David Černý’s “The Pissing Boy’s” of Prague Day 139 3/12/08

Day 139 (slide show)

Strange things happen when you least expect them. A couple of days ago I was hanging out waiting for a small break in the weather. Sure I was trying to work on this blog but I’m very bored. At about 2pm I was able to go for a short ride and while I was out I couldn’t help thinking about how confined and trapped I feel. I decided that the next day I would start looking for some place to go. I will just get on a train and head out for a few days. Well when I woke on Tuesday morning I checked the Couchsurfing site and there was a post by a lady I knew saying that she was having to cancel her ski trip because of work. She wanted to see if anyone would go so her brother wouldn’t have to pay for everything. Martina and her brother Andrew had planned to go to Italy skiing for a week and now they needed someone to help with expenses. Andrew wants to leave on Friday. I just about pissed my pants; this was just what I needed. I couldn’t respond fast enough. The resort/village name is Livingo and it is very close to St Moritz. They had 3 feet of new snow two days ago and more expected. The cost was cheep because it is still pre-season. I’m very excited about this chance. I can’t even remember the last time I went skiing. I will have to think about it later, there is so much to think about. Lot’s to prepare.

Later that night I decided to go to a pizza party with some other CS’ers. I really didn’t have time but I had promised a few days ago that I would be there. I hate to fade on friends who invite me to something so I went. I ran into a guy named Jared who was in town for a couple of days. He is from Santa Barbara and as we were talking he wanted to see the city tomorrow and no one else could go with him so I stepped up. I have so much to do before leaving on Friday but I volunteered and so tomorrow I’m meeting him at my favorite meet up spot, The Bohemian Bagel for a walk around the city. I hope it warms up because it is very cold.

So today I’m going to tour the city with Jared. I have my favorite places to go and I figured I could be out until 4PM I sent a note to Andrew telling him I would be out until then so we can hookup at that time. Jared is a nice guy and he showed on time which I like. I took him to the usual spots like the Metronome where I saw a nice piece of graffiti of a couple of pirate’s. Then we moved around to the Castle area. (Panorama view from the Cathedral of St. Vitus at the Prague Castle) I hadn’t actually been inside the walls yet so that was fun. We were there at noon so we got to see the changing of the guards. It was so cold though. I was getting a headache from the wind. Of course I didn’t have the right hat on ether.

There was a place down by the Charles Bridge that I haven’t seen yet and I heard about the exact location the other day. It’s called “The Pissing Boy’s” I was told. I see though that he just calls it “Piss” which seems incomplete. It’s a crazy piece of art by the famous Czech artist David Černý. He did the Babies on the TV Tower and many others. It’s very funny and if you send a text message to a number and wait for a few minutes the boys will piss the message in the pool. I typed in George Bush. Very appropriate I thought. I would love to meet this guy and have a beer. I’m sure it would be a fun night. Wouldn’t it be fun to get a couple of actors to dress up as the Moron and Darth Vader and play like children in the pool while being pissed on? That would be a good UTube moment.

Just after 6pm I found out that there was a small meet up where I could see Martina, Andrews’s sister. Jared took off about 4pm and we planned to meet again later. I went to a cybercafé and got in touch with Andrew.

It turns out the plans have changed slightly and we will be tagging along with a Polish student group of 98 people. They will be in busses and the two of us will drive. So that makes 100. I asked him if there might be a problem that we weren’t with the group and he said “No problem.” It sounded alright and we could save on the lodging. The resort Livingo is about a 9 hour drive and we would leave on Friday night. Things seem to be falling together and I was happy to be able to talk to Martina about her brother and the trip.

When I arrived at the restaurant she was there but as I was asking her questions so many people started to show that we didn’t get to talk long. As it turns out she hasn’t ever been to this resort anyway. She wasn’t able to give me very much information but I was able to see some folks I haven’t seen for a while. Daniel, my friend from Prague who helped me with the customs was there. So was Alexey, both of these guy’s I haven’t seen in awhile. Cameron from Chicago and Pavel from Russia were there. Had a good time but I new when to leave and was back at my flat by 11:30. I have so much to do. I will leave in two days.