Dateline: July 12th, 2022 (afternoon)

Now that I had seen a bird’s eye view of the Golden City, I decided it was time to scout out one of Prague’s most pristine neighborhoods from ground level–a neighborhood that was once royal lands, a neighborhood where beautiful buildings are punctuated with several pretty parks, a neighborhood with cosmopolitan restaurants that illustrate Prague’s increasingly international composition.

I am referring, of course, to Vinohrady. I emerged from the steps of the Metro Jiřího z Poděbrad located right in the heart of this historic district. As I did so, I was greeted with 360 degrees of greenery. This metro stop deposits you on the southwestern edge of one park, and just diagonal to you, right across the street, lies another park.

I crossed the main thoroughfare of the aptly name Vinohradská and set to explore the lovely, tree-lined paths amongst the gardens at Sady Svatopluka Čecha. As I did so, I saw something that reminiscent of another major city in which I used to live.

I saw a young man with a portable barber’s kit giving a haircut on the lawn of Sady Svatopluka Čecha. The young man, the barber, had a somewhat respectable operation going on: He had his traveling case of equipment mounted on a table, and his client was patiently seated on a folding chair. He had also staked a a sign into the lawn that read: “Pay for haircuts so you can help us travel.”

“Brooklyn!” I both gasped and exclaimed at the same time. Have you ever seen the Akira Kurosawa film Dursu Uzala? Remember the opening sequence when Captain Arsenyev finds all that is left of his deceased comrade? He sees what he came to find and simply gasps and exclaims, “Dersu!”

Yes, it was that sort of moment. Just as Captain Arsenyev knew what had become of the fate of his close friend, I knew that I would find Brooklyn Hipsiters in Vinohrady. I just knew it.

When the barber heard my gasp/exclamation (gaxclamation?) he paused his hair cutting regimen and turned towards me, as did his client. Oops! My cover was blown. I didn’t bother to take any pictures, I figured it was only a matter of time before a local police officer pulled the plug on this shanty little operation. The idealistic reporter that once resided within me wanted to ask the barber questions, but the veteran reporter who has lived and worked in New York City for ever eight years already knew the answers.

Any question I could ask would have been rhetorical in nature, such as:

Don’t you think it’s a little silly to write your sign in English when most people who read are Czech?

Don’t you need running water in a barbershop?

How many haircuts will you have to give just to recover the cost of your trans-Atlantic plane ticket?

Do you have any sort of business permit for this sort of activity?

As I said, all of these questions have obvious answers. Yes, it’s silly to advertise your business in English, even in expat-packed Vinohrady. Yes, you need running water to give a proper haircut. No, it is not possible to recoup the cost of a plan ticket from New York to Prague by giving haircuts to random-passersby in a public park.

Thus, Vinohrady is much like gentrified Brooklyn: beautiful buildings, pristine public parks, a short subway ride to a major city center, and a plethora of American 20-somethings living off their parent’s money to subsidize their little adventure.

I walked around several of Vinohrady’s fine parks before my hunger got the best of me. There were many fine restaurants of an international array throughout the neighborhood: French, Vietnamese, Mexican, and many others. However, one such local restaurant served simple Czech fare, and everything about that restaurant seemed to speak to me: Sit down, Kevin. Eat here. You will enjoy it. I promise. Sure enough, the local food did not disappoint. A simple plate of meat and potatoes mashed in with a fine vegetable like Nanna Petriček used to make for me was a perfect meal for the occasion.

After eating, I walked the streets a little longer, and headed home. It was hot, I was sweating, so I decided to cool off with another drink atop the city of Prague at the Letná Beer Garden.

Tomorrow is a new day!