all i know about bohemia

---

Haven't managed to find an internet connection since leaving Prague until now, and I'm now well immersed in the spirit of travelling - which to m, amongst other things, entails getting bored of places as soon as possible and going somewhere else, which most people find very strange.

I had an epic last night in Prague, not being able to sleep again, I went for a drink at the bar round the corner (the owner of which informed me that people who mix becherovka and coke are weird), and then to the club next to the hostel where they were hosting a free event as a warm up for the "summer of love" festival in pardubice - which I'm now interested in trying to go to sometime, as it looks like glade but about 5 times cheaper and with less psytrance and more drum & bass and techno, so win for me. Anyway, this club night was absolutely ridiculous, both rooms pretty much filled out after about 45 minutes and even before then there were people raving it up from the off - the equivalent monday night in london would probably sport 10 people sitting in a corner sipping white wine after that period of time, so I declare myself super impressed with the clubbing scene over here. When I left the hostel at 4am there were still people from the club crowding around outside it.

At 5:15 I left Praha hlavní nádrazí* (main station) on this zombie train which had come from Košice in Slovakia the previous evening and was on its way through the north bohemian industrial wilderness to the west. I slept for a lot of it, including some of the supposedly "scenic" part between Prague and Ústí nad Labem - the bits I did see weren't all that scenic though, unless you like looking at factories, and every so often it went over a river. The passage from north to west bohemia could not have been much more of a contrast though, moving from Chomutov's crowd of chimneys and council houses into the mountains through which ran the river Ohře, which the line eventually followed into Karlovy Vary, where I was headed.

I am so grateful for my intuition, because that was the only thing that told me we were at Karlovy Vary, and had it not been for it I would have stayed on that train and missed my stop. Karlovy Vary's horní nádrazí* (high level station) was tiny, had no signs, and a building that looked like it was about to fall down, which any rational person would perhaps see as unbecoming of one of the most renowned and exquisite cities in the country. But for some reason, I knew where we were. Walked into the town, which really is quite exquisite, beautiful scenery, definitely a must see for the apparent target audience of the rough guide (people who like to stare at buildings).

Not being one of these types myself, I still found things to do, firstly, ironically in the least exquisite complex within the city, the Thermal (which the rough guide describes as "an inexcusable concrete slab the communists dropped over part of the old town in 1970"). Inexcusable it may be, but from the top of it, which boasts a large open air swimming pool, you can stare at all the non-inexcusable slabs in the city at once AND get some exercise! double win!

Afterwards I spent some good time looking around a lot of the shops further down the river Tepla, but resisted buying anything since they were all reeeally expensive. Then headed up to the old town to find something to eat, and not really wanting to do any of the walks cos I was so tired, left the city from the dolní nádrazí* (low level station) on this.... thing, it basically looked like a croydon tram with huge windows, which worked nicely for the most scenic line in the country. I have to say I love czech trains for a few reasons, firstly all the intercity trains I've been on so far are like the slam door trains the london commuter belt's influx of yuppies had southern, southeastern and southwest trains burn for saucepans a few years back, with compartments and doors you have to open manually. I really miss them. Also, very few stations even have footbridges, if you're getting somewhere from the ticket hall you have to cross the line, which isn't in any way dangerous since none of them are electrified.. and some of the smaller stops you don't even notice are there, just comprising a shed and a blue sign in the middle of a field, with not even a road going up to them.

Anyway, this thing eventually took us to Mariánské Lázně, where I intended to change for Pilsen, but was forced onto a replacement bus service due to engineering works (yes, in the middle of the week!) which took me to another station where I got on the train. Once in Pilsen I found somewhere to stay as soon as I could cos I just wanted to sleep, having not done so properly for 3 days, and found this small b&b (or pension as they're called here) above a bar, where I literally had one beer and then went to sleep for 14 hours.

A normal person might have stayed in Pilsen the next morning (this morning) and actually seen the place, but me? Nah, on with the schedule, keep moving. Had some cheese and ham rolls for breakfast (which seems to be the local delicacy here) and then caught a train to České Budějovice, a city best known for its export - budweiser beer. This has been my favourite place so far - the main square was a good place to sit down with some drink for a while, and was absolutely gorgeous, moreso when seen from the top of the Černý Vez* (black tower), a clocktower (with some hench bells tuned to play A and A6 chords) from which I bought a handful of postcards. The main shopping street also has a nice load of weird sculptures, very simplistic ones, most of which had been graffitoed - not sure whether this is part of the idea though, would seem fitting.

After lunch, caught a small train to Český Krumlov, a UNESCO world heritage site which people keep telling me to visit. It was a lovely little town, but August is probably a stupid time to come here, since it's not very big and it was literally packed, like trying to fit the world's population on the Isle of Wight, which meant people like me just passing through with huge backpacks are not made to feel particularly welcome. I had a look round, bought some stuff from some of the shops, it hurt my head walking into people after some time though and I decided I wasn't going to attempt to go inside the castle or stay for the evening. So, two train journeys later, I am in Tábor, and all events from hereon will be in my next post. Tomorrow I am off to Moravia, the other side of the republic, to check out how different it is from Bohemia. I'm sort of expecting it will be noticeably.

*"nádrazí" and "vez" are supposed to have hacheks on the z's, which travelblog doesn't like for some reason, despite being okay with š, č and ě =/

---

Photos

picture unrelated
when i left prague, i felt like i needed moar of this.

karlovy vary
along the river tepla

what them communists did to karlovy vary
at least people are now using it for worthy advertisements :D

cesky krumlov station
no footbridges, barely even any platforms.. british rail would have a "health and safety" fit, yet it works just fine

cesky krumlov
taken from the top of the hill you have to walk down from the station

Comments

[Lucy]

locations...
you can add your own locations on travelblog...so you should add Tábor then everyone can use it after! Lovely photos my dear. x