Morning, Day 2

This morning I woke up around 2 a.m. Prague time and was wide awake and bored. I tried for about an hour to make myself fall back asleep (which is actually hard to do when one aspect of your internal self is pointing out to your other self that you are, quite disobediently, still awake.) I must have fallen asleep eventually because suddenly my alarm was going off at 7 and it was light out. So I showered and headed downstairs to eat and make myself a plan for the day. The breakfasts served at this hotel are MASSIVE. I'll have to take a picture of the serving table because it looks vaguely like Cinderella's coach in the Disney movie. But we are given platter after platter of pink spotty pork (which I have avoided), many kinds of cheeses, fruit salad, lettuce salad, three platters of various danishes and doughnuts, two platters of breads from the local bakery (which is about 4 doors away)--the rye and black breads are THE BEST!!!--and never mind the hot plate which has 3 (!!) kinds of potatoes, eggs [Brief interlude: the eggs, I believe, were fried in deep fat so that the whites are crispy black and the yolks are creamed as if, after being fried, were removed, whipped with mustard and mayonaise, and then scooped back into the white egg pocket--sort of like a twice-baked potato. I had one yesterday and that was enough.] and more sausages [Another brief interlude: I really had no idea how many shapes and colors pork sausaged can take. This morning's were light brown, thick and short with little knots on each end--sort of like a really tiny, fat bologna link.] I haven't eaten any of the sausage, which is always pork, and yet my clothes stink of it. When I showered this morning I could smell pork steam coming off me. As I was eating my various breads and pastries, I was going over my paperwork, throwing out stuff I no longer need and became slightly uneasy as I looked over my hotel receipt. Despite the fact that my reservation was made to last until 5/6/10, I kept seeing the date 5/5/10 being tossed about on the receipt. The whole thing was in Czech so it was not obvious what it was saying. So I asked the receptionist and he said, "Oh, no, that is just a number. Ah, but yes, HERE is does say that you are leaving on the 5th." I showed him my airline ticket itinerary which clearly showed that I am NOT leaving on the 5th. "Ah, yes. That IS a problem. I'll have to find you a room." Hmm. Another room that I'm not really supposed to have? I was assured that he would "talk to the management" and then "let me know." What a way to start the day. So, with an hour to kill I set out to see some sights, the first of which was an ATM. Here it is, just off to the left (which you can't actualy see). It is more than a little thrilling to get 2,000 of anything out of an ATM. The math is too complicated for me so I'm not exactly sure how many $$ that is.

Here (again, I think) is the Panna Maria Vitezna which my travel book describes as a "rather plain church" (I think the writer really needs to see the insides of the ones I sat in as a child) which houses the Bambino di Praha, which is wax replica of Baby Jesus, encased in glass an illuminated with flashing lights. This is an arty shot that I couldn't resist. I love the store signs. What the hell do they mean?

It was about 8:15 by the time I got my cash and got to the church but found that it didn't open until 8:30. So I waited on the steps for the doors to unlock and watch the people go by. One young man came, pulled a pair of work gloves out of his backpack and set to picking up all the cigarette butts off the steps. After he was done he did the crossing business, then got back on his bike and went on his way. Penance or OC disorder? Another rather unclean person (the phrase "the unwashed masses" sprang to mind) came sidling up the steps, looking about the place from underneath her mess of hair. She waited until 8:28 then, seemingly panicked, bolted down the stairs scuttling sideways like a crab. Finally at 8:30 the doors were unlocked from within. Just at that moment, another older lady came quickly up the steps and rushed inside. The inside was, not surprisingly, ornate, dark and stank slightly of mold. Smells like religious spirit, I suppose. I saw about 12 of these signs above collection boxes scattered about the main inner chamber. Does baby Jesus need the hellers (Czech pennies--one heller is worth about 1/27th U.S. cent)?

And here he is, Bambino il Praha, in all his glory. I didn't get too close as you can see the earnest woman is still going through her prayers, or whatever. She certainly knew her ritual because as I walked around her she could watch me like a hawk while not slowing the flow of her incantations one bit. She was obviously annoyed but also really curious, too. Maybe my existence has given her something to speculate about today. I hope so. Since Bambino is capable of performing miracles I had vague hopes of my achy knees being cured but, so far at least, no such luck. I'm sure the fact that I lack faith is part of the problem but, wouldn't it be even more miraculous if my knee pain was suddenly cured despite my lack of faith?

Unlike the Catholic missionaries in Arizona I was forced to visit on school trips in 8th grade, this one didn't have a giant plexiglass casket filled with hair and toenail clippings people had brought in for...well, I'm not sure, actually, what that was about but, anyway, there were no body-part offerings here so it was a bit of a disappointment, really. Still, Jesus' outfit was pretty flash. (That's him up there, near the top, in the middle wearing the red satin dress and white ermine cape--click on the picture to enlarge it for a better view.)