big city

This will sound awful but I’ll say it anyway. I think I’m all out of excitement for big cities.

Don’t get me wrong. Prague is an absolutely beautiful capital city. But I’ve been to so many over the years that I think they’ve lost their charm on me.

Did you see how excited I was yesterday when I saw a deer leap across the road right in front of me? On this trip, Girona, Verona, and Arles, all relatively small towns, excited me. Despite the hardships, cycling over a mountain excites me. Hiking on mountains excites me. Seeing a school of hammerheads while diving excites the heck out of me. But the big cities just don’t do it for me anymore.

I walked all over Prague today. I took lots of pictures. I was fascinated by the

Prague’s Dancing House

architecture as I should be. But I quickly felt like I’d rather use the time resting in my hotel room. I’m tired from all the cycling, of course. That could be a factor. But I’ve been like this with large cities for a few years now. Unless I’m in a big city to eat at a special restaurant, catch a special show, or do some big city shopping, I’m just not that interested in seeing the sights anymore.

So I found a Lebanese restaurant to eat some proper Arab food. Man, did I need “normal” food. It was delicious. I even had some of our typical, what we call in Arabic, “Eastern sweets”. Yummmmmy. When I sat down I didn’t have much of an appetite. I haven’t been feeling quite right today. But the minute those plates were put in front of me: humm humm hummm!

I then found a place to get a massage. I was needing my legs done but half way through

Yummy Eastern sweets!

I discovered this particular masseuse does neck and back only. Her massage was a bit different than others I’ve had before. It wasn’t quite Swedish and it wasn’t quite Thai. I suppose it must be a special Czech massage. Anyway, it was nice and relaxing. I just really wish I could get my legs massaged.

I still don’t have much of an appetite but I’m going to force myself to have dinner. I need energy for tomorrow’s mega hills. I checked the elevation maps. They look ugly. I need to get through two more days of these hills and then, hopefully, I will receive God’s mercy and arrive in flatter terrain.

Today and tomorrow are presidential election days in Egypt. All I have to say about it is that I am so thankful I’m not there to watch the Revolution crumble before our very eyes. It makes me absolutely sick to even think about it.