Prague First Week (continued)

After two beers, one light and one dark, we were both feeling pretty good. We were full and happy. I'd never had Czech food in a Czech restaurant. I learned that there are some unhealthy things in the Czech republic. My list of unhealthy things now had two items, beer and fried cheese.
We went back to the dorm, and ran into some other Union students. The other two Electrical Engineers were going out with their buddies. We made plans to meet later. It was quite an adventure. Every city I've been to looks completely different at night. The neighborhood of the dorm is simply empty, but the downtown area is really magnificent at night. There are lots of people, and the lighting is wonderful. The type of people changes too; instead of tourists shopping, it's people enjoying drinks outside, and going to hang out with their friends or going to a bar. I had never been to the city center before, so going there was kind of like going into a maze. I didn't recognize anything, and since it was night, I couldn't even guess at what direction we were going. It's like when you get in a cab in a new city, and the driver just goes. When we got off the train, Vojtech told me that we were at the biggest square in Prague, or maybe it was the longest square. There are two squares in Prague that I went to. So we walked down along this square, then down some small streets and finally found the pub that we were looking for. It had green lettering above the entrance. We walked into the ground floor, which was a small bar, and then past this, down some stairs into the basement. The basement was a huge beer hall, equipped with a huge bar, and giant wooden tables. They served the famous Pilzner, in half litre mugs. Vojtech had mentioned that you have to pay for everything, but I was kind of hungry and I thought it was so nice that there were pretzels on the table. So I had to pay about a dollar for a really bad pretzel. They have them on the table for people like me. Here, I met Dan, Nate, and their buddies. We drank a few beers and talked loudly. The inside of the place was really neat. The ceilings were high, the barmen were large, and there was a lot of copper near the bar. We decided to play pool in some place I'd never been before. However, we would first go to another bar.
We went to a place that I learned was known for having underage people. It was three Union guys, Nate, Dan, and me, with three Czech guys, Vojtech, George, and another friend, George. One George is very tall, and when I saw him 2 weeks ago, had blue hair. The other George I haven't seen since. However, these were not their real names, but for the sake of our American tongues, and ears, they were George. If you asked me now to retrace my steps, I wouldn't be able to tell you at all. I was truly a sheep following the herd. We were in a fairly bright place, mabye one of the major squares. From there we we about a block or two to a darker street, with crumbling and graffitied walls. The place was empty on the first floor. There was a bar, where we each got a beer. There was a spiral staircase to the basement, from which a lot of noise was coming. As we walked down the stairs, we looked to the source of the commotion, which was a large table of about 15 young people. I think each one of us paused a moment to look at them. The basement was big enough to fit about 4 tables, with some walking room in the middle. The big group took up 2 tables opposite from where we sat. I think there was either another bar there, or just a lady to look after the basement, but I wasn't really paying attention to that corner of the room. We talked and had a nice time. This was where I heard that the legal age is much lower in the Czech Republic, than in the USA. These other people were probably school kids, who shouldn't have been out late drinking beer in some pub. I think they left the pub at about 11, because it was probably their bedtimes.
We left shortly after to play pool.
The pool place was gigantic. It was also down an alley, and was a little scary from the outside. This place used to be a gymnasium of some sort, and is now a pool hall, with bowling, table tennis, and (of course) a bar. Some of us got another beer, I think all the Americans did. We played Americans against Czechs, and we lost. The Czechs and the Americans split up and went to their respective homes. Now that I'm writing this, I don't remember how we got home, but I think it was using the metro. Vojtech lives about 45 minutes from my dorm, in the opposite direction, and I don't think the other Czechs lived in the same direction either. So now I'm curious as to how we managed to get back. Well, since it's really easy by metro we probably did that.

Pool hall!