Fun or Misery

My parents and sister left yesterday after having been here for a week. We did plenty of sightseeing and extraordinary amounts of eating. And of course we did another segway tour! (Not that I really gave anyone the option.) Our group consisted of Tim and Sue (parents), Laura (sister), Dave (husband), Grayson (classmate and friend), and myself. I had specifically asked for Jerry (our previous tour guide) because he was so friendly and full of great information. I think he was scheduled to have the weekend off, but agreed to meet us at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. We got there and each person went through a trial run without any problems. However, Tim was going very slowly and wouldn't bend his arms and legs which made him look like a very tall robot. Regardless, we were ready for our tour. Before long, everyone was comfortable and we were zipping around Prague like pros. The segways are only allowed to go 10 kph in the city (their max speed is 20 kph) which isn't really fast enough once you get used to it (according to Tim, 10 kph is too fast). We stopped for beverages and fellowship for a bit, and I learned some interesting tidbits about my new friend Jerry:

1. He OWNS the segway tours place with two business partners (he's probably in his late 20's or early 30's) and the business is doing well.

2. He has a degree in Art History from the Sorbonne.

3. He plays the organ and organizes organ concerts in the community.

4. We heard him speak at least 4 languages.

5. He has written and published articles about art history.

All of this came up during our beverage break (because we grilled him-not because he was bragging).

So we were off on the rest of our journey. At one point we were zipping along and I realized that Tim and Sue were no longer behind us. We turned back and saw them at the other end of the, street-they had completely missed the turn and were on their way to being lost forever. Shortly after that, Dave was dismounted from his vehicle while trying to navigate through a tight construction area. He tried to hold on to the segway, but they are designed to right themselves. So when he went down, the segway jerked out of his hands and was standing up straight while Dave was sprawled on the ground-limbs akimbo. He wasn't hurt and it was hilarious.

I talked to Jerry while we traversed and he told me that he was having a party at his house later that night. Since his friends are spread throughout Europe, they choose one person's house to meet for a party once a year. There is a dress-up theme and drink theme-this year was 'rock-star' and gin and tonics. He invited us and gave me his number.

At this point we finished our tour with most of our egos in tact. Everyone had a great time, but Tim says that 'fun' is just too stressful for him to handle on a regular basis.