Spring Break: Prague (Day 3 and 4)

DAY THREE:  Absinthe Time!

I had another delicious breakfast from the Sir Toby breakfast bar next morning.

All day yesterday, we could see the Prague castle dominating the city from across the river.  It was brilliantly lit up at night and located at the top of a hill making it visible from every corner of the city.

The goal today was to conquer Prague castle.

We took the tram along the north side of the town all the way to what we thought was the base of the Prague castle hill.  It turned out to be another hill altogether, but it provided some nice vistas.

We had to work our way back to the bottom of the hill and find another way up.  One theme of Spring break was the going up and going down of big hills.  It was my way of working off the beer calories.

We located the main staircase and climbed to the top.  Once we reached the top, we discovered that Mickey had left her Prague card back at the hostel.  Damn Prague card!

Fortunately, the view from the top of the hill was free for all to enjoy.  As was the facade of the beautiful Gothic cathedral at the center of the castle.

Outside and in, it was one of the most impressive cathedrals I have seen in Europe.  It was very difficult to capture the immensity of it with a camera.

Unfortunately for Mickey, to get inside, you needed the Prague card.  She went back to the hostel and had her own adventures for the day while I conquered Prague castle solo.

The interior of the cathedral maintained the same emphasis on height and detail as the outside did.  It was magnificent!  The stain glass windows shined a colorful mosaic on the north arcade.  The only well lit portion was the octagonal apse for the altar.  It was brilliantly designed and breathtaking.

Regardless of the temperature outside, cathedrals are always a consistent cool temperature, musty, and dark inside.  It's refreshing.  The cathedrals in Europe are architectural masterpieces, and I enjoy the opportunity to experience them whenever I can.

I checked out the other parts of the castle including a reception hall, the kings residence, and a defensive wall.  The defensive wall was interesting since it displayed many leftover mid-eval weapons and torture devices.

But, the coolest thing was the cathedral tower.  The climb was a direct spiral to the top.  From there, you could see Prague all the way into the hazy distance.

It was beautiful.

I headed back down and took a few pictures around the castle.  The one thing I couldn't take seriously was the Prague castle guards.  In fact, the whole Czech police force couldn't be taken very seriously.  Honestly, I don't think these guys are stopping anybody.

The guy on the right had a pretty unique job.  He, among numerous others, plays a trumpet melody from the top of his tower every hour on the hour.  Although kind of cheesy, it is actually pretty neat to hear the tune when you're walking in the city.

I waited for Mickey right outside this guy's tower (on the right).  I ordered a Pilsner Urquell, a Czech favorite, and was entertained as this goofy guy checked out every cute girl that walked by.

As I waited, two gorgeous Czech girls came and asked if they could sit with me.  As I know now, it is simply a common Czech custom to sit with strangers at bars and restaurants when there are no open tables as opposed to waiting for a table.  Still, I was feeling pretty good about myself!

Mickey finally arrived and, after I finished my beer, we headed up yet another hill to get to yet another extraordinary view of the city.

This time, the view was at the top of a steel structure, already atop a high hill, which appeared to be a miniature, communistic Eiffel Tower.

(Credit:  http://v1.cache7.c.bigcache.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/14941265.jpg?redirect_counter=2)

Again, the view was amazing, especially since a storm was rolling in.

We headed back down and through the hillside park and arrived at a pretty cool playground.  I've always thought that playgrounds are lawsuits waiting to happen, but in Europe, they take it to another level.  I think it's a good way to weed out the weak.

This was a skateboard, half-pipe trolley thing with a handle.  I almost fell and broke my arm.  

Granted, it was a lot of fun and, as you can see, I was pretty darn good at it.

The rain came only for a few minutes.  This would mark the worst weather we had during Spring break.  As a Noelck, this alone is impressive.

Prague is the Absinthe capitol of the world and, with their relaxed drug laws, people are calling it "the new Amsterdam."  Until recently, the law claimed that it was only illegal to carry more than a 'small amount' of marijuana (it is legal to carry up to 5 grams now).  Again, this only emphasizes the young nature of their democracy.

Anyway, we were looking for an Absinthe museum.  There was no Absinthe museum.  But, there were certainly plenty of Absinthe shops and bars.  Along the way, we ran into a really cool looking Czech restaurant and we were pretty hungry, so we went in for dinner.  They only served one house beer and they simply kept a tally of how many beers you drank for the bill.  It had a loud, smoke filled atmosphere accompanied with jumpy accordion music.  Again, very cheap and very delicious.

