BAD and I mean REALLY bad start to Prague.

As our train was now running an hour and a half late, we got into Prague at 10.30pm, and not only did we get in later but the train just stopped at some random station that was NOT the one we were meant to get off at. It was as if the driver just went “You know what? I’m beat, this is a good a place than any, I’m going to just call it a night at this station” I am thankful that this station was in Prague, but it still was NOT the station we were told it’d go to, and we did not have instructions on how to get to our hostel from here… things weren’t looking bright. We got off the train along with everyone else (who looked just as perplexed as us) and we went off to see what we could do about getting to our hostel. We looked about, avoided the huge puddles that smelt of nothing but urine (SOOOOOO gross, and smelly!!!) but could not see anything that suggested an easy way to move on, so we went and lined up in the information line, only to be told by the harsh woman in a gruff voice “not help you, he will” and pointed to a shady looking character who lurked near the counter wearing an official looking uniform. I have to say, I didn’t like the ‘feel’ he gave off, it was a little creepy, but we went and spoke to him regardless, asking him to show us on the map where our hostel was, we were happy to walk it… He shook his head and said “not on map, you will need to take taxi, it is far” and walked us to a taxi man, who, once told where we were going, through our bags into the back of his dodgy looking beat up automobile, opened the rusty, creaky doors for us and ushered us in. Chris and I were looking at one another, not sure, not feeling this was right, but going with it… The man took off at the speed of sound, our heads jerking back and me clinging to the door as we whipped around a corner. We fumbled for our seat belts, only to find there was no connecting clicky bit. In the dark Chris jabbed himself on something sharp down the side of the seat (no side effects as yet to anything, we hope it was nothing serious…) We drive past a dodgy looking part of town and my spirits were sinking further and further… then we hear it “tap tap tap tap, bang, bang” and I think “s#*t, this mans car is falling apart as we drive, and it’s on my side, I’m going to fall out of the bloody car, the door’s falling off or something!” and then it happens again, this time louder and Chris and I look at one another with serious “OH MY GOD” faces, thinking “we’re being shot at!!” but then, up in the sky, colors of red, blue and yellow are exploding, and we realize that for some reason, the dodgy part of town are letting off fire works (probably stolen and have to get rid of the evidence… sorry to be so cynical) Happy to be wrong in this instance we both breathed a sigh of relief and 2 minutes later pulled up at our hostel… and the cabbie asked for what was 70 Australian dollars for a whole 4 minute cab ride.

We were FURIOUS, not just at him but also at ourselves. We KNEW we shouldn’t have got in, but we did. We really have to learn to follow our instincts more. We gave him the money we had and then became even more angry as he made a big ‘show’ of trying to find the correct change for us as he claimed in broken English “I not have enough” and then short changed us. Bloody bloody BLOODY rude man!!! We were more than just a little angry. We left him in a furious state, at him, at one another and at ourselves. Not a nice start.

We climbed into bed and slept for a solid time before awaking this morning, where we then heard the news of Michael Jacksons death. I’m not a fan of the man really, I like a few of his songs and will admit that I thought he was quite a talented dancer, but the news didn’t shock me some how. Anyhow, it was an ice breaker for all of us in our dorm, we all got chatting and it was nice to meet the others!

We then went on a free walking tour of the old Prague city with an American guide named Ben. He reminded me of Chris Rock, the manner in which we spoke and the sound of his voice. He was very informative, funny and made history fun. Prague is an amazing old city with such history and charm. I have to say that back in the day I wouldn’t have gone to war against the Prague lot, they were crafty, ballsy fighters!

During WW2 there was news that the Germans were coming. They (the Prague lot) knew they couldn’t out number them or stop them easily, but came up with a quick “make -do –buy- us some –time” plan. They took down all the town signs and road markings that lead to the towns and cities and replaced them with another, a sign that read “Dubcek” So then, the Germans made their way into the towns, the Prague lot fleeing before hand the best they could, and the Germans were radioing one another “so, I’m in Dubcek where are you?” And the other would be saying “but we’re in Dubcek.” and the conversation would go on “well, you can’t be. Where are you? We’re by a river” “but we’re by the river, we can’t see you…” it caused HUGE confusion for the Germans all being at the same town, on the same road as one another but not being able to find one another. I thought it was a very funny, very bright plan by the Praguarians! Then as time went on and Prague went under the communist law there was a time when it was decided that the Prague radio tower must be brought down as it was informing the citizens of too much, so off a few soldiers went to do so. However, word had got out and a call was made for every man who was able, to go and defend this tower. So, picking up many many a lethal kitchen utensil the Prague people went off to the tower, where they defended it the best they could, in the end, the communists were holed up in the basement of the tower.

The tour was really great and really really informative. Our room mates were on this tour too, so, after this we all went over the Charles Bridge where we rubbed the lady statue that is meant to bring good luck, before going for a cheap lunch. The girls from Glasgow were all lovely and it was nice to meet them and have a chat before they caught there train to Munich that afternoon.

We went to the train station to book our next lot of train tickets to Krakow (Poland) and then JUMPED into the pool. It was SOOO hot today. Sweltering, sticky hot. The pool was so nice and refreshing! But, then as we swam in the (indoor) pool, a thunderstorm started and it POURED down once more. Typical Eastern Europe weather we’ve come to know.

Deciding to have a quiet night in as we have to move on tomorrow, we thought we’d make use of our ‘free welcome drink card’ that we received when we arrived, for the pub next door. We honestly thought to have the one and then be back to pack and sleep, but it didn’t work out that way.

We met a hilarious Australian bloke named Jack, who had us in stitches all night with his funny stories and quick wit and from here our new group of friends grew, meeting another beautiful Australian girl Bonnie and an amazingly gorgeous British lass Izzy. We had a lovely night, laughing, dancing, chatting, playing cards and drinking way too much beer, but it was FUN and it was just what we needed after our bad start to Prague!

written by  Chris and Emily on June 26, 2009 from Prague, Czech Republic
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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