Playing with Jam in Prague

When telling people that I was going to Prague, the near-universal response was “I love Prague!”- and it’s easy to see why. The buildings are unique yet cohesive and utterly beautiful. The rooftops are the same red as in Lisbon, but there are a few turquoise roofs as well. The bridges are simple but beautiful, with statues adorning both the famous Charles Bridge and seemingly random buildings. Prices are slightly less expensive than the surrounding areas, so you can feel like you’re living like a king here for the same price as living as a commoner elsewhere. Okay, well, maybe not a king, but at least as a nobleman or lord.

There is, however, evidence of royalty in this place. The ornate palace we explored overlooking the city revealed remarkable feats of architecture for the time of construction. It’s difficult to imagine what the ancient builders endured in the 9th century to construct the castle, and subsequent city as we see it today. The city is ornate and inviting, but Prague was colder than the rest of the places we visited – both in terms of the temperature and in how the people interact with strangers. Though Cologne, Berlin nor Prague cultivated a population as friendly as I’ve experienced with the Irish, Czech culture was even less inviting than the Germans. Though there is likely some historical explanation for this that I won’t divulge in…

Though this city was immensely beautiful and the surroundings amazing, we missed our people. On night one, we thought we would socialize, drink, and hopefully make some new friends so we signed up for the Prague Pub Crawl. We made the mistake of eating a huge Czech dinner complete with the traditional Pilsner prior to our arrival. We didn’t realize that the unlimited beer and wine for the first hour would be essentially force-fed to us. Then the absinth shots began. I was sure I was going to yarf before the end of the night. The company we shared began as friendly, and I met my Brazilian Birthday Twin who lives in Limerick. But at some point, half of our peers shifted into being slightly creepy towards us. Fortunately, we left the night without having to clean up any vomit or having to forcibly remove anyone from our presence — we just wished we could’ve brought our squad from Berlin with us to Prague.

I think as much as the people and culture contribute to a place, the food does as well. Here in Prague, the food was the most unique and curious flavors and textures I’ve encountered maybe anywhere thus far. Much of what I put in my mouth I wouldn’t have dreamed of trying 15 years ago when my diet consisted of cheese, crackers, carrots, and apples. Instead, we ate schnitzel breaded in corn flakes, soup with poached egg, bacon, dill that is somehow a mauve-grey color, pickled sausages, dumplings, and boiled meat in a sauce. This diversity of textures and flavors are perhaps indicative of the variety of things I will remember about this place. Absinth, Beef Goulash, cement statues, beer made by monks, hot wine, stained-glass, tiled sidewalks, tasteful graffiti on a single wall, pilsner and cold hands from a long walk in the chilly air.

Here Jules and I reflected on our time together, on the intentions of our trip. We dreamed of doing a Europe trip since we decided we were best friends over five years ago in the parking lot of our high school. Since then we have been to Philadelphia, Texas, New Orleans, Oregon and camped all around Colorado. We’ve seen both coasts of the US and slept in many tents together. We both have been on many trips without each other too, both domestically and internationally, so this was our first trip together abroad. This was also the longest time we spent consecutively together, without any breaks.

This time that Jam (Julianne +Sam, our couple name) spent together only reinforced how grateful I am to have Julianne in my life, and for our friendship. I am grateful that Julianne’s mom works for an airline that allows her to travel cheaply to Europe. I am grateful that I had enough saved to play with her like this for ten days. I am grateful for a compatible desire to explore a new place. Grateful for the hours we spent walking, sipping coffee and drinking beer. I cherished both the interesting conversations we shared, in addition to the minutes we spent silently together.

The conclusion of this trip marks roughly a month since I left quaint Golden, Colorado. Since then I’ve been to 6 different cities in 5 different countries. I secured housing amidst a housing crisis and I’m now floundering to find a job and friends in Dublin. I don’t feel much closer to uncovering my higher purpose, though my life has already been uniquely enriched with some beautiful people in beautiful places. Nearly every human I’ve interacted with has shown me kindness, curiosity or indifference. The places offered a variety of insight and joy to me. And I hope I’ve been grappling with a purpose.