City comparisons

Yesterday I was describing Austin and Greenlights and the United States to the staff at Donors Forum. Here's what I realized:

What Prague has that Austin does not:
- SMS
- Secret passageways
SMS (text messaging) is an amazing tool. Everyone (particularly young people) uses it to chat - cheaper, quiet, and essentially is short e-mail on your cell phone.The donor community in Prague has collaborated with the phone companies and you can donate funds to 75 organizations (or so) through SMS - during outdoor concerts, major disasters, tv events, money pours in from individuals through their cell phones, and then gets directed to NGO activities. Secret passageways are behind innocuous wide doors all over Prague, and they lead to inner courtyards, shortcuts to major streets, hidden parks, cool stores and cafes..

What Austin has that Prague does not:
- Starbucks
- Slam Poetry
Don't let anyone fool you about Turkish coffee... And by the way a small expresso costs twice as much as a beer. Guess what I am learning to do? Couldn't quite explain Slam Poetry, except to allude to rap without music. But I also couldn't perform/improvise it either, to my great disappointment.

And what Austin has more of than Prague?
- Joggers
Joggers must run somewhere, but not where I live. I get alot of amused expressions when I run across the bridges in the mornings. It's not stopping me though (but I am doing way fewer miles than my GL counterparts, alas).

In conclusion, what does Prague have more of than Austin?
- Letters of the alphabet!!!
Czech language adds 8 extra letters, and the dictionaries then have 34 tabs. Ch, btw, comes after H, not c.

I am posting photos from my Prague Castle office window. In the center above the broad round courtyard is a collection of grey statues? stalactites? Don't know...but I have been walking the area trying to encounter these objects to no avail. Got a lead this morning, so watch for a second installment about my quest.