Chasing After Dawn

I know where the longest light in Prague is. It's at Dukelských hrdinů and Veletržní.

Bring some home-made sandwiches and a sesame street juice box, because you might as well as plop down and picnic there while you wait for the little green man to remember you depend on him. But maybe don't, because Stromovka park is near enough that perhaps you'd make better time planning which grassy corridor of sunshine would be best suited for whichever sandwiches you happen to have in your basket. In that case, then, do bring the sandwiches.

It's my last night in this magical city and I'm camping out to watch bright red streaks dance over the Charles Bridge. Because you have to beat the laughable tourist trap that makes you wonder if they give out free souvenirs on Vltava River. And because you might as well do it in fashion, no? Bring a camera.

And if you're headed to a terrace atop a Velehradská apartment, then maybe bring a sweater. It gets chilly. But the breeze is different here—it's non-intrusive and understanding. It's communicative, friendly. The kind that sends goosebumps diving into your arms and lights a fire in your heart. That envelops you in a blanket of tranquility and calls your attention to the numerous, dazzling stars.

I went searching for Kafka's grave. I was convinced it was close to Žižek, but I was mistaken. Maps lie. And sometimes they're really just silly—like they’ll indicate a cross-section with a road that's fifty feet above ground without accounting for topographic change. Wait a minute, where did that street go?

The best are the Czech people with just enough English to understand that you're lost, but way too much Czech to actually help you find your way. They respond to you in their native tongue as if, from the time you asked them for directions, some supernatural force has endowed you with a capacity that would render asking to begin with a little bit ridiculous and kind of a waste of their time.

Smiles get you the farthest, but more on that later. I have to run now. I’m chasing after dawn.

Praha, I'll be back.