What Happens in Prague...

Bridge crossing – take two. By early morning, I had walked back to the entrance of the St. Charles Bridge and, despite the warning clouds hovering overhead, made it across dry and without incident. Instead of heading back toward the castle, I walked south into Mala Strana and Kampa, home of lovely parks and disturbing, large-scale, surrealist public works of art. I crossed back over the river into Nove Mesto (literally, new town) and, after some tea and French toast at the Globe Bookstore, walked to Wenceslas Square.

Wenceslas Square is where every significant event in Prague’s last century has happened, including the founding of the Czech Republic in 1918 and the end of the Soviet regime in 1989. It’s also the home to the city’s “casinos” and various strip clubs where “optional services” are on the menu.

Which brings me to a realization -- Prague is the Vegas of Europe. Large groups of guys – from England, Scotland, Italy and elsewhere – come here to drink beer and engage in various forms of debauchery, oftentimes on the eve of one of their mates’ nuptials. And much like their female counterparts in Vegas, who run around Vegas in packs wearing pink boas, tiaras and tops bedazzled with “bridesmaid”, these stag-party members roam the narrow streets of Prague in matching outfits, declaring their membership and intent to the world.

On this particular Saturday night in the main square, I spotted one stag party wearing matching t-shirts with their respective nicknames on the back and a Scottish group wearing matching kilts and presumably nothing underneath (their clans must be so proud). And although I never saw one, I’m sure there was a group rolling around on Segways somewhere in town. (Seriously, there were Segway tour groups everywhere.) And as they walked by, lovely girls hired by the local establishments would pass out cards offering drink specials and good times.

Don’t get me wrong – I love Vegas. I mean, I really love Vegas. It’s just that I didn’t travel thousands of miles to a different continent just to watch a real-time episode of Entourage play out before my eyes. So, I walked back to my hotel, packed up and got some sleep in preparation for my train trip to Krakow the next morning.