9.5.2000 TEREZIN, a former Nazi concentration camp, is an hour long bus ride from the main bus terminal in Prague. As soon as you step off the bus, things just feel different.

People still live there.

When you step through the museum, and read the story of how the Germans stripped away the rights of the Jewish until finally the Nazis make no pretense and order the Final Solution to the Jewish Question: it’s scary that this all occurred, that it occurred sixty years ago.

Is there anything happening today that will be regarded similarly in sixty years time?

There’s an art gallery of works made by artists moved to Terezin. Bedrich Frida seems the most prolific and talented of the artists but the most brilliant piece was by a girl who lived in Terezin until being killed in Auschwitz two days after her thirteenth birthday.

The colors! A blotch of color here, a little there and it’s a house. Different blotches and a cross make a church. And in the background, faded from mist, are mountains.

10.5.2000 PRAZSKY HRAD is across the Charles Bridge and up what seems like a never ending hill. The castle is built on a slope and the main entrance happens to be at the top. It is supposedly the largest castle in the world. But don’t let the word castle fool you, because this is not a medieval castle (you know, made of stone, surrounded by a moat, a drawbridge, etc.). It’s more like a really big walled off area.

ST. VITUS CATHEDRAL is huge. The walls are lined with a series of beautiful stained glass windows. For 120 korunas, you get access to the back side of St. Vitus’s Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, the Basilica of St. George and the Powder Tower. The Basilica of St. George is the perfect place to sit and relax after all the climbing and walking.

KARLOVY LAZNE is a club in Prague located right next to the Charles Bridge. In fact, from the dance floor, you can look out the window and see the bridge. There is supposed to be four floors of music, but it was Wednesday and they only had three floors open.

The first floor is techno-pop, cheesy trance, dominated by Tom Jones’ Sex Bomb-like music. Which apparently is the European Hit of the summer, judging by how much it’s played.

The second floor is 80s. You’ll hear U2 and Guns and Roses on this floor.

The third floor feels just like home. Harder, underground, progressive trance and deep house. Really good stuff. Only problem is: there isn’t a single person dancing on the third floor.

ABSINTHE is a bright, flourescent liquid that supposedly pushed Van Gogh over the edge and made him cut off his ear. It is 140 proof (70% alcohol) and is illegal in most countries in the world. Except the Czech Republic. I missed out that night, because while I was busy dancing, everyone else was doing shots of the stuff, making for a fun and sometimes melodramatic time.

11.5.2000 Travel to Cesky Krumlov was uneventful. You take the main train to CESKE BUDEJOVICE which takes about three hours and then switch to a smaller local line to Cesky Krumlov which takes another hour. This four hour train ride costs 160 Korunas. That’s US$4. Train rides, like everything else, are very affordable in the Czech Republic.