As I was leaving my room in Prague’s Metamorphis Hotel, the door latched behind me at exactly the same instant as the door to the next room clicked shut. Dressed for my morning run in black tights and a solid aqua-colored, short-sleeved Pearl Izumi running shirt, I said good morning to the man who had just emerged from the room next to mine and began down the hall.

“Excuse me,” he said in lightly accented American English. I stopped to look back at the tall, brown-haired man who was turning his key in the lock.

“You must lock your door with the key, it’s not automatic,” he reminded me. 

Oh, yeah.” Turning, I dug the key from the tiny pocket inside the waistband of my tights and locked my door. “Thanks,” I said and walked to the elevator.

“My pleasure,” he responded, as he followed me into the small four-person lift.

He looked ridiculous. He wore an oversized, orange and white, long-sleeved T with Rabobank printed across both front and back. Funny, I pronounced it Rob-a-bank in my head. He also had on baggy, NBA style basketball shorts – orange and brown, but a different, not-even-close-to-matching shade of orange – and blue Adidas running shoes. My quick assessment: super-geek!

“Follow me, if you like, I’ll take the most beautiful route I know. 5K ok?” he asked, grinning broadly.

“Sure,” I agreed, grateful for any company, goofy looking or not.

Prague is often called the most beautiful city in the world, and this morning it was easy to understand why. The early morning sun was making the tops of the tallest buildings glow beautifully. There were red roofs atop white walls and gold highlights shimmering brightly. Many of the street lamps were still illuminated, adding to the early morning sparkle.

Together we jogged along the north edge of The Old Town Square to the Vitava River, where a left turn sent us upstream to the Charles Bridge before looping through other parts of the Old Town district back to the Hotel.

The streets were active with street cleaners, gardeners, marble polishers and delivery people. Curiously, many of them grinned broadly and waved at us.

His name was Ben and he spoke sparingly, just enough to point out the sights, but this he did breathing easily. Crossing the square, we saw the magnificent Astronomical Clock and then, along the river, the so-called “dancing building” or “Fred and Ginger” because the architecture resembles a dancing couple.   He asked if I liked to dance. I responded with a nod and a yes. He then pointed out another building, saying it was the best discotheque in Prague, with four floors featuring different music styles