Last Bits of Prague...

After our action-packed adventure inside City Hall, we took a leisurely walk back to our hotel.

We saw some more charming streets...

…and another elaborate church.

We happened upon another creation by Czech artist David Cerny. While some folks have worried that Man Hanging Out is someone committing suicide, it is actually a fake Sigmund Freud. Created in 1996, it went on walkabout around the world before settling back on this unassuming Prague street.

We were originally supposed to catch a train to Berlin that afternoon, but the German train workers were on strike. After spending hours online investigating options to get to Berlin in time for Jimmy’s meeting starting that evening, I booked us and Steve, who was joining us for that leg of our trip, last-minute FlixBus tickets. On our walk from the tram to the station, we passed this beautiful synagogue built in 1906, but didn’t have time to pop inside. Our bus was late, but we were pleasantly surprised that it was pretty comfortable and that Steve made it in time to join us. 
 

Crazy, Dangerous Elevator...

The following morning I surprised Jimmy with the craziest thing we did while in Prague, thanks to Atlas Obscura. We grabbed some baked goods near our hotel and headed to City Hall...

…where we saw some lovely stained glass...

…and this crazy attraction: a paternoster lift. This type of doorless elevator that never stops was invented in 1868 in Liverpool. It caught on especially in government buildings in Eastern Europe throughout the first half of the 20th century. The last ones were built in the 1970s. 

Definitely had never seen an instruction like this before: If you forget step out on highest or lowest floor, ceep calm and stay in cabin. You go through the attic or basement safely. Although the instructions said two people could travel together, there was another sign saying that due to COVID-19, only one person was allowed in a cabin. 

Probably no surprise that Jimmy rode first. This particular lift was last renovated in 2017 and we saw that is it regularly used by government employees. It looked like something straight out of Hogwarts.

You might have noticed that Jimmy was on the left side of the notice on the photo above, but was on the right side here. Although the lift makes a loop, he just rode it down across the dark basement and up the other side. Here’s a good example of how it operates.

Probably also no surprise that I was pretty chicken about stepping on...

…and nearly missed my chance. 

I rode it up across the not-so-dark attic...

…and down the other side. 

Jimmy couldn’t resist riding it all the way around for a few loops. 

Definitely an intriguing and cheap form of entertainment. 

 

Last Evening in Prague...

The sky looked threatening, but we stayed dry as we made another long journey across the city.

We were able to get a table at Vegan’s Prague, the restaurant that was closed earlier in our trip. It had rained, so we couldn’t sit out on the terrace, but I paid a quick visit to see this nice view.

The food presentation was quite lovely. I finally had goulash, which was delicious but not as photogenic as this appetizer plate. 

We were absolutely stuffed, but couldn’t refuse the owner’s offer of a traditional Czech cake as an apology for being closed during our original reservation. Prices were a bit high for Prague, but still a bargain compared to Holland.

Interesting to see different takes on the same basic building design. 

We paid a quick visit to a church that was plain on the outside, but very elaborate on the inside.

It was a beautiful evening; the perfect remedy to brush off the grimness of the dorm. 
 

Mosaic House Design Hotel...

When we decided to book a last minute hotel room for our final night in Prague, we chose one that had caught our eye when we’d wandered past: Mosaic House Design Hotel. Our room was adorable with lots of cool design elements and a bottle of chilled bubbly waiting for us. There was also an incredible shower.

Seems as if they knew that Hashers would be staying there. Totally ironic that our room featured items about a Czech long-distance runner...

…and there were hare pics in the loo...

…that really made us laugh. 

The view outside of our window was a rooftop garden. 

This photo doesn’t do justice to these cool lamps behind the lobby that moved up and down.

Guess the giant mosaic cow in the window above the staircase wasn’t the only one who spotted the topless guy across the way.

 

Hangover Hash...

The following morning after breakfast was the Hangover Hash, another non-official event. Our original plan was for Opee to hare a FILTH trail since it happened to be the day of the full moon and we had so many FILTH Hashers in attendance. After I learned that another Hasher had already scouted a trail, I tried to arrange it so Opee would help lay the trail, but failed to realize that he wanted to prelay the trail before Opee was even awake. So he was off the hook and could run trail with me. 

Boar Whore did a great job with the circle. Can’t remember what Strobe did to deserve this down-down, but it surely wasn’t a small offense as it earned him the coveted tea bag: beer served through a dirty sock. Afterwards many of us stuck around to help move the many boxes of leftover wine after a security guard insisted that one of the party tents had to be taken down prematurely. We had originally paid and planned to spend that night at the dorm, but decided to escape the grimness to head back into the city center, so packed up and left after helping out for a bit.

While this was by far the worst organized hash weekend we’d ever attended with the worst venue, food and shirt, we had a great time. Afterwards the organizer posted some statistics: 468 hashers, 4,000 liters of beer, 2,000 bottles of wine, 2 engagements and 0 divorces. 

Saturday’s Party...

It was nice to catch up with some San Diego hashers at dinner on Saturday. Unlike most hash weekends there was no theme so we didn’t bother with bringing costumes. We were entertained by some special inflatable costumes passing through the restaurant.

Nathan, the nine-year-old son of Alan, Strobe’s college buddy who lives in Germany, was so happy to be transformed into Pikachu. 

Later Cockatool, who organized the Eurohash 2019 cruise in Scotland, was thrilled to become a Minion.

Later entertainment included a folk band and a bunch of naked hashers crashing through the party tent for a midnight hash. 
 

Trail 11...

Meanwhile, Opee had a total blast on Trail 11! He and his co-hares bought an insane amount of booze that they carried to the six drink stops. 

Their trail was described as having Some/More elevation, but the hares made sure it had more by bringing the pack up to this scenic viewpoint. 

When it came time to live lay the final section of the trail, Opee was being chased by a fast hasher, so he went a bit off course thinking only he would follow, but ended up leading all the runners onto private property. He knew that something had gone wrong when he noticed a lot of cameras and race horses. He says he felt like he was trying to escape a scene in a James Bond film as the only exit was to run down the stream that went under the driveway. Only the first guy followed Opee’s exit, leaving the rest stuck inside the tall fences. Luckily a car entered the grounds and the rest were able to make their escape and easily found their way back to trail. 

Trail ended at a restaurant with incredible food. They circled up after lunch, but ran out of time...

...so circled up some more back at the dorms. Needless to say, Opee got extra down-downs for trying to get the pack arrested. A good time was had by all!
 

On-In for the Cider Trail...

Rather than a pub specializing in cider, we ended at a small grassy area next to a food truck specializing in cider. I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed that we couldn’t learn about making cider or use a toilet. 

While lunch was small, it was very tasty and we all appreciated the free-flowing cider...

…and that we could take a bottle as a parting gift.

At least this time I had some warning that I would be RA for the circle so I could keep track of some sins on trail and at the On-In. 

As usual, I started with the hares. who managed to make the most of what they’d been given and didn’t manage to lose anyone. It was a fun day!