Ghost town Praha, and The Poor Man's 'Titanic'

So it's been a ghost town here in Praha (aside from the thousands of tourists) and, truth be told, I'm getting a bit lonely! Beth has been out of town quite a bit, too, with trips to Serbia and Vienna. So these days it's just kitty Mila keeping me company. The ex-pats who are in town seem to be keeping to themselves and have little to no interest in travel. So I've been doing a lot of stuff on my own. Fortunately I still have more teaching hours than most other TEFLers I know, so (God willing) no poorhouse for me. Of course that's good.

Last weekend, I discovered a beach (yes, a beach) in the Prague district of Smichov -- it has a pub, a swimming pool and a DJ who was obviously an '80s music fan! So I got to sunbathe a bit and sip a few mojitos last week. The Vltava River is so polluted, it actually smells an awful lot like the sea, so if you close your eyes, you might as well be on Long Island or Cape Cod. I also took a day trip to Karlovy Vary on Sunday. Missed the film festival, but the city itself was really beautiful.

Anne left on Thursday (for good). So I'm a bit sad about that, even though I know it's the best for her. She starts her job in Portland, Maine in a week.



So, as they say, when the going gets tough...the tough head to the movies. True to form, I treated myself to a movie yesterday evening. I chose "Poseidon," a re-make of the 1972 classic "The Poseidon Adventure." While it was entertaining, I've now nicknamed the movie "The Poor Man's 'Titanic'." It's chock-full of cheesy dialogue and there's no character development whatsoever. That said, however, it certainly held my attention and the cinematography is just incredible. And did I mention the attractive cast looks REALLY good soaking wet? Sure, there's not a Gene Hackman or Shelley Winters among them, nor even a Kate Winslet or Leonardo DiCaprio, but at least they're all really pretty!

So my triumphant return to Austria is imminent, via an impromptu venture to Vienna is on my agenda when James arrives in town in two weeks. Woohoo! My new goal, however, is to organize a trip somewhere in the former Eastern bloc. I've been trying to get people interested in Budapest or Krackow, but of course, it's the Western locales that get all the backpacker hype. I'm thinking I may try to travel to Budapest over my birthday weekend.