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Hi All,
During the whole planning stage we made a mental list of places we wanted to see. Obviously there is always the problem of wanting to see too many places or the near impossible logistics of getting from one place to another. I would have liked to have added in Budapest and Athens but the logistics of getting there was just too problematic. For me the ultimate European experience would be to tour around Italy but to do that I would want to give at least a month so that my friends is a trip for another time. So I decided to do a small loop; Dublin, London, Paris, Bratislava, Krakow, Prague, and Amsterdam.
Although I am from Europe I never did any travelling other than a week hear or there. It is now one of my great regrets. Please take my advice, if you live in Europe take advantage of the cheap flights as those opportunities to get around so cheaply do not exist everywhere. When I think of all those weekends and public holiday that I spent down the pub, what a waste! I lived in London for nearly five years and I never went to Paris. It is an error I don't wish to repeat and am planning on visiting as many places as I can near where I live. Now that I no longer live in Europe it costs me a bloody fortune to visit and so I will have to wait until the time is right (when I have s*** lots of money).
Getting back to the point, both arch and I wanted to see pretty much the same things and so we decided to travel together where we could and do our own thing for the places that the other couldn't go to. We were a very forward thinking couple. Thankfully we wanted to go to all the same places bar one - Prague. Rach had been there previously and she wanted to go to Split (Croatia). So we split paths in Krakow to rejoin in Amsterdam.
Now to go back to an earlier point about transport logistics I will share with your Rach's experience. From Krakow we were faced with two destinations; Prague and Split. There were no direct flights to either so I decided to get a night train (details to follow) which would take me right into the city centre. This is always a good option as it covers transport and accommodation all in one go.
Now Rach was faced with a different option. She flew from Krakow to London and than later that same day flew from London to Split. That doesn't sound so bad, almost like an indirect flight, just a little stop over in London. Well there is one other thing to consider, which airport are you flying into and out of? Rach flew into Gatwick and out of Heathrow and had about 5 hours in between. So to get to Split she had to sacrifice a day of travelling. Sometimes you just have to do these things.It was also the same to get from Split to Amsterdam. It is more than I could be bothered to do, but Rach wanted to see Split and wouldn't let a little bit of extra travel stand in her way.
The funny thing about all of this is that the flights were the cheapest mode of transport. We would have had to pay £400 for me and £700 for Rach to get an Inter-Rail ticket. Whereas none of our flights cost more than £50.
I am guessing that if you were travelling all over the place than the train would work but I found a combination of train, bus and plane was the best option and far cheaper than just the train alone.
For those of you that know me you will be fully aware of my ability to completely wander off the point for a considerable length of time and than bounce back as if I had never left. It is just something that I do and you will have noticed this throughout my previous postcards.
You may be wondering why I call these postcards when the site calls them blogs? Firstly, the site originally called them postcards and so I went along with that. It obviously makes sense to call it that. However that is not a cool enough word for the internet so somebody decided to change it to a blog. Now that to me sounds like some Disney character - "Rupert, don't go into the cave, that's where the blog lives!" Now I know that it is an abbreviation of web long, but even that sounds like something out of Start Trek! So you will forgive me if I stick to postcard. I also understand that a postcard is meant to be brief, but f*** it it's my site and so I will call it whatever the hell I like. I might even make up a new word. Nevertheless, until that time I am going to stick with "postcard".
When I was in Krakow I heard a few horror stories about the night train to Prague. At first I thought it was Paul trying to wind me up but when I enquired at the hostel about getting train tickets they warned me off it as well. Do I have your full attention now?
The story goes like this, you get on the train and go to your cabin and fall asleep. When you wake up you have a dreadful headache and soon realise that all your stuff is gone, I mean everything. What has been happening is that people were being gassed while they slept. A joke here would be too obvious, so I won't even bother. You can lock your cabin door but it is just a latch and with the correct tool (a ruler would do it) you can open the door from the outside. So they (the bad guys) would gas several cabins, wait for it to take effect and than go from one cabin to the next and take everything they wanted and have plenty of time to do it.
Although this is a scary thought there was no stories of people being hurt, so if I got my stuff stolen than so be it. I was not going to change my plans, plus I couldn't be bothered to put the effort into it, getting robbed is always a fun story to retell.
Be honest, stories of hardship and woe are more interesting. You guys really want to hear about the s*** I had to endure rather than all the fun I had while you were stuck at work. It's true isn't it?
Thankfully, the other people sharing my cabin were backpackers as well and partied all night with pretty much everyone else on our carriage. Thank God for pissheads! You would want to be some fairly confidence thief to take on an entire carriage of people. So when I woke up with a headache and couldn't find my stuff it was a relief that the headache was from beer and I had hidden my stuff during the night in a drunken attempt to keep it safe!
