We are off to Whitby tomorrow, and SO NOT PACKED, but artnouveauho and I took time off this evening for a trip to Garlic & Shots with our lovely friend P and then a womble around Chinatown. Where I found some, erm, INTERESTING baked goods in the stores. These are for you, jessicamelusine!





Sadly, the psychedelic cake is destined to be tomorrow's breakfast on the train to Whitby. But this next product, by gum, will come home with me and make an appearance at a Bufficrucian feast:



Couque D'Asses. I, um, well... actually I'm left speechless. And on the unfortunate product front, here's a souvenir of my time in Germany. I found it it an appliance shop window near my hotel in Munich.



Anyone for a Red Dwarf marathon? Speaking of Germany, I'm sorry I've been so utterly pants about updating the trip blog. Here's a link to the blog on the RTNDA site, which is basically the same thing with less snarkiness. Scroll down to find all the installments: http://www.rtnda.org/pages/rtnda-blog.php

I've also just realized I forgot to say anything about Prague... and I hardly took any pictures while I was there either. I guess you all already know what Prague looks like-- and I don't need pics because the place is etched into my brain. It was very strange how little had changed. It's more touristy and more expensive now that the Czech Republic has joined the EU, but in every other respect it's exactly the same, to the point where I was finding it eerie to be there and not be 24 anymore. My favorite gelato stand is still there, in the Svetozor passage by the Vodickova tram stop. Fried cheese still tastes the same (and didn't I hit every stand on Wenceslas Square). My feet still remember the geography of the city (though I was sort of winging it in places). Mustek metro stop still stinks. My favorite tea room is still there and they still have the spicy tea with the milk and honey to mix into it. When they took us for a tour of Radio Free Europe, the guys I used to work with were still there in the newsroom. My friends are all still there, and when we went to my old favorite bar, the owner was still behind the bar, next to the same barfly who was always there six years ago, and they both recognized me, and we all got pasted together (that actually wasn't eerie, in fact, it made me feel mightily cool).

It was all a bit overwhelming-- I had planned to go back to Prague after finishing the RIAS program, but after only a day there I felt like I'd had as much nostalgia as I could handle, so I took off for Dublin to visit with my old friend J and finally meet his wife and stepdaughter-- it was a lovely few days. He has a good life now, and I'm happy to see him settled. However, it was really, REALLY funny to see one of the most degenerate bastards I know chopping veggies for the lunchbox and dutifully initialling homework sheets. Awwww!

Well, enough rambling. I leave you with the one picture I did take in Prague:



This is a parody of the famous statue of King Wenceslas, by the sculptor David Cerny (he of the Pink Tank). It hangs in Lucerna Passage (one over from Svetozor), and yes-- it's JUST the same as it was when I lived there.

Hard to believe I'll be home this time next week!