8 - Hamburg - Prague

Day 8

After a few days and some late nights in and around Hamburg I headed for Berlin with a view to staying overnight in Prague. I had not been to Berlin before despite having lived in Germany for much of my life. Although I would not have much time, this was an opportunity to take a quick look. I take an early U1 back into Hamburg center and get off at the main station. Trains to Berlin are regular so I do not bother with a reservation, as the journey only takes an hour and a half. We leave Hamburg and arrive on time in Berlin's Hauptbahnhof (main station), with its vast glass facade. A short distance away from the main entrance, tourist boats plough up and down on the River Spree. On the other side of the river was the 'Grosser Tierpark', a large park with zoological gardens. The 'Reichstag' can be seen from the main station and it was a short walk away on the opposite bank. Much of the area outside the station is open with wide pedestrian walks, footbridges and expanses of grass. There was none of the hectic traffic usually found outside most central stations. I only had an hour and not having Internet or a map I was unsure of where best to go,  maybe I should have planned my visit better. In the end I saw enough to leave with a positive impression and with the intention to visit again when I have more time and am better prepared. I returned to the station to catch my train to Prague.

Berlin Hauptbahnhof

The Czech train was old style with cabins seating 6 people and long corridors down one side. I had no reservation and it was quite full but I soon found one compartment with an unreserved seat. A young lady was sat by the window who was going to Prague to give a presentation on Romani music at the annual Khamoro festival. We were joined by an American couple from Seattle and in the confined space conversation between us was easy and interesting. The art of conversation has since been lost with the new open plan type carriages, smartphones and laptops. Not that I was ever particularly good at social conversation anyway. 

Following the River Elbe through Germany

The train seemed to follow the River Elbe most of the way, making for picturesque views framed in the train's windows. Oh I do like trains, they are quick, efficient, there is no swerving or hard braking and you get an ever changing scene out of the window. You can get up, have a wander or even a jog and visit the local restaurant. You can even sleep in reasonable comfort, what other mode of transport can compete with that! As we neared the border, custom officers knocked on our door wishing to see our passports, After carefully scrutinizing each passport they handed them back and left with the same seriousness they had on arrival. After Bad Schandau near the Czech border all the seats in our cabin except mine were reserved until Prague. When the train stopped at Bad Schandau our cabin was invaded by school children who had reserved the seats. The young lady also has no reservation so I offered her my seat, as I had decided to move out along with the American couple. I retired to the restaurant car, my favourite place, passing several empty cabins along the way. The restaurant was empty but for one train official eating his lunch at the only dinning table. The dinning table was semi circular affair with 3 seats and fixed below a window. I bought a beer and propped myself opposite at a window bar.  The American couple joined me soon afterwards and ordered two ciders. When the train official had finally finished his lunch we grabbed the table. It was the perfect place to chat, drink and watch the world go by and in no time we had arrived in Prague where we all went our separate ways.

A stunning landscape on the way to Prague

I am completely disorientated when I exit Prague station and with no Internet I am unable to locate where I am. I wander back and forth outside the station dragging my noisy suitcase looking at glass framed town maps posted on pillars. Wherever I was, I knew it was a fair walk to the hotel I had recently booked, so I found a taxi and showed the driver my Booking.com hotel address on my mobile. Twenty minutes later I was deposited outside the Congress and Sport hotel, a big modern multi-story block. The hotel is excellent and very cheap, although a fair trek to the station. Taxi's can add a lot to overnight hotel costs as even the shortest journey can cost 10 euros, adding an extra 20 euros or more to hotel bills. Luckily a tram line ran past the station and trams stopped directly outside the hotel so in the morning I could use it instead of a taxi.

Prague's city skyline as the train pulls into the station.

Once I had unloaded my gear on the fifth floor of my hotel, I went out for a stroll to inspect my surroundings. Although I had been to Prague twice before I was in an area unknown to me and a long way from the usual tourist spots. It was in a part of the city that was a little run down but with beautiful old building suggesting an wealthy past. I could no longer use euros here although the Czech government was planning eventually to change over. I had only changed twenty euros at the station and the taxi had claimed half, so my remaining 270 CZK was not going to get me very far.

At a supermarket I bought water - always essential on these trips, in fact buying water and taking a piss consumed much of my daily allowance, as sadly these days a free piss at any station was rare. With a small bottle of water costing up to 2.60 euros on some trains and at some stations and a pee one euro, it all added up. I eventually solved this partly by having a pee on the train just before arriving or leaving a station. It is not even the cost that annoys me most, it is the hassle of getting a suitcase through their bloody turnstiles and finding change to fit their machines. I was bursting when I arrived at Prague station, having forgotten to go on the train. First I had to find a foreign exchange kiosk to get Czech currency … then return to get small change … I mean what is the matter with these people who manage train stations. It was a common topic of complaint in the gents in all countries as guys relieved themselves! - Anyway I also bought 4 apples, yogurt and a chocolate bar, relieving me of most of my 270 CZK. Having eaten various sandwiches during the day I planned on missing out the evening meal.

I had more pressing activities on the Internet, like uploading photos, checking the route after Vienna, my next stop, and booking the next hotel. The road I had taken into town went downhill to the station and beyond silhouetted on the skyline I could see the church's twin towns projecting from the old town square. It was too far to walk and a taxi was out of the question. I had seen much of Prague before in the early 90s when I had also visited Budapest for the first time during a very hot summer. It was a six day tour using sleeper trains and one night stopovers in hotels, giving me two full days looking around in each city. I had been pleasantly surprised by Prague, in fact I thought it was fantastic and it put Budapest in the shadows despite being my main objective of the trip. The second time was early 2000 with a Czech friend who had shown me the lesser known parts of the city including the incredible Jewish cemetery. I was struck by how the city had changed in 10 years with many more tourist, it often felt like moving together in a big crowd. Having seen much of the city before I had no problem retiring early and saving my legs for the next day in Vienna. So I turned around and walked back up the hill to bed.