Afterwards, we headed next door to the Absinthe bar.  When in Prague, I guess!

This turned into one of the more interesting experiences of my lifetime.  The only server there was this young Russian guy.  He enjoyed practicing his English with us and I enjoyed talking to a Russian.  He explained what Absinthe was, what it did and how it was prepared.  We picked out a couple of shots and ordered them the Czech way, on fire.  Sure enough, they were on fire!

It was the most disgusting thing I had ever tasted in my life.

We had a couple more rounds and were entertained with a few more fireworks.  Mickey received a free cocktail which involved more pyrotechnics, this time with cinnamon.  It was all really fascinating and it only got more fascinating as the night wore on.

I decided that it would be fun to draw the two paintings that were on the wall.  This is what I got.

In conclusion, Absinthe has an effect on drawing as much as on the psyche.

When Mickey swore she saw a gorilla, I knew it was time to go back to the hostel.

DAY FOUR:  Beer Garden, 'nuff said


What is a beer garden?  That is a good question.  Sadly, I left my camera at home, so you'll have to go off of words.  Boring, boring words.

The day started with a delicious Sir Toby breakfast, a wall of reality, and a bit of a hangover.

I was done with this Prague card and I just wanted to enjoy my day.  It was a little cloudy and a little bit colder.  We headed to the south end of Prague and checked out another castle.  This one was nice since it wasn't so touristy.  It was much quieter and still provided some very nice views.

In particular, it gave a glimpse into the modern Prague world.  There were many banks and skyscrapers along this side of Prague.  One thing Prague seems to do well is to embody the old culture while still competing in the modern world.

The cathedral here was closed but it was still a very interesting area.

The best part, of course, was the beer garden.  We waited a while for them to open.  It claimed that they were going to open at 2 in the afternoon.  When we stopped by at that time, he said they were still setting up.  When it was finally open, we walked in and got a whiff of the real postponement.

A beer garden is more like a park with a nearby beer shack.  It had a swing set, a fire place, picnic tables, chairs, and open green area with trees.  This one in particular was at the top of the castle hill.  The best part about it was the amazing view of Prague it provided.  Beers were cheap and delicious, the view was great, and the bartenders were high.  What a great way to enjoy a great city.

We walked back through Wenceslas Square, the site of the Velvet Revolution.  The rest of the night was spent at Sir Toby's Hostel.  Their basement was really cozy and the people there were really interesting.  The bartender was from Canada and was just as much a customer as a bartender.

We met some really cool Brazilians, a guy from Fiji, a few Australians (most of them travel the world the year before they go to college), an older French guy, and some Germans.  I taught a few guys how to play Pentago, a Laura and Bill favorite.  I spent some time drawing and a lot of time drinking delicious Czech beer.

We had a train to catch at 7 o'clock.  So, eventually, I made it to bed at a semi-reasonable hour.  I was going to miss good ol' Sir Toby.

Spring Break: Prague (Day 1 and 2)

DAY ONE:  "Business Partners," oh really?

Fortunately, unlike the majority of my trips from Rome, Spring break started at a very reasonable hour.  Mickey and I left for the airport in the late afternoon.

The shuttle took us to the airport and, just before dusk, we were already through security.

I liked W!zz Air slightly better than Ryan Air.  The flight attendants were cuter and they weren't trying to sell me on as many things.

The first thing I noticed was the large amounts of rowdy Italian youngsters heading to Prague.  Apparently, Prague is a favorite destination for the Italian Spring breakers.  It's similar to America's Daytona Beach, just cheaper, more cultured, and with less old people, better food and better beer.

I love flying into cites late in the evening because you get a beautiful, bird's-eye view of the city lights.

This was Prague!  I've only heard stories of this magical place (Chelsea Frazier).

We landed and were greeted by our tall, plump shuttle guy in the deserted airport.  Finally a non-Italian!

Halfway to our destination, the driver said he was going to pick up his "business partner."  Really?  At midnight?  She was a cute Czech girl, dressed for a night out.  I wasn't too convinced that she was his "business partner."  They flirted the rest of the way to the hostel.

I was certainly enjoying things so far!

