Resetting the Dump

Since Austria things have mellowed out a bit as one would imagine. The Austrians really spoiled us and kind of ruined the rest of our trip. Regardless we had to march on and we headed to beautiful Bratislava. Its a small city for being a capital and doesn't really offer much. Rick, our tour guide, isn't really big on Bratislava and he didn't have much to say. Its only an hour train ride from Vienna to Bratislava so we decided that we would catch the train closest to our check out time. We again miss read the schedule for trains and got to the train station too late. However, Vienna is blessed with two train stations and the other one, the South one in case Gil was wondering, had a train leaving really soon so we headed on the tram and go to it in plenty of time. We jumped on and chilled out trying to recover from yet another night we spent till 5 in the am. We got to Bratislava and checked into our hostel and then hit the town to do some touristy things. Rick began to explain the town to us and it seemed ok. They have these random statues around the town for various people of the town. They are kind of cheesy but they are fun for pictures, which Jay is doing an amazing job of taking. Then while walking around our good and loayl friend Mr. Rain decided to stop by. We were both pretty tired and decided going back to the hostel to chill would be a good idea. We made ourselves dinner which was whatever and ended up meeting some kids and watching Donnie Brasco with them. Kind of dicked around and headed to bed early with hopes that Monday would bring better weather and some fun, being that it was Jay's Bday. We wake up kind of early to get a start on the day and quickly realize that everything we want to see is closed on Mondays, except for their famous castle. So we make the journey up to this castle only to realize that its under rennovation. But don't worry because the councilmen of the town reassured us that when the rennovations are finished we will truely appreciate them. I don't think that the council men realize that not many people make a second trip to Bratislava. We played a little disc in the courtyard and then headed back. We a few mid afternoon beers and made some lunch. Then we kind of just chilled out till dinner.

Not sure if I mentioned, but Jay and I try and eat one authentic meal in each town we go to. So for Jay's Bday we decided to go to the Slovac Pub which supposedly had some good food at affordable prices (did that just sound like a commerical?). We order some local beer which was nice and then the food came. These Bratislavaians? know how to put flavor in their food. Jay got a potato dumpling dish with some bacon and heavy sheep cheese which he was not too fond of. We later talked to some other dudes who ate the same thing and they disliked it as well. I got Grandma's Speical and it was really good. Had some good meats with roasted potatoes and bread. I of course didn't finish the whole thing and so Jay had the rest. We then had to go down to the docks to meet up with our friends Lukas and Lorissa, Lukas' sister, who decided to come to Partyslava for Jay's day. We got a bottle rum and beared the shit out that thing. We then started hanging out with these British folk and went to a bar. This bar did not want our service. So we had our beer and headed for a club/bar. We got there and continued drinking. Started really talking to these British kids and find out that they're highschool kids and that they drink every night. They were cool and fun to hang out with. Then we hit the dance floor where again we experienced some amazing music. The DJ was spinning some phat beats which would again make the likes of Jordan and Corbin happy. We heard some deadmauS and a few other DJ we are accomsted to hearing. And again it was full of dudes. Maybe 1 or 2 single chix in the bar, one of which was Lukas' sister, she's very cute but you know how the whole sister thing goes. So around 3:30 or so I was ready to leave and Lukas needed to be taken home. So I took my good friend Lukas home who is only a good foot taller than me. I'm sure it was a sight to see for the policemen that we passed. But Lukas reassured me that these policemen didn't care. Our friends ended up crashing on the floor and leaving early the next day. We also decided to leave a day earlier than expected because Bratislava was not living up to its name and Prague was next.

So we check in to our first of three hostels in Prague and this place was a spectacle. Probably a converted sporting club it was fully equiped with a tennis court, archery range, and basketball court. Also visiting Prague were Sarah Neuoff and Tori Frasier and their group. So we met up with them at their hostel and they were well on their way to finishing a bottle of Skyy. We grabbed some beers and joined the festivities. We headed over to the Beer Factory in New Town and it was awesome. Its a bar/club that encourages competitive drinking by providing you with your own tap and a scoreboard so you can track your results versus the rest of the place. We quickly rose to second place after downing close to 10 litres of beer. I ended up puking in the bathroom, made it to the toliet this time, but dont' worry it was just beer. And that made room for me to help the team reach our second place finish. Beers were like $2 a beer so it was fun cheap night. This was followed by our drunken stooper to find a late night Kehbab place and we found it alright. We devoured our late night munchies before going our seperate ways. Everyone eventually got what they wanted after our not so pleasent chef mixed the order up.

The next day we toured the Jewish quarter and got a little culture. It was quite interesting and just the tip of the iceberg to all the culture that is Prague. We lost Jay momentarily but it was smooth sailing after that. We grabbed some slices of Pizza for dinner. And then some more beers. We went to another bar for the other group's last night in Prague. This bar was quite interesting. When you walked in there was a live Cuban band playing some sweet tunes. Then we headed downstairs to hear the heavy beats of DJ Sunshine. Luckily there was a bar downstairs so getting our first beverage was easy and then we headed up to hear the band. It was alright and a calm night overall. We had a few beers and then wandered over the Kehbab place. Ate some more and then parted our ways. The other group had a train to catch a 9am and needed to figure some shit out at the train station in the morning.

The next day Rick took us to tour the Castle Quarter and the Little Quarter. Definitely the best castle area we have visisted and probably will visit. We didn't want to shell out the extra Crowns, their currency over here in the Czech, for the massive church but looking back we probbaly should have, but we've had our fair share of churches. Got some McDonalds in the little quarter and apparently the dollar menu doesn't translate well into the Czech cuz I paid close to $3 for a cheeseburger and fries, kind of bullshit if you ask me. And these Czechis love their McDonald's just as much as those crazy Austrians. Not sure what McDonalds does differently out here but they seem to hit every demographic.

Then for the rest of the night we decided to be mellow and have our authentic meal. We went to a Pub and it was Delish with an X. I got some Pork Tenderloin with Potato dumplings, real dumplings, some bread and sauerkraut. Also tried this cold Pork spread with Onions and it was good too. Jay got a Pig's Leg and went to town on that thing. We got Pilsner from the tap and it made the meal complete not to mention our waitress was stacked. All in All a great meal and definitely our best since leaving Italy. Then we headed back to the hostel to chill. We started playing some cards over a beer and one thing leads to another and Im 6 pints deep playing Never Have I Ever with an Aussie, a kid from Philli, and a kid from New Orleans. Heard some great stories and then hit the hay around 3 am. I was a bit tipsy and probably drank a beer more than I should have but I had to represent for Cali.

Today the weather continues to suck and it might not hold for us and this tournament we want to go to. Hopefully it can otherwise we will be forced to stay in Prague and get drunk again and wander around for Kehbabs.

Side Note:

My day pack got stolen. I was stupid and didn't put it back in my locker. Nothing too valuable was in it. My ipod Shuffle and cell phone was in it but both were dead. Some things with sentimental value were in there however like everything we have been collecting for our trip and our journal. Also, the SCAB disc. I've never more scared for a SCAB disc in my life. It has reached bad hands and Im sure they have no idea what to do with it. Also, my toothbrush and toothpaste were in there. So I got to get a new toothbrush which is always nice and some new toothpaste which is always fun to try. Lasty, our deck of cards was in there so my dominance over Jay will be put on hold for the moment.

Well tonite is Friday and we are in Prague so who knows what will happen. We met some random ultimate dudes from Carlton and we are going to go out with them. Should be fun and we can spread the SCAB name around a bit.

livin large,

alex