Off to Prague. But I'll take my time. Trains run every two hours and I'm in no rush to get there. I'll take my time, exchange Euros for Czech Koruna, then head off. In our room there's a couple we met yesterday, Sam and Chris, who are packing up as well. Sam tells me she and Chris are headed off to Prague, but they're on a later train than I am. Eventually I'm all packed up and I head out of the hostel. I say goodbye to my friends Christian and Alex who are staying in Berlin, exchange currencies, and head to the train station. After waiting on the platform for a while, the train pulls up. It's got a bunch of compartments in each car, each having six seats. In the car I've boarded they're all reserved so I walk through the train with a hoard of people in front of me looking for seats. In the next car someone says hi to me as I'm walking past. It's Sam and Chris. They caught an earlier train and have seats in one of the compartments. There's two available, although they are marked reserved, but I sit there anyways. After the train leaves the station two girls approach me and claim the seats. When I leave the compartment i decide to sit in the hall since there are people already sitting there.
All the seats must be full.
I take a seat out in the hall near the door so I can talk to Sam and Chris. They're dating and just finished university at Nottingham. They're traveling Europe for a few weeks and decided to go to all the cities that they wouldn't do on a weekend trip.
"It's easy for us to take a train from London to Paris for a few days."
They're a nice couple. He's a tall, good looking guy and she's shorter with blonde hair and pretty as well.
After a few hours, a man in their compartment is getting off the train so I swoop in on the seat before anyone else can. Sam and Chris and I continue talking. They're in Prague for two nights, just like I am. I tell them about the trip I have planned to Cesky Krumlov. It's a walled city 3hrs south by train or bus. It's a gorgeous city that's been recommended to me by friends back home. I'll be going on Monday in two days time to sightsee and either rent a raft or do a rafting pub crawl. I invite them along. They say they'd like to come if they can, and it seems to fit with their schedule.
Awesome.
We exchange contact information and make plans for Monday, but I'll email them before then to see if they're still on board.
Eventually the train comes to the station and we part ways. They're in a different hostel although it's near mine. I headed off to reserve a seat on my train to Munich in a few days, which again "wasn't necessary," then I headed off to the hostel.
Hostel One is awesome. Ita got a bar, free computer access, a kitchen with utensils, and a BBQ. It's got 6 floors and a basement. Of course I'm on the 6th floor. Elevator is broken.
Take a hike, kid.
After putting down my stuff I head downstairs to ask Hugo, the guy at the reception, where I can go to get some authentic Czech cuisine. He recommends Usado, highly.
Sounds good to me.
The walk to Usado is a short one, and on the way I pass another TV tower like the one in Berlin. It's got statues of babies or aliens, I can't tell which, crawling all over it.
What's with these Eastern European TV towers.
I sit down in Usadu and the place looks authentic. Everything you can imagine is hanging from the ceiling of this place and there's a burly woman, who's either pregnant or has had too much beer, walking about the place serving up mugs of Czech beer. I order a beer, and a "Bramburger." It's a piece of chicken stuffed between two Czech potato pancakes and covered in a creamy sauce and mushrooms. It's very heavy, but delicious. Thick, but manageable. I quite like it. The beer is good as well. It's got texture to it. Unpasturized. Dinner and a beer costs me 200Kc. It's cheap.
After dinner I'm thoroughly stuffed so I head back to the hostel in time for the bar to open down in the basement. One of the guys from my room, Tyler, is heading down there too. He's from Calgary, Canada. The bar has a cold, damp basement feeling. It doesn't take long for that to change. After everyone piles in it soon becomes a steaming sauna with sweat heavy in the air. It's gross. A girl from New York and I take on a team of guys from Canada and win, marking our first international victory. We leave the table with a perfect international record.
At the bar, a big Aussie is serving up beers for 15Kc, which is roughly 75 cents. It's cheaper than water. The hostel also gives out a free shot when you buy your first beer, and a free beer if you 'like' them on Facebook.
At the bar, the clock strikes midnight.
All the seats must be full.
I take a seat out in the hall near the door so I can talk to Sam and Chris. They're dating and just finished university at Nottingham. They're traveling Europe for a few weeks and decided to go to all the cities that they wouldn't do on a weekend trip.
"It's easy for us to take a train from London to Paris for a few days."
They're a nice couple. He's a tall, good looking guy and she's shorter with blonde hair and pretty as well.
After a few hours, a man in their compartment is getting off the train so I swoop in on the seat before anyone else can. Sam and Chris and I continue talking. They're in Prague for two nights, just like I am. I tell them about the trip I have planned to Cesky Krumlov. It's a walled city 3hrs south by train or bus. It's a gorgeous city that's been recommended to me by friends back home. I'll be going on Monday in two days time to sightsee and either rent a raft or do a rafting pub crawl. I invite them along. They say they'd like to come if they can, and it seems to fit with their schedule.
Awesome.
We exchange contact information and make plans for Monday, but I'll email them before then to see if they're still on board.
Eventually the train comes to the station and we part ways. They're in a different hostel although it's near mine. I headed off to reserve a seat on my train to Munich in a few days, which again "wasn't necessary," then I headed off to the hostel.
Hostel One is awesome. Ita got a bar, free computer access, a kitchen with utensils, and a BBQ. It's got 6 floors and a basement. Of course I'm on the 6th floor. Elevator is broken.
Take a hike, kid.
After putting down my stuff I head downstairs to ask Hugo, the guy at the reception, where I can go to get some authentic Czech cuisine. He recommends Usado, highly.
Sounds good to me.
The walk to Usado is a short one, and on the way I pass another TV tower like the one in Berlin. It's got statues of babies or aliens, I can't tell which, crawling all over it.
What's with these Eastern European TV towers.
I sit down in Usadu and the place looks authentic. Everything you can imagine is hanging from the ceiling of this place and there's a burly woman, who's either pregnant or has had too much beer, walking about the place serving up mugs of Czech beer. I order a beer, and a "Bramburger." It's a piece of chicken stuffed between two Czech potato pancakes and covered in a creamy sauce and mushrooms. It's very heavy, but delicious. Thick, but manageable. I quite like it. The beer is good as well. It's got texture to it. Unpasturized. Dinner and a beer costs me 200Kc. It's cheap.
After dinner I'm thoroughly stuffed so I head back to the hostel in time for the bar to open down in the basement. One of the guys from my room, Tyler, is heading down there too. He's from Calgary, Canada. The bar has a cold, damp basement feeling. It doesn't take long for that to change. After everyone piles in it soon becomes a steaming sauna with sweat heavy in the air. It's gross. A girl from New York and I take on a team of guys from Canada and win, marking our first international victory. We leave the table with a perfect international record.
At the bar, a big Aussie is serving up beers for 15Kc, which is roughly 75 cents. It's cheaper than water. The hostel also gives out a free shot when you buy your first beer, and a free beer if you 'like' them on Facebook.
At the bar, the clock strikes midnight.
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