Wow, this postcard is meant to be about my trip to Prague and I am only just getting to the point of telling you about arriving!
So lets get through this in under 500 words! I didn't really know what I was expecting in Prague other than that it is meant to be a beautiful old city. As I got in fairly early I dropped my rucksack off at my hostel and went for a wander. Within a couple of hours I had no idea where I was as the streets are very narrow and weave all over the place. Thanks to a friendly hotel porter I made my way back and decided I should get myself a map! One thing to remember though, explorers never get lost, we go exactly where we mean to go! Just because you don't know where "there" is it doesn't mean that you are lost, you are just yet to learn the name of the place.
Hostels are always a great source of info on what is good to do and see. Pretty much all of the interesting stuff is in the city centre and walking tours cover them all. The other stuff worth seeing are the Budweiser Budvar factory but it is out of town and the tour days didn't fit with my visit.
I decided to be lazy and do an organised walking tour. I checked out a few flyers and they all go to the same places, each going to one other place and pippin themselves as the only tour company to go to so-and-so.So I picked one and went into the main square to meet with them. All I can say at this point is holy s***! I am referring to the huge amount of walking tours and the sheer lack of signage of their tour company names. There was no way I was going to be part of any of this, just the idea of trying to figure out which one was the one I wanted to go with, to hell with that.
I dropped into a local swish hotel and chatted to the receptionist and she gave me one of their maps with all the main sights marked on it - sorted. So off I went on the do-it-yourself-for-free tour. I had organised to spend three full days in Prague, so I thought I could go at my own pace. I have never been a fan of organised tours as I like to wander though places without the time restraints. It didn't take me long to figure out the route that all the companies take so I went up on a hill over looking the river and chilled out for an hour absorbing the sun and taking in the beauty of the city. That way I was well behind the tours and missed them all.
Prague is an amazing city to walk around. There are loads of monuments and buildings to look at and an abundance of cafes to chill out in. As long as you stay a few streets away from the main sights everything is far cheaper. I found a place where a beer was the same price as an espresso! Let all the tourists pay the crazy prices, another reason not to do a tour. I don't want to pay so that the guide can get his kick backs. It's fair enough; I know I would do the same if I was a tour guide. But I am a firm believer that some things need to be experienced on your own in your own time.
I really enjoyed wandering the streets and talking to the locals. I find that when you are on your own and make an effort to chat to people they will do the same. When you are in a group everyone gets caught up in a selling frenzy, they can't stop to talk in case they miss a sale.I also think that the backpacker attire also puts off a "don't sell me s***" vibe.
I am a collector of stories rather than trinkets. How many times do you really see something truly worthy of carting around with you? Most people buy souvenirs to remind them of the time they had, whereas I don't feel that need to obtain possessions. It would explain why I talk so much and write such big postcards. These words are my souvenirs and this website is my mantle piece.
Although Prague is a beautiful city I was able to explore all of it in a day and a half. I spent the first day doing the major sights and the second just going further afield. Around 3pm on the second day the heavens opened. All of a sudden the streets were empty. I got some strange looks from both locals and tourists as I kept walking around. Let me explain why I continued to stay out in the rain. There have been a few times in my life that I have experienced warm rain. When the temperature is super high the rain just doesn't feel cold, but is still chases most people indoors. Getting soaked is an everyday occurrence, so it just depends on your perspective, treat it like a shower and enjoy it or run indoors. If you choose the right music it can be a very pleasant and almost spiritual experience.
By the time I had dried off I ended up on the outskirts of town and saw a big shopping centre - food! While I was there I decided to catch a movie. Well, I had run out of sights and was bored of wandering the shops. I can't even remember what I saw. But at this stage I was just burning up time. Prague is great but two days was more than enough. If you really wanted you could do it all in a day.
I think Prague is famous as it was the one of the first ex-communist cities to really open up to tourists and so has become a stable diet for most people touring around. It didn't hurt when it became the ultimate stag and hen destination due to the cheap prices. As with any destination it doesn't take them too long to realise that they can charge more. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to tour Eastern Europe as I wanted to see these places before they became polluted with foreigners with no regard for the people or their culture. Unfortunately, Prague is already there. So many people going there as it is one of the must see places, but completely miss the real charm of any city, the people. It is a dreadful shame when this happens, but it is the cycle of any tourist destination.
From Prague I caught a night bus to Amsterdam, but more of that in my next postcard.
Until than, Em
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