I’ve let myself get a bit behind here, and my memory has, very conveniently, just failed on me. I can’t remember coming into the Czech Republic. My photos are no help. And I’m writing this on the train so can’t get on the internet to read my last blog and try to jog my memory.
I remember leaving Auschwitz in a very squishy minibus. There were only just enough seats for everybody, we had luggage all up the aisle, and it was obviously built for very small people. I’d bribed Kat with lots of chocolate (Kat - remind me to buy you lots of chocolate) to give up her seat, which was right by the door at the very front of the bus, and we’d had a bit of a switcheroo so I was in a single seat and could stick my legs in the aisle, and Adrian was in the very front seat, and Kat got the tiny back seat that I’d originally had. I had sore legs for two days after an hour in that seat. Luckily it was only an hour back into Krakow on that bus, then we hung around at the huge mall which was connected to the train station, and then we got an overnight train to Prague. I remembered!!!!!
The overnight train must’ve been alright. I shared a cabin with Amanda and Kat, and I got the bottom bunk, which was much longer and easier to sleep on than the last overnight train… It must’ve been an uneventful night because that’s all I remember. And Kat just reminded me that she hardly slept at all and was very grumpy when we arrived.
I never did take more photos of our hotel in Prague… It was amazing. It was over a hundred years old and it cannot have been refurbished any more recently than the 1950s. There was a big common area that was four stories high. Our room had all matching furniture, the cupboards and desk and bed ends and bedside tables and chairs all matched. And there didn’t seem to be anybody staying there. It was weird. It was always dead quiet and the lights all had really low wattage bulbs, and they kept most of then turned off most of the time anyway.
It was so good at that hotel though, they let us check in as soon as we arrived, which was something like 730am. So we took our laundry and paid for it to be washed (not something I do very often, it’s usually very expensive and I can do it in the sink almost as well), had something to eat and a coffee, and went for our orientation walk. I don’t remember much of that either but I got some great photos, the clouds were really grey but the sun was still out.
I do remember getting to the far end of the Charles bridge, the one with all the statues and the millions and millions of tourists, and all simultaneously deciding it was time to go. So I went with the usual suspects (Amanda and Steve, Cam and Marsha, Adrian and Kat) to what Tony had recommended as a really good beer garden. The beer was good. We were however the only people there, and the “garden” could’ve used some work. For instance, fixing the boards in the decking that were broken, and installing some plants. Also the generator for the apartments next door started up while we were there and smoked us out with diesel fumes. Good times. Never mind, with that group it didn’t really matter where we ended up, it was always fun.
I don’t actually think we did anything else that day. Oh yeah, I was feeling crappy and sick and exhausted, and everyone else went on a pub crawl and I stayed home and rang my Mum. Apparently they came home in drips and drabs between 1230am and 5am. I was well asleep by then. I can sleep through anything. Marsha and Cameron came into our room at 630am and Marsha said “come on, get up”. I didn’t hear a thing. So Kat went with Cam and Marsha to the Charles bridge, while there were no tourists there. I woke up at 715am and was flipping out because I had no idea where Kat was. I couldn’t figure out if she’d even been home. And I didn’t have a phone number for her, and I couldn’t facebook her because the internet wouldn’t connect. Thank god she came home at about 830am.
I think most of us spent that day at the hotel or very nearby. I went half a block away to H&M. I was feeling really sick and blah and hating on all the clothes in my bag, because they were all really neutral colours and I wanted something bright. I love H&M. I got t-shirts for €5 each.
That night we went to the Buddha bar, which was one of five in the world. Amanda and Steve had been to one in Dubai, and really wanted to go again. It has a very large Buddha as the focal point of the room. It’s probably 15 or 20 foot tall. It says bar but it was actually a restaurant. It was a very nice meal. Tony came with us, which was the first time he’d been out with us in the evening. He usually went with the other half of the group. They were far more likely to take his recommendations on restaurants and so on, where we’d get on the internet and find something we liked the look of.
We had another overnight train out of Prague, but it didn’t leave until 11pm, so we had all day to wander around and enjoy the city. It is a really beautiful city. I finally got to enjoy it!! Last time I went through, when I did my Western Europe trip four years ago, I was really sick the whole time I was there and only got into town once. And then it was so hot and I felt so bad that I turned around and went home again. This time, I spent ages wandering around the streets and enjoying the buildings. I went with Kat to the so-called dancing buildings, which were cool enough but not quite as extensive as we may have imagined. Then we wandered into the Jewish Quarter, because she wanted to check out an old cemetery they’d walked past on the pub crawl. It was interesting because the Jewish people had only been allowed a small amount of space to bury their dead in, for a long time, so they’d had to bury them on top of each other, and layer up the headstones. I had a glance in the gate but didn’t go in for a proper look. I left her there and walked up to the castle.
After that, by the time I wandered back to the hotel, it was 6pm and I was meant to be meeting Kat for dinner. However, she’d found Amanda and Steve and gone to a bar with them, so I walked back into town and met the three of them.
I remember leaving Auschwitz in a very squishy minibus. There were only just enough seats for everybody, we had luggage all up the aisle, and it was obviously built for very small people. I’d bribed Kat with lots of chocolate (Kat - remind me to buy you lots of chocolate) to give up her seat, which was right by the door at the very front of the bus, and we’d had a bit of a switcheroo so I was in a single seat and could stick my legs in the aisle, and Adrian was in the very front seat, and Kat got the tiny back seat that I’d originally had. I had sore legs for two days after an hour in that seat. Luckily it was only an hour back into Krakow on that bus, then we hung around at the huge mall which was connected to the train station, and then we got an overnight train to Prague. I remembered!!!!!
The overnight train must’ve been alright. I shared a cabin with Amanda and Kat, and I got the bottom bunk, which was much longer and easier to sleep on than the last overnight train… It must’ve been an uneventful night because that’s all I remember. And Kat just reminded me that she hardly slept at all and was very grumpy when we arrived.
I never did take more photos of our hotel in Prague… It was amazing. It was over a hundred years old and it cannot have been refurbished any more recently than the 1950s. There was a big common area that was four stories high. Our room had all matching furniture, the cupboards and desk and bed ends and bedside tables and chairs all matched. And there didn’t seem to be anybody staying there. It was weird. It was always dead quiet and the lights all had really low wattage bulbs, and they kept most of then turned off most of the time anyway.
The one photo I did take of our room.
It was so good at that hotel though, they let us check in as soon as we arrived, which was something like 730am. So we took our laundry and paid for it to be washed (not something I do very often, it’s usually very expensive and I can do it in the sink almost as well), had something to eat and a coffee, and went for our orientation walk. I don’t remember much of that either but I got some great photos, the clouds were really grey but the sun was still out.
Old Town Square
I do remember getting to the far end of the Charles bridge, the one with all the statues and the millions and millions of tourists, and all simultaneously deciding it was time to go. So I went with the usual suspects (Amanda and Steve, Cam and Marsha, Adrian and Kat) to what Tony had recommended as a really good beer garden. The beer was good. We were however the only people there, and the “garden” could’ve used some work. For instance, fixing the boards in the decking that were broken, and installing some plants. Also the generator for the apartments next door started up while we were there and smoked us out with diesel fumes. Good times. Never mind, with that group it didn’t really matter where we ended up, it was always fun.
I don’t actually think we did anything else that day. Oh yeah, I was feeling crappy and sick and exhausted, and everyone else went on a pub crawl and I stayed home and rang my Mum. Apparently they came home in drips and drabs between 1230am and 5am. I was well asleep by then. I can sleep through anything. Marsha and Cameron came into our room at 630am and Marsha said “come on, get up”. I didn’t hear a thing. So Kat went with Cam and Marsha to the Charles bridge, while there were no tourists there. I woke up at 715am and was flipping out because I had no idea where Kat was. I couldn’t figure out if she’d even been home. And I didn’t have a phone number for her, and I couldn’t facebook her because the internet wouldn’t connect. Thank god she came home at about 830am.
I think most of us spent that day at the hotel or very nearby. I went half a block away to H&M. I was feeling really sick and blah and hating on all the clothes in my bag, because they were all really neutral colours and I wanted something bright. I love H&M. I got t-shirts for €5 each.
That night we went to the Buddha bar, which was one of five in the world. Amanda and Steve had been to one in Dubai, and really wanted to go again. It has a very large Buddha as the focal point of the room. It’s probably 15 or 20 foot tall. It says bar but it was actually a restaurant. It was a very nice meal. Tony came with us, which was the first time he’d been out with us in the evening. He usually went with the other half of the group. They were far more likely to take his recommendations on restaurants and so on, where we’d get on the internet and find something we liked the look of.
We had another overnight train out of Prague, but it didn’t leave until 11pm, so we had all day to wander around and enjoy the city. It is a really beautiful city. I finally got to enjoy it!! Last time I went through, when I did my Western Europe trip four years ago, I was really sick the whole time I was there and only got into town once. And then it was so hot and I felt so bad that I turned around and went home again. This time, I spent ages wandering around the streets and enjoying the buildings. I went with Kat to the so-called dancing buildings, which were cool enough but not quite as extensive as we may have imagined. Then we wandered into the Jewish Quarter, because she wanted to check out an old cemetery they’d walked past on the pub crawl. It was interesting because the Jewish people had only been allowed a small amount of space to bury their dead in, for a long time, so they’d had to bury them on top of each other, and layer up the headstones. I had a glance in the gate but didn’t go in for a proper look. I left her there and walked up to the castle.
The Dancing buildings...
...a pretty boat...
...the old city gate.
I’d heard that you can walk through the castle grounds for free, and I’d kind of assumed that meant gardens. I was looking forward to finding a nice place to sit under a tree and look at the view and watch the world go by. It turns out that it’s not gardens, but that the castle is made up of lots of different buildings within the castle walls. So in the end I watched the changing of the guard at the front gate, then walked right through without stopping. I still enjoyed it. After that, by the time I wandered back to the hotel, it was 6pm and I was meant to be meeting Kat for dinner. However, she’d found Amanda and Steve and gone to a bar with them, so I walked back into town and met the three of them.
We were sitting around talking, as you do, and we had a few hours to kill, and somehow we got to the point of “we should go to the strip club next to the hotel and get a photo of ourselves in there, just to get Adrian’s goat”. He was talking about strip clubs for the entire trip but nobody would ever go with him. So we all somehow got talked into doing it. Steve was Not Keen, he didn’t want to pay to go to a strip club at 8pm when there was going to be nothing happening, and with three girls to boot. Fair enough really. He agreed to go if he didn’t have to pay to get in. When we got there we found out that it was free entry. Perfect. We’d passed Marsha in the street on the way there, so she came along too. It was an interesting experience. It was the first time I’d been to a strip club, and it was not where I’d expected to find myself while on holiday in Eastern Europe. They were pretty onto us, and they wouldn’t let us take a camera in. Gutted. Never mind. The waitress was not very keen on us either, as you wouldn’t be when you’re relying on your tight t-shirt rather than your excellent service to get you tips. We stuck around for long enough to have a drink, and after about 20min we figured we’d done our time and taken everything that had the club’s logo on it that was within arm’s reach (like the matches I mean, not the waitress’s uniform or anything). We did manage to get a photo on the stairs under the fluorescent-lit logo...
My best Blue Steel. It seemed appropriate at the time.
With Marsha, Kat, and Steve
Photo by Amanda Tilley
It’s never boring!
And so to our next overnight train….
And so to our next overnight train….
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