Trainspotting

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Last night all of my train fantasies came true.

We traveled from Prague, Czech Republic to Krakow, Poland via a train and slept in a COUCHETTE!! Our options were as follows: 2 bed, 4 bed, 6 bed couchette, or regular seat. For 8 hours?!?! What do you think?

We got the 6 bunk sleeper. The last three cars of the train were all for sleeping, and I felt very privileged to be shown to my own room. They even provided bedding! (if you could call a starchy cotton sheet and a heavy wool blanket sheets). I was so excited, it was hard to get to sleep. We had two Germans in our "cabin" who spoke little English, so I tried to cross the language barrier by offering up a "guten nacht" when I turned out the lights. They laughed to themselves and went to sleep easily.

I remember waking up sometime last night, disoriented, and wondering why my bed was moving.

The customs officer came through at 2 AM to check our passports at the Polish border. He was heavily uniformed and spoke with a harsh tone (in a language I didnt understand). He quickly examined my passport and moved on. I wanted a stamp for my passport, but decided not to argue after one look at him.

We exited the train at 5:55 this morning in Krakow (thanks to an extra hour, a precious gift given by Day Light Savings). The city is very quiet at that hour of the morning. We were accosted by two homeless people on the way into the city from the train station. I need to pick up some Polish (phrases, that is). We found our way to the hostel and found that the advertised "24 hour reception" is a term that is used loosely. Finally, after pounding the buzzer to be let in, someone answered. Once inside, we learned that our hostel has "no check-out time", so our rooms may not be ready until 1 this afternoon. It does, however, have free internet.

Expect frequent updates from me.

The pictures are from our 2 day jaunt to a tiny town in the southern part of the Czech Republic called Cesky Krumlov. It has a wonderful river winding through it, where a local artist has set up his bizarre body-part art. The rest of the town is full of little shops (of which Bon-Bon is my favorite), tons of "Restauraces", and even its own castle, complete with live bears in the moat (which is no longer full of water). We have eaten extremely well in the Czech Republic, where 1 US dollar is equivalent to 22 Czech Crowns.

As a special treat, I made reservations at a local taverna, where they cook meat over an open fire. Adam loved the view. The rest of the taverna had old wine casks, wooden benches, and low ceilings. We ordered Devils Toast, deciding to try something new. A small loaf of wheat bread and a chunk of white slab came to our table. We decided to try this "Devils Toast" by cutting a piece of the slab off and eating it on bread. We later asked the waiter what it was, and he responded by grabbing his belly and saying, "Specht" which means fat. The real "devils toast" came after our fat faux pas, which turned out to be a large piece of toasted bread, dripping with barbecued sausage. Much better.

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Comments

[Stephanie Perry]

Euro Trip
Have you seen that movie Euro Trip?? The part where they are riding in the train and that strange man won't leave them alone is hilarious! It totally reminded me of what you said about getting a 6 bunk sleeper on the train! LOL! Luckily (and hopefully) you haven't run into any of those types. :) I am totally impressed with you and Adam's navigation skills. By now I would have been so lost...you are really doing everything you can and that is AWESOME! I want to hear all the bits and pieces of foreign language you have picked up on your journey. :)

[Ashley]

did you love prague!??!?! i love the crazy art! the feet are very interesting....be ready for lots of strange food....who knows what you order when you dont know the language!!!