We arrived at Sir Toby's Hostel.  This would be the first and, in the end, the best hostel I would stay at over Spring break (and probably ever).  The receptionist was a young, hip, very helpful Czech guy who helped us find something to eat at 1 in the morning (score: 1 for Sir Toby).  He marked out a gas station and I went and picked up a hot dog wrapped in a delicious pastry as well as a half-liter of good Czech beer.  The total price was around 40 Crowns, or about 2 American dollars.

The adrenaline was wearing thin and the beer was setting in.  It was bed time.

DAY TWO:   The damn Prague Card

I woke up the next morning around 8.  I was in Prague so I definitely couldn't waste any time sleeping in.

Sir Toby's Hostel had an amazing breakfast bar for around 100 Crowns: make your own omelets, pancakes, toast, bagels, bacon, fruit, yogurt, and REAL coffee.  After 3 months of cereal and whimpy Italian breakfast, this hit the spot (score: 2 for Sir Toby).

The hostel was right next to a tram line which headed into the city. The receptionist gave us a map and some good advice (score: 3 for Sir Toby).


The trams in Prague are quite unique and very characteristic of the city.

It was difficult to tell exactly when we had arrived in the Old Town, so we got off a little early just to be safe.  Besides, the architecture alone made walking worth while.

We weren't far.  Around the corner was the Old Town Square.  Much larger than the piazzas in Italy and much more relaxed.

We wanted to see everything that there was to see in Prague, so we bought the Prague card.  This would turn out to be my only financial blunder on Spring break.  It cost around 900 Crowns and allowed free or discounted entrance into many of the monuments.  It seemed like a good deal.  But, many monuments were closed, not included or simply not worth seeing.

Sill, I got the most I could out of it.

Right off of the Old Town Square was the city hall.  It was an nice piece Central-European architecture.  The basement floor of the city hall was originally the ground level of the old city and you could even see the old streets and houses! 


After a short tour, we climbed to the top of the clock tower and had an amazing view of the Old Town Square.

On the facade of the city hall is an artful, engineering masterpiece called the Astronomical Clock.  This would be something in which my brother and father would share my interest.  It's a clock which depicts not only the time, but the day, the month, the season, the position of the sun and the moon, the time of sunset and sunrise, and many other pieces of useless astronomical information as well.  It takes PhD to simply read the thing.

We went to peruse through a nearby museum.  This one wasn't all too interesting, but it had a good collection of ancient East-Asian pieces.  Ancient Asian history is something which I had never really given much thought to before.  Sometimes, I get carried away and start to think that the Romans were the first and only ancient civilization.

I was a little museumed out, so I got a beer and some potatoes with pork and, as if it were a park or something, sat down in the middle of the square.  Everyone else was doing it.

We were sitting by a group of hilarious (mostly due to their accents) Irish tourists.  This reminded me that it was St. Patrick's day!  Not a speck of green could be seen on them.  They were even cracking terribly rude jokes at anyone who walked by decked out in green gear.  This distaste for the 'typical' St. Patty's day celebration ritual is not too surprising when you consider that it has little to do with St. Patrick's day; not to mention, the mass of ignorant tourists who head to Dublin every year only to get plastered on their holiday.  For the Irish, it's probably better to celebrate in Prague than in their home town (cheaper too).  Bloody tourists.

After a good sun soak, and still set on getting a return on my damn Prague card, I checked out the bell tower museum.  At first, seeing a picture of this guy and then looking at his artwork was pretty hilarious.

His artwork was highly detailed and colorful and it often depicted music, the church, and demon looking pope characters.  It was very odd and very consistent.

(Credit:  http://www.praguepost.com/pictures/1-20120314-12464-8599-pic.jpg)

When I discovered that he was declared insane and placed into an insane asylum, his work made much more sense.  It also got a lot more interesting.  He would draw the same stuff, write songs, and write philosophy all day and nothing else.  His work reminded me a little of elementary school when I had to color maps for homework.  It was so boring and pointless, but, for some reason, it was necessary.  Something tells me that, in his mind, something similar was happening on a much larger scale.

It was, downright, the strangest exhibit I had ever seen.  To really emphasize the strangeness, they displayed a list of his 187 inventions and his understanding of the number system.  At this point, it was simply creepy.

