Despite my previous rant about the tourist’s dilemma, Emily and I did do a few more classically tourist things in Prague, like the castle, the Charles Bridge, and the St. Vitus Cathedral. Even at the opera, the audience seemed to consist mostly of tourists. Neither of us had ever been before, and it was cheap compared to any other European capital (60 euros bought us the best seats in the house), so it was a fun experience.

We also got back to another Easter Market, this time in Old Town Square, that remained open for the week following Easter. The sun was shining, the temperature was mild, the square was colorfully decorated, and the crowd was boisterous. Conversations in several different languages could be vaguely heard over the sounds of lively fiddle music and vendors calling out their wares. The smell of roasting meat and baking sweets filled the air while bright ribbons danced among the branches of still-barren trees.

Though still clearly a tourist trap, it was, admittedly, a really fun and vivacious tourist trap. And to the extent that there ever was some authentic, historic Easter market that the tourist industry is now trying to simulate, that market was surely itself a huge draw for medieval “tourists”. There were no doubt vendors selling overpriced baubles to out-of-towners, wafting food smells, roving pickpockets, and boisterous music to set the atmosphere. Tourist-filled or not, that square felt genuinely festive, and it was a really enjoyable place to be.

Eventually we managed to branch out a bit more, though, and interact with some people who actually lived in the city. On the train from Dresden, we’d shared a compartment with a very friendly Czech student named Jansa and gotten to talking with him. Ultimately we arranged to meet him and his girlfriend, Eve, for drinks later in the week. They were really nice and interesting people, nearly as excited to meet Americans as we were to meet Czechs.

It’s funny how much can change in a generation. I was 7 years old when the Berlin Wall came down, 11 when the short-lived state of Czechoslavakia dissolved, and I grew up with a vague sense that Eastern Europe was an alien, underdeveloped, and dangerous place. To be clear, no one ever told me this – it was just a general sense that I got from my childish attempts to make sense of the fragments of news I heard but didn’t truly understand. Now 20 years later I was having a beer with two young Czechs in a restaurant that was apparently a favorite of Vaclav Havel.

Jansa and Eve learned English in school but perfected it watching How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, and American Dad. Eve told us that her little brother loved The Simpsons and was thrilled that the new season would premiere in the Czech Republic on his birthday. Their families, they explained, were a snapshot of the region’s turbulent history: while they spoke quite good English, their parents had studied Russian in school, and their grandparents German. Jansa worked part-time at a Levi’s store.

Though neither played poker, they knew a bit about it. Apparently Black Friday made the news in Prague, because they’d heard that something had happened with online poker in the US. And of course they’d heard of Martin Staszko, their countryman who finished second in the 2011 WSOP main event. They were less impressed to hear that I’d finished XXX in the same tournament. Eve did, however, ask if I’d ever been to a fancy Las Vegas casino.

Partly at Jansa’s urging, we resolved to do something outside of Prague before we left the Czech Republic. Knowing my love of all things medieval, Emily found a nearby castle that was accessible by train…

To be continued!