It's been a while, crocodile. (Note: I actually wrote this in the journal entry, but this is also true as far as travel entries in this blog goes. 😁) Anyhoo...
I arrived in Prague last night, around 10:20 PM. But it was a really long day and felt like an even longer flight delay; I was too exhausted to write. So now I will recap the last two, well 3 days actually.
7 Oct
- I left the house early (8 AM) and was already at the airport 2.5 hours before my flight. I guess this is just the first hours of what will be many spent in airports that day.
- Arrived at the Toronto Airport around 2:30 PM, a comfortable 3-hour layover before my connecting flight to Vienna, or so I thought. After spending about 2 hours at a lounge (thank you, Priority Pass and Chase!), I thought I'd head over to the gate early in case there were announcements. Indeed, after a few minutes, there was: Flight delayed for 2 hours. There was an engine malfunction with the plane (not good), and they had to have another plane fly in from Winnipeg. They gave us a 15 CAD meal voucher as a peace offering... hurrah! *sarcastic cheer*
I thought I'd just go back to the lounge but the line to go in was about a mile long (not really but the exhaustion at this point warrants some exaggeration, I think). Lacking the patience to wait in line, I decided to walk for a bit. Plus, I thought I could get some steps in. After a few minutes of wandering aimlessly, I received another text update: Flight delayed 30 more minutes. Not long after that, another update 30 more minutes of delay. Well, crap.
I was going to miss my train to Prague. I booked it with almost 3 hours between my flight arrival and train departure, which I thought was plenty of time for the transfer, accounting for an hour or two of delay; but alas, it wasn't enough this time.
After frantically looking for another train, I eventually found one; the earliest next available train actually leaving 6 hours after my original one. I was torn between booking right then in case they sold out (there were only a handful seats left) and worrying if we'd be delayed even more and I'll miss that also, and without refunds. So I waited a couple of hours and having received no additional delay updates, I booked the train. Looks like I will have a lot more waiting to do at the train station. Oh, well.
The hotel I booked in Prague didn't have 24-hr reception so I had to inform them that I will be arriving late. Fortunately, they had lockboxes for late checkin.
I am not going to bore you further with details of what I did at the airport for more than 6 hours; the important thing is I survived. 😄
Man, even recounting that day is long. hahaha!
8 Oct
- After a restless plane ride (I never sleep well on airplanes anymore; unless, maybe if I'm in Business Class haha I wish!), we finally made it to Vienna around 12 PM. Immigration was fairly quick and uneventful (thank God!).
- Took the train to the Vienna hbf (main train station) and... you guessed it, waited some more! At this point, I looked and felt like I haven't slept and showered for days. So I tried to look for a restroom... err, excuse me, a WC. And of course, when in Europe, you pay to use public toilets. Why, people, why?!! Anyway, after doing by business in the WC, I felt a little better but still looked like crap (can't be helped, I suppose haha). To make me feel a little bit better still, I decided to have some strudel at a cafe. It was ok.
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| strudel and some drink at a Vienna Hbf cafe |
Got some Euros from a bankomat (ATM) -- see you gotta adapt to their words. 😏
Tried some leberkase (some kind of meatloaf [?] in a bun). Yummy!
After dozing off a few minutes at a time while seated and hours and hours of waiting, it was finally time for the train to Prague. *whew*
- The train to Prague was pretty good. I got a free bottled water and a choice of orange juice or prosecco. I picked the juice because I thought the wine might make me sick on the train. I realized later I should just have saved the wine to drink at the hotel. Oh, well.
- A little over 4 hours later, our train arrived in Prague. Got some Czech Korunas at the bankomat I googled days before -- no fees... sweet!
- Booked an Uber - the first one looked like it got lost a few time on its way to me so I waited a while and then had to cancel. Boy, when it rains, it certainly does pour. *sigh* Anyway, the next Uber got to me pretty quickly so all's well that ends well. I guess.