He did have one little quip of surprising accuracy.  "Whosoever wants to travel, through the whole world: Truly needs some, kreuzers of cash: And some good sausage."

On my way out of the exhibit, the lady said something to me in Czech.  I looked at her a little confused.  Then, surprised that I didn't understand, she said "Auf wiedersehen!"  She thought I was either Czech or German!  I certainly did blend in a lot better with the locals here than in Italy.

The sun was starting to set and we were just beginning to explore.  We checked out a gorgeous Gothic church.  The Gothic style really defines the architecture in Prague:  Pointed arches with an emphasis on height, detail and gold.

We wandered through the town and over to Charles Bridge.  This is the main pedestrian bridge which crosses the Vltava River in the center of town.  The bridge itself is a brilliant piece of stone work in the Gothic style as well.

Prague and the Czech Republic gained their independence from communism in 1989, so they are considered to be a post-communist democracy.  The effects of a young democracy and evidence of the late communist rule is visible everywhere.

One particularly interesting symbol of their recently acquired freedom is Lennon's Wall.  It is a wall where anyone is allowed to spray paint anything they want, usually in dedication to musician John Lennon or to freedom in general.

It's used so often that everything eventually gets covered up after a couple weeks!  This wall, and everything it stood for, was by far the coolest thing about Prague.

We walked down to the river so that I could touch it.  The riverside provided a very nice view of Charles Bridge and the Prague skyline.

It was getting dark and it was time to head back for dinner.  Sir Toby's Hostel was a bit far from the city center.  Luckily, it was connected to the center by a tram.  The nice thing about Sir Toby being on the outskirts of town was that the food around it was cheaper, tastier and more authentic.

The receptionist provided us with the location of one of his favorite restaurants and wrote down the names of his three favorite Czech dishes (score: 4 for Sir Toby).  Dinner was amazing!  It was a wonderful change of pace from pizza and pasta.

I had a couple beers at dinner and a couple back at the hostel.  There, I met an 18 year old girl named Rosy from LA whose story was that college was too expensive and that she'd rather travel Europe instead (huh?).  I also met a fairly drunk and boisterous Englishman, Sid, after I accidentally broke the key in the door.  After giving me a hard time, he went to the receptionist and said, "some bloody yank just broke the door!"

Hostels are full of very interesting people on a variety of different drugs whom you only get to know once and only for a couple of days.  The combination provides for a unique and exciting experience.

It was bedtime.  One and a half days' worth of traveling, a loud Englishman, and I was already exhausted.

Backpacking in Eastern Europe

My flight out of Rome and into Eastern Europe leaves in about 7 hours.  I can't wait!  The itinerary is 4 nights in Prague, Czech Republic, 2 nights in Vienna, Austria, and 3 nights in Budapest, Hungary.  We are taking the train between these 3 cities.  Round trip travel expenses were well under 200 euro!  This is going to be a very economical trip.

(Credit:  Google Maps)

I just realized that I have no idea what they eat there.  It's funny that this is my only concern.

I have finished packing.  We are flying on Wizz Air, which I imagine is Ryan Air's long-lost, eastern cousin.  Again, I'm allotted a very specific 10 kg, 55cm x 40cm x 20cm carry-on.  And, that's it.  Like a true backpacker, I packed only the essentials:  passport, cash, insurance card, a couple of shirts, a few changes of socks and underwear, a book, toothpaste, camera, sketch book, and my super-awesome shades!

I'm seriously backpacking in Eastern Europe.  I never would have thought that, in my lifetime, this is something I would actually be doing.  I am a very fortunate person.

I can't wait to share my adventures with you when I return!

Wish me luck and a safe return.  Love to all my friends and family!

Rome has Parks!

This has been a very recent discovery of mine.  Before this, I had been convinced that Rome was a giant mass of brick, concrete, and cobblestone. 

In fact, Rome has many beautiful parks and green spaces. 

My sketchbook professor took our class to one of these parks on the south side of the Gianicolo Hill.  It was massive!  There were Romans everywhere walking their dogs, playing soccer, having picnics, and reading on benches. 

The middle of the park was home to a beautiful, white marble palace.  Before this was a park, it was simply some rich guy's backyard.

There, I also discovered the only socially acceptable place to go running in Rome.  One thing I don't quite understand; in Rome, it's not socially acceptable to run in the streets, but it is socially acceptable to drink alcohol in them.

