BERLIN to PRAGUE – aufweidersehn
Thursday – after our big day yesterday I awake refreshed and ready to face another day of travelling. Best part about that is we only have to walk to the station and get on a train. Of course we then have to find our place in Prague – but that is yet to come.
Our train does not leave until 11am so we have our relaxed breakfast then it is back to the room to make sure we have packed everything, then downstairs to check out. At the reception area there is a small souvenir stand where they have pieces of the Berlin Wall in tiny cases. Of course it may not be original pieces but who is to know. I buy one for Kylie and one for me – and now we have our very own piece of Berlin. There is only a short walk to the first of our stations – Stadmitte. We are on the lookout to mail our postcards back home but we can not find a post office nor anywhere that sells stamps. Mmmm – maybe we have to get a pigeon or use owlpost?
After Stadmitte we need to get the train to Friedrichstrasse and then on Berlin HBF where we arrived four days ago.
We are also on the lookout for some lunch to take on the train as we are not due to arrive in Prague until about 3.30pm this afternoon. This will be great – we can relax, eat, listen and watch the world go by. Walking through Berlin HBF we find another great sandwich & coffee shop. I get a salad with cheese in a bowl and a cherry & custard pastry also must have a large coffee.
With everything in hand we head downstairs to our platform and our train. There seems to be a lot of people getting on this train which we think is ours but the board doesn’t say it is so we ask the attendant who confirms this is our train. All the people who got on now have to get off so that everyone going to Prague can get on. It is the Marx Brothers all over again, what a hoot. Our ‘proper’ train has broken down and this is the substitute train. We get into our carriage but it doesn’t have our seat numbers so we go next door to another carriage that does have our seat numbers. This is turning out to be a real giggle and heaven knows where we will end up!
It is the same cabin setup as our train to Berlin which unfortunately is not good for K&T as our ‘real’ train should have had wifi. Life goes on. People who do not have booked seats must take their luck on finding a seat anywhere there is a spare and there is a little asian lady in our compartment who must be in this category. She wonders what has hit her when we arrive but she gets off the train about two stops out of Berlin, we have the compartment to ourselves so we spread out.
The countryside is very pastoral with lots of fields and sunflowers – but the weather is lousy and overcast with spits of rain on the windows every now and again. We see fields with deer and pass stations with familiar names like Dresden as in fine bone china. Sometimes the train travels so fast we don’t get much of a chance to take many Kodak moments, it’s a case of we’ll wait until the train slows down to about 100kph and then hope for the best.
Of course as we pass these most scenic views we have our lunch and of course Tyler just loves to take photos at the most inopportune moments. I put this in so that you can see just how yummy my cherry and custard pastry looks. Let me say that it was just as yummy eating it!
This is a most relaxing journey – not having to drive – well not me anyway – can only be a plus for K&T who in our previous travels have had to concentrate on the road and not on the scenery.
They are both happy either updating journals or reading or playing their computer games. I am happy just to look out the window and have the occasional nibble on an item of food!
Time for the train to slow down just a bit – so a Kodak moment. Doesn’t this look like a fabulous place? Can you imagine what it is like in Winter when there is snow?
I like to think there are roaring fires in every room and pork knuckles and strudel cooking in the kitchens and warming alcoholic beverages being served to meine dammen und herren while they listen to Bach or Beethoven in a sumptuous lounge area – I am getting carried away aren’t I? Well, doesn’t matter – you should realise by now that my imagination takes off without much provocation.
As you can see we have taken over the compartment so I hope we don’t have to get off in a hurry as we will be out of luck! We cross the border into Czechoslovakia – our passports are checked – we don’t get a stamp – that is disappointing and we are let in to the country.
We arrive at what we think is Prague only to be told by the attendant it is not our station and to wait, he will tell us when to get off. I certainly hope he is not related to the bus driver from yesterday!
