Fun and games getting to Prague from Wroclaw, Poland! The train was too slow so we booked a bus, via a Czech travel company, as it was the only one that left at a reasonable time. It didn’t show up. At all. Arriving at the bus station 15 minutes early, the bus wasn’t showing up on the board, so maybe we were in the wrong place? Suddenly, no-one spoke English, including the amazingly unhelpful woman at the enquiry desk. The departure time passed and an employee from another bus company said “well, that bus is coming from the Ukraine, it may be many hours late”! Luckily, we were able to get seats on another bus that got into Prague, albeit later than we wanted. Generally, I find that Central European websites for train and bus are significantly more unreliable and non functional than those in Western Europe or the US. Also, in future, I would stick with well known multinationals where possible, such as Flixbus, and avoid buying cheap tickets through 3rd party travel agents. In addition, there are far fewer express train connections between big cities when border crossing is involved so you’ll definitely end up looking at buses and other ride sharing options.
Struggling a bit in how to deal with writing about Prague as it’s a place that many people have visited and y’all probably don’t want to hear about the rise and fall of European empires again. The old town and Castle are certainly picture perfect but most of your photos are going to be obscured by masses of selfie toting tourists, so, instead let’s touch on everyday life here plus a few weird bits and pieces.
While both Abby and I have been sick on this trip, I’ve managed to get stuck with a chronic bacterial infection in my nose/sinus/throat so I have to visit a clinic. It went quite well in that I snagged the antibiotics I desperately needed, and they did go through the process of prescribing biotics to balance the system plus recommend Vitamin C, magnesia, echinacea, garlic, ginger etc and I get an official looking report to file with our insurance when we get home.
Funnily enough, Prague home of the pig knuckle, has a number of vegan restaurants. Country Life, right next to the central square, is amazingly cheap and quite good, though the fake beer doesn’t cut it.
Prague also has a unique and off-beat tradition of “Black Light Theater” which has a Disney on magic mushrooms feel to it. Visual illusions using UV light and blackout costumes, vaguely psychedelic props and much flying around as a dream-like Alice in Wonderland coming of age tale unfolds. Not something you come across often and worth a look.
There was a strange incident on our walk up to the castle when a stylishly attired middle aged lady, armed only with a crappy tourist map, asked me how to get to the castle. This was a little unusual as we were already on the road to the castle and it was close by . I was checking the route on my phone for her while she hovered when Abby came out of the bathroom and the lady took off. Abby asked me if I still had my wallet and I did not! The lady had vanished. Panic ensued and I Uber’d back to the apartment to check and found I’d left it there after all! Not sure what to make of it all – I was possibly being set up and Abby disrupted it but it was weird how Abby thought something was up and weirder still that I didnt even have a wallet to steal at that moment. Or maybe we’re just paranoid or maybe we needed to start paying attention to our gear after Poland seemed so safe. This is what happens when you’ve been on the road for a while.
There’s also some myth that goodies such as Cannabis and cocaine are available in the Czech Republic legally. I’m here to tell you folks that this is not the case, even though there are gaudy “green” tourist stores displaying alluring bottles and packages that seem to indicate otherwise. There should be a mob of unsatisfied customers, though I guess most of them are just embarrassed that they tried to buy illicit goods in the first place.
The last night in town we catch a live show at the Roxy, “Polemic” who are a ska/reggae/punk band from Bratislava in Slovakia. There’re along the lines of the 90s ska bands like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and it’s not bad at all. The Roxy is a cool little club, the people are generally AOK and the beers are $2. Unfortunately, I take too much advantage of the great drink deals and make a large dent in my physical recovery which will carry over into Hungary, our next stop.
Well, we didn’t tell you too much about Prague’s historical wonders, sue me we’ve been on the road a long while, so come and see yourself, but I’d advise you to come out of season or you’ll be in a rugby scrum half of the time. Come to think of it, I would not entertain any part of Europe South of Scandinavia during the Summer – Too damn hot and way too many tourists, like us. The Czech Republic seems fine but, if we return, we’d visit smaller towns next time.
Budapest here we come. Hope I get well soon, maybe my attitude will improve.
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