Since I was there for my art class, I couldn't just sit around, I had to sit around and draw.  Here's my favorite piece from that afternoon.

Very relaxing. 

It had inspired me to discover some other parks in Rome.  Last Friday, I wondered to the Villa Borghese.  This park is much more popular than the other one and it is also more formally maintained.  This park has many separate, distinct areas.  There's an artificial lake on one side and a beautiful fountain on the other.  There are vast open spaces and dense wooded areas.  There's a zoo a cafe and a bunch of museums.

Very beautiful and very diverse.

This park was originally the home of the Borghese family.  It is richly populated with their old collections of baroque art.  The Borghese family was wealthy enough to establish their own private stadium in their backyard.  Today, people utilize it for personal exercise. 

This general theme of redistributing private belongings to the public is evident throughout the history of modern Rome.

The famous Galleria Borghese is located there and is home to a substantial collection of Bernini works.  I went to visit it only to discover that they require reservations.  They were booked until next week, so I reserved a spot for Thursday afternoon.

The parks in Rome are quietly overlooked.  I was lucky enough to have a class which introduced me to this part of Rome.  I can't wait to share my discovery with my family and Laura when they get here.  I miss all of you guys!

Viterbo Hot Springs

Exactly what it sounds like!

Finally, a reasonable hour to be waking up, 6:00.  Our train left from the Trastevere Station at 7:52.  We took the tram there, saving time and energy.  The latter would prove to be beneficial, later in the day.

Anthony has been on a strange sleeping schedule lately.  No one has been able to understand it completely.  He went to bed two nights before at 4 or 5 in the morning, woke up yesterday at 7 in the evening, and stayed up all night the night before our trip.  He was a little loopy.

The train was much less luxurious than we were used to.  It's an old regional train, covered in graffiti with a good number of stops between Rome and Viterbo.

The train went alongside a steep hill by a beautiful lake enclosed by tall, bluish mountains.  It looked very peaceful.

After a couple of hours, we arrived at the Porta Romana station on the south side of Viterbo.

Adam and I had originally planned this trip a month ago during the snowpocalypse.  We were Google-ing around the inter-web, searching for info on Viterbo and discovered that it was home to a wealth of natural hot springs.  These hot springs were made famous when the poet Dante mentioned them in the Inferno.  The plan was to sit in these hot springs and watch the snow fall around us.  In the end, we couldn't go because the Italians were not responding to the snow very well, and public transportation shut down completely.  In retrospect, that was a very good thing.

Italians are not very grateful in providing travelers with free maps, so we improvised.

We walked along the eleventh century walls, through the gateway, and into the historic center.  It looked just like you'd imagined a mid-eval town to look.  Grey, old, shabby stone work, with winding roadways and narrow alleys.  But then, to contrast it all, we came across an apartment balcony with a pro-communist banner and a flag boasting the hammer and sickle.  Interesting.

The town was dead quiet.  Small towns in Italy take their Sabbath Days very seriously.  This town specifically has strong ties to the Catholic Church.  It was the fallback residence for the popes when they were having difficulty maintaining control in Rome around the twelfth century.

In the thirteenth century, while the cardinals were failing for three years to elect a new pope, the citizens of Viterbo took action and locked the cardinals in the Gothic Palazzo.  They removed the roof and let them bake in the sun and starve until a new pope was elected.  This turned out to be Pope Gregory the Tenth.

Maybe the United States could utilize this tactic on the senate house from time to time.

We didn't really have much of a direction in mind.  The ultimate goal was the hot springs, but that was going to be quite the trek.  We wanted to familiarize ourselves with the town first.

Some Italian photographer told us to check out the community hall.  So, we did.

Imagine if small town politics was taken seriously.  Very seriously.  This is what you'd get.

Their community hall, which serves no more than 65 thousand residents, rivals many of the state assembly halls back home.

Afterwards, we hit up a supermarket.  With the little Italian we know yet solid understanding of hand gestures, we were able to order a loaf of bread, an eighth a wheel of cheese, a dozen slices of salami and, of course, wine.

Off to the hot springs!

The hot springs lie 3 kilometers west of the city walls.  I'm afraid two of our fellow travelers were not well informed of the adventures ahead of them.

