Final Word from Friday, January 20, 2006
Prague is a wonderful tourist destination, and the growth in the number of visitors attests to this, but the city has been getting some bizarre press lately. The hit torture movie "Hostel," which was shot in Prague, makes the city at times look grim and dismal, although the terrifying action is mercifully supposed to take place in Slovakia. Then there is Paul Giamatti, the "Sideways" star who shot "The Illusionist" in Prague. Giamatti told Conan O'Brien on national U.S. television that Prague is a "wacky place." He said it's overrun with drunk English tourists on sex tours. Never having been to Prague, Conan wondered what a sex tour is and how to sign up for one. "They drive you down the street and point out the Gypsy hookers," Giamatti said. He added that Prague is the intense kind of place where you feel you might wake up missing a kidney. Especially, no doubt, if you stay at the world-famous torture hostel. [Czech Republic Bratislava NBC Late Night tourism]