Prague

Genuinely the warmest, busiest and most cosmopolitan train to ever leave a station, we were leaving Berlin feeling confident and certainly impressed by what we'd seen.. Against our instincts, we hadn't made a reservation for the 4 hour blast to Prague. This indeed was a grave mistake. Think 1950's style carriages complete with compartments, Compartments full of other heavily laden passengers! Not nearly as romatic as Poirot would have you believe. As the train got into its stride, we were left stranded in the narrow corridor, along with 20 other hapless travellers, each cursing individually the lack of Air Conditioning and writhing in sweaty discontent as others tried to pass them, desperately searching for hurriedly reserved seats. Eventually, a rather surly looking German lady got off, giving us access to the two seats she was carefully holding ransom. Finally able to get a decent view of the scenery without being jostled by large Russian women, we took in a host of spectacular rivers, valleys and manicured pasture. We arrived into Prague mid to late afternoon, through greying industrial heartlands and winding, faded streets. Architecturally speaking, the city is a real melting pot of 17th century grandeur, cheap Soviet Bloc concrete and more modern efforts. It is a staggering Dickensian-like fantasy, with wonderful cobbled streets, dark corners and romantic looking facades.

Prague station is modern and uncompromising. Upon leaving the main entrance, we were hit by a wave of warm, close air and the feeling that we may be more than a little lost. Queue much faffing in deciding whether we could accurately 'guess' where our accommodation was located, based on a rudimentary map downloaded from Google. We eventually picked up a somewhat overpriced station taxi with a talkative but unrepentant driver who navigated the warren of crowded streets with natural endeavour and the odd muttered expletive. Accommodation was basic, but as we were only staying for one night only, it would prove t be perfectly adequate. After a lengthy briefing from our diligent host, we were released upon the early evening streets. A bus ride into the centre of town proved to be a rather hilarious conglomeration of international misunderstandings. A large group of 14 Norwegian Indian's tried to board the bus, hoping to make use of a senior citizens discounted rate. The loud and unabashed local driver on the other hand, who's command of English ran to 'Hurry, Get on bus', had other ideas!! What followed was perfect comedy sketch material, with both parties shouting loudly at each other in vain; "14 tickets.." "40 TICKETS!!!???", "No, 14 tickets…", "You can't have 40 TICKETS!"!! Ever the compassionate traveller, I tried in vain to help out, but only muddied the water further! In the end, everybody boarded the bus and the driver pocketed a couple of extra Krauns! Total chaos and totally in the spirit of the city.

Getting off by the river, we were quickly greeted by the hoards bustling for photo album bragging rights on the Charles Bridge, a marvellously gothic crossing forged in dark stone. We were easily swayed into purchasing a few souvenirs by the industrious local bazaar keepers, our contributions presumably making their way into the local bars and brew houses! We walked the beautiful streets of the old town, constantly in rapture by what we were seeing. Prague old town has an almost Disney like charm to it, at any second bursting into song and life. We settled on the sun drenched Wencelas square, making short work of litre sized beers and slow roasted pork ribs. As night fell, we admired the many thousands of people pouring into and out of the square, all with the same smiles etched upon their faces. Prague has a chaotic, honest quality, matched by the humour and tenacity of its people. We finally left the warm city streets by tram and made our way home, jumping into bed feeling exhausted by totally fulfilled.

We spent the next morning back in the city, exploring some of the smaller streets and generally trying to get a feel for the wider city. After checking out of our digs, we were in transit with our growing bags in the morning sun, on more than one occasion using our luggage to forge a path through the morning herds. We ended up with a few cold beers (trend emerging) and grabbing some bargain provisions from Billa supermarket for the next stop - Vienna. It was a shame that we couldn't spend more time in Prague, as I do think there was another side to be uncovered. But alas, what joy is travel when not in motion!

See you in Austria - Andy and Joey xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx