Another City, Another Adventure

It wouldn’t be a good trip if there weren’t good stories to tell, right? Well, let’s start our story with Sunday morning, going to the train station. Our hotel in Berlin was only about a ten minute walk to the train station, so instead of catching a cab, we walked, which was very reasonable, however with all the extra weight in a suitcase and backpack, it was quite a trek! We made it to the train station with plenty of time to spare and tried to find our track. We looked for several minutes and didn’t see anything that made sense, so we finally found someone and showed them our ticket. It is always a bad sign when you show someone who works there something and they look confused, as this individual we found. Finally, he figured out that we were just at the wrong station. (Berlin has 4).

Ok, so looking at the clock, it is 10:27 and our train leaves at 10:46, what is the next step? Thankfully, he said that the train we were standing next to would take us to the correct station in 4 stops. So, we did not have time to buy a ticket and thankfully no one asked us for one. We jumped on the next train (remember when I say jump, we have 50+ pound suitcases, backpacks, and purses) and headed east. The train could not have moved any slower… we watched the clock tick…

We finally arrived at the correct train station at 10:41, split up and looked at maps and information booths. We found one that had our train and something that said track 2, so we ran with it, literally. Down four sets of escalators and stairs, we found our way to track 2, jumped on the train (again, picture the extra supplies) and within a minute the train was moving. Amazing…

Luckily, the train was not crowded and we were able to each have two seats so that we could read, nap, watch the scenery pass by, listen to music and discover things about the city we were about to explore!

I saw lots of those giant windmills as we passed through the country side. I am amazed at how well other countries are doing with finding new ways for energy as well as the trash that they produce. Most of the trash bins in public places in Berlin were actually divided into 4 – a section for plastic, paper, waste and something else… I was so impressed, but upset at the same time as I remembered that Alabamians throw away more than twice the national average of daily waste.

Mom had asked me what the scenery in Berlin was like. It was very flat, no inclines whatsoever, and I really couldn’t see mountains in the distance either. I would like to look at a more detailed map when I get home. Leaving Berlin though, we went through a beautiful, extremely varied array of landscape. We saw rolling hills, vineyards on the sides of mountains, and fields full of poppeys. The houses we passed were those typical of what you would picture in the mountains of Austria or Switzerland, great little, simple houses. We passed several areas of places that we may could compare to trailor parks, however calling these that is a complete put-down. They were tiny houses, I would compare them to the size of my dorm room at Auburn, but they were beautiful, complete with lacey curtains and a small garden outside. They were all in large groups, so these tiny houses were almost on top of each other, and yet they were all incredibly tasteful. Just beautiful!

I had grabbed a sandwich before we left for this 5-hour train ride. I have really enjoyed just the sandwiches here. I usually get a ham and cheese, but remember that it comes on a beautiful baguette, not just plain old bread. If you know me at all, you know that I typically don’t add things, like salt, pepper or butter to my food. Well, the Europeans for some reason make their plain ham and cheese sandwiches with butter on them. I don’t know who thought of that, but I think they are brilliant!

We crossed the border into the Czech Republic, somewhere during our train ride and some police came on the train, just walked up and down, I guess letting us know that they were there. They were pretty serious looking, with their guns in belts and no smiles. When two of them passed my seat, they stopped for a second. Being a bit nervous, I turned to see what they were looking at and realized they were smiling at Happy. Happy is my world-traveling stuffed dog. He has traveled to New Zealand, Australia, Alaska, Europe four other times and all over the United States. When I was younger, he traveled with me to Israel and Egypt where he encountered another curious guard. At the border of Egypt, a very scary place, the guard called me up to the window. He took Happy from me (a very frightening thing!), and began playing with him as if he were a puppet. Perhaps I named him well, perhaps he makes all sorts of people happy. I know that I’m 24 and travel with a stuffed animal, but why would I want to put a stop to his incredible adventures? J

This is completely off subject, but then again I was just talking about a stuffed dog, but I forgot to say something about Paris that I had wanted to include. In front of Notre Dame is a huge square, called the Court of Miracles. I had always heard that and just assumed that it was in front of a church and the “miracles” part of the name had something to do with that. However, there are always gypsies and beggars in this square. It is called the Court of Miracles, because at sundown, when all of the gypsies go home, some of them who had had crutches or some other crippling issue; miraculously could walk again without the crutches. I just thought that that was interesting and I wanted to share before I forgot!

We arrived in Prague and made a guess at which train station to get off at. I’m not sure we made the right decision, but we are here safe and sound, so nothing else really matters. The first business was to go to an ATM and get money. The Czech Republic is not on the Euro, so we had to get different money to spend during our time here. The money here will be a challenge to my math skills. For each amount that we see, we must divide by about 15 to get the equivalent price in US dollars. So, something that says 300 here is actually only about $20.

We had all read in our books that we needed to be cautious of scams in Prague. We should never really feel unsafe, but that people here loved taking advantage of tourists, especially if giving back change for things, like they may “accidentally” count wrong. We had also been warned that the taxi drivers loved to take advantage of tourists just off the train and that they would charge us way too much. We watched an American couple go up to the taxi driver and then turn and walk away. Since they appeared to be used to this area, we asked them what had happened. They said that the driver had tried to charge them way too much money, so that they were going to take the metro. We decided that we had conquered the metro in two other cities, that we could surely do it here!

The metro here only has three lines, which makes things easier, than the 15-25 lines we were used to. We found a map and figured out what we thought was the closest stop to our hotel, then we figured out what type of ticket we should purchase. Only problem was that the ATM had just given us thousand dollar bills (about $65) and the machines for tickets only took coins. So we bought snacks and drinks at the metro store and then purchased our tickets. Man, we were proud of our accomplishments.

We jumped on the correct metro train (again, remember the jumping and the extra weight that is still with us). We got off at our destination several minutes later and began walking towards our hotel. This next part of our journey will later be described to my grandchildren as that we were barefoot, in the snow, it was 18 miles and uphill the whole way. No, it was nowhere near that bad, however all of the streets here are cobblestone (which I love!), which adds a new level of difficulty when rolling a suitcase. We walked to one corner, only to realize that we were fenced in and had to walk back a block in order to get outside of the fence. We walked probably a mile and a half pulling this luggage on cobblestones, with our callused hands when we began feeling some sprinkles. I believe it was at this time when we walked passed a pub that was blaring High School Musical 2’s “You are the Music in Me.” It is one of my favorite songs and somehow gave me a whole new burst of energy. Perhaps it was just the fact that a pub was playing High School Musical!

Nevertheless, after our travels, we did finally reach our hotel! It is very simple, but plenty of space for us! There are two rooms, a bathroom, a couch, a small table and a small hallway in between. The funny thing is that the only decoration in our whole “suite” is a fake tree. There are no paintings on the wall, just a tree in a corner.

We stepped out of the hotel and decided to wander. I typically have a very good sense of direction and manage to find my way around most places, however, I started off on the wrong foot here thinking I was headed in one direction, then just got more and more turned around. When that happens to me, because it usually doesn’t, I get really frustrated and can’t make sense of things. The roads are not organized into blocks at all, so that is part of the problem, but did not at all account for the mis-directions going on in my head! Oh well, my goal for today is to get oriented and not get lost again!

I sort of liked just wandering though, this really is a beautiful city. This city was the only major city in Eastern Europe to escape bombs of the 20th Century wars. So the “age” that I felt Berlin was lacking is all over the place here! The roads, of cobblestones, are narrow and the buildings are old and beautiful. While I have much to learn about the history of this city, I know that this country only gained their freedom about 20 years ago, so they are still enjoying the fact that they are their own country. Perhaps that is why they have chosen not to become part of the Europe Alliance and switch to the Euro.

This is also the home of Wenceslas, whom you know from the Christmas carol. “Good King Wenceslas last looked out on the feast of Steven.” He was a wise and good king of the 10th Century. He was one of the few kings that was well-educated. He made wise decisions for the country, is credited with Christianizing the nation, improving culture and making smart alliances. After his death, the people so loved him, that he was canonized as a saint.

There is also a cathedral here dedicated to Saint Nicholas. I cannot find any more information in my book, so I must do some research somewhere to see if this is in fact where Santa Claus first started doing his good deeds! I’m excited to learn and see more!

We made it to the Old Town Square just in time to see the famous clock chime the next hour. We joined several hundred other tourists to watch as a skeleton rang a bell, which called out the twelve apostles who then went back into hiding with the rooster crowed. It was pretty neat, especially to think that it was built hundreds of years ago. We cannot yet figure out how to read the clock itself, it is quite complex, but perhaps we will figure it out during our stay!

The square, last night, was the center of a huge festival of some sort. We started watching the people and realized that the Czech Republic must have been playing a soccer game last night, so we decided to join the tailgating party. There were hotdog and drink stands all around the square. We enjoyed a Czech hotdog, which was a giant piece of sausage in a baguette, delicious, as we sat on the cobblestone ground surrounded by lots of people!

A band came on the stage and sang several songs, in a different language, that got the crowd going. Then, we were surprised to hear the YMCA as well. No one really seemed to know the dance, but we of course did the dance in the middle of the square and no one really seemed to care.

At 8:45 the game began. We were forced to stand up so as not to be trampled. I really don’t know how many people were there, several thousand I assume though. The game was played on two giant screens. I cannot tell you how much fun it was to be in the center of all of the cheering, joining in, cheering for the Czech team! The first half, Czech scored two beautiful goals and the crowd went wild. I was so impressed with the class of the crowd as well. Sure, people were drinking, having a good time and loud, but I didn’t hear many boos towards the other team, and each time their team took a shot, even when it was missed, they clapped. It was very different that American football games in the south!

The weather here was noticeably warmer when we got off the train, but as night fell, I was thankful we were so tight in the crowd that my chin was practically resting on the boy’s shoulder in front of me because it kept the warmth in!

In the last few minutes of the game, Turkey ended up scoring three goals, and despite the fact that the Turkey goal was thrown out of the game for pushing someone, the Czech team couldn’t rally back. Again, though, I was impressed with the class of the crowd. While people were obviously disappointed, no fights broke out and I didn’t hear any yelling at the Turkey fans who were there, none of that.

I am so glad that we happened upon that event in the square, it made for a marvelous first night in Prague! Although it is raining this morning, I am still excited and eager to see more of the city!