Once outside the city walls, the world completely changed.  No more side walks, no more tightly packed buildings.  Instead it was all replaced with grass, trees, agriculture, and villas.  One thing remained unchanged, however, the crazy Italian driving.

Looking like true backpackers, we began the 45 minute walk to the hot springs along side a semi-busy highway in the country-side.

(Credit:  Anthony Martinez)

Adam explained to us later that the number-one killer of tourists in Italy is being hit by vehicles.  Glad to have stayed out of that statistic.

Besides the ever-present danger of getting smashed into by an automobile, the walk was very relaxing.  Hiking in the Italian country-side was beautiful.  The air seemed fresher and the sky was clearer.  The villas were quaint and inviting.  It was a wonderful experience.

After about 30 minutes, I was convinced that these springs didn't actually exist.  It seemed ridiculous to be walking on the side of a highway, chasing something which we only really interpreted the existence of off of a good Google translate and a blurry Google satellite image.

I had put quite a bit of faith into Google, and they had put quite a bit of faith into me.

Alas, we arrived at the first hot spring.  Exactly like Google maps had imaged for me (Google maps; convenient, but a little creepy).

The main hot spring was fenced off because the water was too hot.  The other pools were too far from the center pool to maintain a good amount of heat.  Nobody was swimming here.  In any case, I was very proud of myself.

The next springs down the road and across from the military base were supposedly the popular ones.  Sure enough, it was paradise, baby!

I couldn't believe it.  The smell of sulfur and the white, perfectly-shaped pools of hot water with Italians in them seemed to be straight out of a dream.  Was it truly possible that, in the middle of the Italian country-side with mountains in the background, there was this glorious, free, natural bathing complex?

Yes, it was!

The way the sulfur formed the baths was strikingly perfect.  It looks man-made, but it's completely natural.  The pools layer themselves perfectly from the source, and each one has a descending temperature level.  The water is pure, from the ground and infused with sulfur.  Over time, this glistens the pools with a beautiful, smooth, white layer of sulfuric buildup.  It's also good for exfoliation of the skin.

We wandered around a little to see the whole complex.  Behind the source pool was a man-made aqueduct leading to another pool on the far end.  Time has allowed the sulfuric buildup to create a very neat effect.

It was time to jump in.  Everything I could have ever hoped for and more!

This is what they try, and fail, to make the hot tubs at the Wisconsin Dells look like.

It was the most relaxing experience I've had in a long time.  I could have stayed there for days, years even.

We were the only Americans there.  This seemed like the destination for Italian day trippers.  What a great Sunday family trip?  In one corner, there was a middle-aged Italian women, orange-tanned, sucking down a cigarette, who appeared to have been bathing in that exact spot since January.

After moving up to the hotter pools, melting and becoming one with the world, it was time for our picnic, mid-eval style.  Bread, wine, salami, and cheese.  Best picnic ever!

One last soak and it was time to head home.  We had spent close to 4 hours in the pools.  The sulfur residue made my hair look a little spastic.  On the way, we ran across a horse who went to town on the apple we offered him/her.

(Credit:  Adam Weidman)

The walk back was surreal.  I felt cleansed of all impurity.  I felt so comfortable with the world.  Walking in the middle of an Italian country road wasn't a big deal anymore.  The world was my oyster.

(Credit:  Anthony Martinez)

We got back to Viterbo just in time for the sunset.  The gateway led us into a park with a very unique statue in the middle depicting a giant buried in the valley.  He had a funny face and I like making funny faces, so we got along just fine.

(Credit:  Adam Weidman)

We climbed to the base of the Duomo which rested on the south-facing cliff to the valley.  The way it was built in stone made it look like a semi-artificial extension of the cliff.  At the top, we epically gazed out at the sun which appeared to be setting in the hot springs, from which we came, far off in the country side.

We checked out the Duomo and headed for the train station.  I stopped in a bar and got a cafe corretto.  Literally, corrected coffee, it's a shot of espresso with a shot of grappa.

The train station, like the rest of Viterbo, was dead quiet.  The ticket booth was closed and the ticket machine was out of order.  Like true Italians, we rode back to Rome without paying for the public transportation.

We got back late in the evening.  Anthony was a zombie and needed to go to bed before he started nawing on brains.  Adam and I grabbed some well-deserved gelato.  I sat around for a little while.  Soon, I went to bed and feel into a deep sleep.  I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, wondering if yesterday was a dream.