Bohemian Rhapsody
by Robert & Ingrid
We arrive in Prague in the late afternoon so that I can meet up with Anna Wilson, our lovely backup driver and elite organizer, while Matt and Ingrid head to the Mongol Rally's second launch, the Czechout Party, to schmooze with other teams and drink in a castle.
While Robert and Anna reenact scenes from Before Sunrise, Matt and I follow some hazy directions towards the tiny Czech town of Klenova, 120 km southwest of Prague and deep in Bohemia. Maybe we're over-thinking this, but the "you can't miss it" instructions to the party given us by the Rally organizers were a little less so than advertised, making us wonder if this was meant to be our first navigational test: if you can't even find the party, then forget about finding Ulaanbaatar! Despite some short detours through the beautiful Czech countryside, we end up finding it just fine (phew!).
Unlike the directions, the party is exactly as advertised--"without doubt the most bombastic bash this side of Vladivostok"--and more. We arrive before sunset and set up our tent in a field with familiar faces from Goodwood, who, with kegs, costumes, and a set of bagpipes, are already in the reveling mood.
We make our way on the long walk uphill towards the main event at Klenova Castle, a partially ruined 13th century castle that someone has ingeniously decided to turn into an event space. We are greeted with a (free!) Czech dinner of delicious grilled meats before venturing deeper into the castle grounds to find hundreds of fellow ralliers, lounging on crumbling parapets and writhing to dub step in the dance caves. Matt and I select a parapet of our own and are soon found by our our old neighbors at the Goodwood campsite, Irish team Mongol No. 5, and spend the next couple hours swapping stories about our respective nations. All in all an excellent time was had by all; at the end of it, we came out with the valuable bragging rights of having drank in a real live castle!
The next morning we find our way to the breakfast being served in the abandoned Soviet hanger (original purpose unknown?) and have some delicious eggs and beans and Czech pastries. The Soviets, if nothing else, certainly were good at building lots of things in lots of places. Anyhow, I choose a hefty slice of "Czech cake" and find myself thinking, "Wow, this tastes just like Texas Sheet Cake!" It takes me more than a few minutes to come to the epiphany that, By golly, They are the same! This may make no sense to those not from Texas, but for those of you who are--you know how awesome that is! We recover from our sleep deprivation and head back to Prague to meet back up with Robert and Anna.
Meanwhile, I became impossibly lost, wandering aimlessly through the streets of Prague with my directions proving completely useless (largely because of a closed tunnel). After asking directions from a very kind Czech man, I wind my way through a park, across the river and to my rendezvous with Anna, sweaty and very late. As a celebration of making it to Prague in one piece, we order a sampler of Czech food at a nearby restaurant, which turns out to be a plate of variously sized chunks of every type of meat available for purchase and maybe a few that are not.
The next day, the team reunited and we set out to hit all the major tourist spots, seeing the fine astronomical clock, complete with trumpeters and creepy clockwork figures, Prague Castle with its resplendent cathedral, and the beautiful St. Charles Bridge that makes it onto almost every representation of Prague (but somehow without including the caricature artists and cheap trinket booths that clog the causeway like kitschy detritus).
We also attempted to see the Synagogue where the famous Golem was awakened and one of the oldest and most famous Jewish cemeteries, but a combination of waning twilight that night and expense and crowds the following morning forced us to be content with taking a few illicit pictures through the cracks in the fence and sighing at the cheesy Golem-themed cafês and souvenirs.
Most of all though, we enjoyed being in Prague, a romantic city with a distinct medieval flair, something we as Americans are so unfamiliar with. Everywhere ancient clock towers and stone gates adorned with statues of kings and saints rise above the banality of chain eateries and flickering neon. Even the most touristy spots cannot shake their history of medieval wonder and Bohemian appeal. It was a side trip well worth taking.