We bought our train tickets to Bréclav, a town right over the Austria-Czech Republic border. We had heard that it was much cheaper to travel in the Czech Republic. Rather than buy the ticket from Vienna to Prague, we would buy our ticket in Bréclav for Prague.
The plan would have worked perfectly, too. We bought our tickets in Wien, spent our remaining schillings on miscellaneous junk, and got on the train, where the customs officials checked our passports at the border crossing. When we got off at Bréclav, the person who changed money didn't speak any English, but worse, would not take any traveler's cheques nor credit cards. We only needed $6.50 for each of our tickets, but we had trouble raising it because we had spent most of our extra schillings and they wouldn't take the few coins I had. Luckily, I had a few single dollar bills left, and we were able to purchase our ticket.
When we arrived at the train station in Praha, we were noticed by a tall, skinny man with long, blond hair and a scraggly beard. He was noticeably drunk. He showed us a postcard of a pension he wanted to take us to, but Suhad was nervous. I thought that despite his 'shadyness' we could probably trust him, and when we arrived at the pension, we were met with a woman with a baby. The Pension à Dudaka was an extremely cheap place to stay at $15 per night per person.
On our way to the pension, our guide showed us a place to change money with a lower commission, and how to buy a 3 day pass on the trains/metro/bus system. It was for these reasons and a few other that I figured we could trust him.
We ate dinner at the restaurant below the pension, and puzzled through the Czech menu. I asked the waiter if he spoke English or German and he asked me if I spoke German. So, we communicated in German. We got a pepper steak dish and a cheese-covered salami dish. And I can't forget the 1 L of beer for 25 Kc or 85 cents. The Czech Republic is the home of the origins of Pilsn-style (pilsner) beer, so the rest of the world is indebted to them.
The next morning on the subway, there were train inspectors, making sure every tourist had proper fare cards. Of course, one singled out Suhad with her Lonely Planet in her hand and demanded 200 Kc because we had not filled out the back of the 3 day pass with her name and birthday, despite the fact that the card had been time stamped. I told him that we didn't have the money with us and couldn't pay, and he just told us to leave and write on the back of the passes. This was an example of what we didn't like in the Prague--that there was a targeting of tourists for money; example: more expensive English language-menus.
We headed to Prague Castle (Hrad Praha) where most of the oldest buildings in Prague are located. We visited the free-of-charge military museum, and then entered the castle where we saw St. Vitus cathedral, an awesome, incredibly well-preserved cathedral, with intact stained-glass windows and very impressive Baroque interior. I was surprised considering that both the Nazis and Communists had governed Prague, but perhaps in the former's case, they may have felt different about Czechoslovakia since they annexed the country. Hell, they even have crown jewels in Prague.
We also visited Franz Kafka's home in the Hrad. On seeing the size of his home, I could see why he was able to write the "Metamorphosis". His house was one of the many small houses built along the outer wall surrounding the Hrad. It was truly puny, about half the size of an average American home's living room. Now it sells tourist items.
From the Hrad we walked south where we visited the Wallenstein Gardens, named after the nobleman who was an important figure during the Thirty Years' War. It is now the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture and has an interesting-looking artificial cave wall. Then we went to St. Nicholas' Church before heading to Karlov Most or Charles' Bridge, the most famous bridge in Praha. The oldest bridge in Praha (1357) and the only one crossing the Vitana River for centuries, it is lined with 30 statues of various Czech figures, including several saints. Now, it is lined with many vendors selling all sorts of trinkets and art for tourists.
We then walked to the old town square, Stare Mesto. Located there is the famous Gothic astronomical clock of Prague (1410) which has an automated show every hour on the hour, like the Glockenspiel in Germany. Around the square is a monument ot Jan Hus, St. Nicholas Church, Tyn Church, and within walking distance is the oldest part of Prague University (1348). Needless to say, we were very tired of visiting churches at this point and so we skipped most of them by basking in the sunshine and people-watching.
Well, it was time to head home and pack our bags. We had saved one day on our 5 day Europass and were going to use it to take a train to Paris the next day. If our plan worked, we would arrive in Paris around 11:00 PM the next day. If it didn't then we would have to stay a night in Munich. We wouldn't know until the very end.
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