- Arrived at the hotel - lockbox instructions were easy to follow, and had never been happier to see my room than I was at that moment. Shaking with exhaustion, I brushed my teeth, showered, and fell dreamily into bed. I would like to say, I fell asleep right away and woke up hours later well rested; but as usual, my mind was still busy planning the next day as well as, pointlessly overanalyzing the day's events.
9 Oct (today)
- My alarm was set to 6 AM. Because I lost the hours I would have been able to spend in Prague the day before, I now only had one whole day to do all the things I wanted to do in Prague. So after sleeping for what felt like only 2 hours (but it actually was 4.5 hours - I checked Fitbit hehe), I begrudgingly got up at 6:20 AM.
- Walked to Mustek Metro station -- I wanted to get a few single trip tickets in case the tram stops later won't have ticket machines. Then started Rick Steve's Prague City Walk (but starting in the middle because I planned to do the first part later that day): Prikope Street, Municipal House, Powder Tower, Old Town Square (really nice architecture around the square), Astronomical Clock (looks interesting and very complicated. From Wikipedia: "The clock mechanism has three main components – the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; statues of various Catholic saints stand on either side of the clock; "The Walk of the Apostles", an hourly show of moving Apostle figures and other sculptures, notably a figure of a skeleton that represents Death, striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months.", Karlova Street, Charles IV Square, and finally... (next entry please)
- Charles Bridge - lots of really beautiful statues on the bridge: the green cross, statue of St. John the Baptist, statue of another St. John who wouldn't tell the King the Queen's secret and so was thrown off the bridge, a statue with a plaque you're supposed to touch and make a wish. (I had planned to come back and go up one of the towers on the bridge later that day to view the sunset, but it rained so no sunset view anyway so I didn't go back.)
- Went back to the hotel for breakfast - it was good and had lots of choices for food.
- Took the tram to Prague Castle. (I got a free tour of the castle as reward from booking.com, along with the cruise that I missed the night before.) St Vitus Cathedral is beautiful - really nice arches inside and wonderful stained glass windows.
- Took the tram again to Cafe Louvre to try some Svickova (braised beef with creamy sauce) -- good!! 😋 -- and some Royal Crown cola (their own version of Coke); and the service was excellent as well. Plus, Einstein used to go there so I feel kinda smart by association. 😅
- Walked to the rotating Kafka head sculpture but it was closed off temporarily to get fixed.
- Walked to the "Man Hanging Out" sculpture - David Cerny's statue of Sigmund Freud. It represents uncertainty and the question of what the millennium will look like. Fun Fact: this statue travelled a lot and in 2007, was in Grand Rapids, MI and caused some firefighters alarm - people got confused and thought it was a real man committing suicide.
- Havelské tržiště - open market selling local fruits and vegetables and arts and crafts. There were also some souvenirs sold - found my magnet, as well as some cooked food - there were sausages that looked really good but I was still too full so I had a trdelnik instead -- yum!
- My legs and feet felt as heavy as lead so decided to go back to the hotel to get a bit of rest.
- Went back to the Astronomical Clock to see the hourly (9AM-9PM) "show". Oh and I got a kolache also.
- Walked to the Mustek station and took the metro to the start of Wenceslas Square (which is the start of the RS City Walk that I skipped earlier). It was raining most of the day but it was pouring at this point. Good thing I had my trusty travel umbrella. Started from Wenceslas statue on a horse - there was some sort of rally happening so I couldn't get a decent photo. Ended right at Mustek station. Took some pictures along the way.
And now I'm back at the hotel getting ready for the next stop of the trip tomorrow: Český Krumlov. I also need to log around 4.5 hours of work. boohoo. But what a long and busy day! And yet, there was a lot more I didn't get to do. 😢 Maybe I will come back someday. 🙏
Tomorrow, early bus (8 AM) to Český Krumlov.
Total walked today (9 Oct): 8.3 miles / 4 hr 13 min / 29, 296 steps
I cannot feel my feet.
