Sites, sounds, and smells of Prague

Travel:
We followed the advice of our travel guide today: we wandered Prague. We visited so many sights that it would be hard to list them all. Our highlights include the Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle -- typical tourist sites. But, we've added to the list: manhole covers. In addition to our typical castle pictures, we had the bright idea for a coffetable book of manhole covers. So, starting in Cesky Krumlov, we have begun photographing manhole covers -- now it gets kinda ripe and we do get a few strange looks, but that just means we'd be the first to publish one! We broke down and took a half-day tour. It was well-done, though we had a better time just getting lost. We're down to 999. You see, Lisa's mom gave us a book called "1000 Places to See Before You Die." Well, I guess we are one site closer because we visted U Fleku, a Czech beer garden that brews a sweet, dark beer only served here. The oompah band needed a few more players, but it was a good beer.

Soccer:
Well, I slept on the loss yesterday, and only feel worse about it. Watching the replays of the Czech goals; it was embarassing. And now that Togo scored a goal against S. Korea today, we are, I guess, (hopefully temporarily) at the bottom. It's hard to believe how many Mexicans are here in Prague cheering on their team. Probably thousands. We watched the Brazil match in the Old Town Square. I was surprised to see what I believed to be Brazilians sitting quietly watching the game- no samba dancing? Then there was three loud drum beats and a chant of "Mexico, Mexico, Mexico" right on cue. Amazing. Since I was told to write about the small details, one note on advertising. People should have invested in soccer stickers. They are put on any product and suddenly the product is associated with the World Cup. Random pieces of chocolate, rubber duckies, a spaghetti strainer, anything. I'm not sure the link between the strainer and soccer, well maybe the big pasta meal the night before a game.