Prague is "super"

As Lynn and I struggled to learn a few basic phrases of Czech last month, our tutor Filip had a favorite phrase. To everything we did right (or tried to do right) he said "super!". I thought of Filip and "super" alot on my first day in Prague.

Great welcome - after I settled into my apartment last night, I walked to the Charles River and the National Theatre - just in time for fireworks lighting up the skies and the Prague Castle across the water.

And great first day - I did a short run early morning by the river as the city set up for a street fair. Jugglers on stilts dancing and play tambourine, stalls selling every version of those Babushka nesting dolls to tease my eye. Although my windows overlook only a skinny inner courtyard with a moulting tree (e.g. nice mornng light, NO view), there are great views, stores, galleries, restaurants, bridges, island parks, metros, trams, and people are just around the corner. I charged up my cell phone (can't read the german instructions yet), bought basic foods, negotiated the metro, and had a successful quest to replace my uncomfortable running shoes with new footware. Got to the Bat'a store (infamous because of its shoe museum among other things) and had a blast trying to make myself understood in Czech. Humbling but delightful.

There's lots of contemporary public sculpture on those European boulevards and classic statues atop most of the old buildings. Went to the National Museum briefly for a tourist peek before I start work there next week and took a photo of the stuffed elephant head that greets you when you climb to the top floor - watch for better views of this in the coming months.