Arriving in Prague at the right station and early – a bonus – we exit the station and head to the – yep – Tourist Information Centre. We ask them for information on how to get to our hotel – The Austria Suites – and they tell us to catch tram #9 which will take us to our hotel. Sounds easy peasy. They also tell us we should have a map – cost 2 euros. We investigated on the web about Travel Passes for the time we are here but the Tourist Centre does not sell them. We have to get them at a cigarette/newspaper shop. Well, bugger me. We will have to find one before we get on the tram. The Tourist Centre has been most helpful and we head to the tram stop – where there just happens to be a newspaper stand. We get our passes and on we hop.
Our accommodation is not far away and we are here for three nights so we can have a really good unpack as we have a two bedroom apartment which we booked ages ago to secure it for our stay. We get to the reception area and give them our details only to be told by a rather embarrassed lady that someone has given our apartment to some other people but we can have a room with three beds for tonight and then we can change to the apartment tomorrow. Above left is a photo of the courtyard rooms of the Austria Suites. All very nice and quiet and away from the main road out front.
This is one pain in the proverbial. What do you mean we cannot have our room? We booked it ages ago and now you tell us it is unavailable? The lady is most apologetic and does everything she can even offering to get the cleaning staff in to clean the room when they move whoever is in it. Sounds like too much trouble just for one night so after the lady offers us a discount on our room rate we agree to take the single and then move tomorrow. She really is a nice lady and does try her best to placate us but we smile through our teeth as we are still pissed off.
Looks like I get to sleep on a sofa bed once again – we dump our bags and decide to stretch our legs a bit and get some fresh air so we grab our 2 euro map and our travel pass and head on out to explore a bit of Prague. One good thing the tram is practically at our door – so back we go to the city, it is still very overcast so we murmur silent prayers to the gods and hope they will not rain on our parade.
Our first stop will be the Charles Bridge on tram #22 but typical of the day we get off one stop too early and have to check the map on how to get ‘up the river’ so to speak, but first we have to find out where we are. The streets and alleyways are very narrow and closed in but we follow our map and soon find ourselves at the Vtlava River. One good thing is that the tram actually took us across to the other side. This is our first glimpse of the Charles Bridge and as you can see we still have a bit of a walk.
Actually it is good that we got off early as we can take lots of photos of the full bridge and the Vtlava River. The walk along the river is pretty straightforward and in about 20 minutes we are there. We take lots more photos before we actually walk over the bridge to the other side and I am really looking forward to examining this structure more and hopefully we will have fine weather.
It has started to sprinkle as we reach the other side of the bridge so we decide to head back to our hotel and revisit our itinerary for tomorrow. There are many souvenir shops on the Old Town side and I know that we will also give them a closer look. There is also a statue of Charles IV.
HISTORY LESSON : Charles IV 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378, born Wenceslaus, was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor. He was the eldest son and heir of King John of Bohemia who died at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346. Charles inherited the County of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of Bohemia from his father. On 2 September 1347, Charles was crowned King of Bohemia. On 11 July 1346, prince-electors elected him King of the Romans (rex Romanorum) in opposition to Emperor Louis IV. Charles was crowned on 26 November 1346 in Bonn. After his opponent died, he was re-elected in 1349 (17 June) and crowned (25 July) King of the Romans. In 1355 he was crowned King of Italy on 6 January and Holy Roman Emperor on 5 April. With his coronation as King of Burgundy, delayed until 4 June 1365, he became the personal ruler of all the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire.
Well, he certainly was a busy lad. There are so many statues and places of interest that will warrant more than one or two Kodak moments but I will save them for another time. But first we have to decide on what to have for dinner. After looking at several restaurants and take-aways we decide to have dinner at the hotel. There is a restaurant next door ‘ The Austria Restaurant’ so it is close to home and we do not have far to walk.
Looking over the menu I decide on Turkey Breast Medallions with Chestnut Cream Sauce and Caramelised Potatoes – and of course some wine. The food is elegantly served and delicious to boot! The Restaurant is such a cosy little place and I am glad that we found it instead of grabbing take-away from a hole in the wall.
Back to our room where we unpack a few items – shower and get into bed. K&T will have to put up with the Angry Cat for an extra night. We move to the apartment tomorrow and we have a full day of sightseeing.
Highlight of the day : Dinner tonight