would it actually work in the US? Is there something about being trusted to be honest that makes people pay?
The museum was just off Wenscalas Square which is where a number of the protests that brought about the end of Communism in the Czechlosovakia took place. The area is today one of the main area of modern Prague for shopping, fashion, and spending money. Its hardly distinguishable from parts of New York City and not perticularly exciting.
I spent the morning in the Old Town Square area, which had its charms and cool old buildings and a nice clocktower, but for some reason was the only place that most tourists went since I saw very few at the Prague Castle or in the Museum. It was almost difficult to enjoy the square because there were so many people around. Maybe its too difficult or scary for tourist-type people to venture across the river or beyond pedestrian only zones?
I had dinner of goulash and dumplings at the oldest pub in Prague which looks and seems like its out of a movie about Germany and it has all of the characteristics of a stereotypical German beerhall. Another fun fact of the day is that there is more than one Budweiser beer; in fact the Czech version brewed in the town of Budvar is much older and not surprisingly better tasting.
Later in the evening I followed some people from the hostel, one of whom had been in Prauge for several weeks to a pretty much locals only bar/club since it was in an out of the way part of town. It had to be one of the most interesting 'nightlife' spots I'd ever been with a maze of rooms and no sign outside and stairs that went into the basement of a building through what looked like an abandoned bus sitting in a random parking lot. The inside was decorated with old computer parts glued to the walls and ceilings and had predictable euro-style techno DJs.
Econ type question of the day: There is no checking tickets on public transportation and no turnstiles to go through here. It seems to work almost like an honor system; your supposed to buy a ticket and get it validated. Everyone seems to be buying the tickets and validating them, which I don't think would happen in the US. Actually on my way to the airport on the BART train from SF I saw a couple of people jumping turnstiles that are designed to stop people and make sure they pay. Why does this type of system seem to work here? Would it actually work in the US? Is there something about being trusted to be honest that makes people pay?
posted by Traveling Brian at 3:01 AM
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