Berlin to Prague

I woke really early and found myself ready to go and in the main part of the hostel by 7:15am! I decided a nice breakfast was in order so i wondered down the street with Tom from Adelaide and the Melbourne (Park Orchards) Sisters. We found a nice bakery, and i got a cheese and onion roll, and two savory rolls. They were both VERY good! We all headed back to outside the hostel and were eventually underway just after 8am. We had a few stops including the Czech Border. The first stop was a non-event and i simply refilled my water bottle and used the toilet.

The second was the Czech Border, and we had a German and a Czech guard board our bus and take the passports of any people who weren’t from an EU country! It was really scary! They were armed with semi automatic rifles and they held our passports for a good 20 minutes! Eventually they returned and gave our passports to our tour guide. We were underway and it was interesting to see the countryside change, just a few kilometers from the border. The Czech side was more wild, rolling hills and valleys, whereas the German side was more farmland and a lot more cleared! We traveled through a number of tunnels cut into the hillside, which i thought were pretty cool.

We got into our third and last rest stop where some of us went on a tour of Terezin, a old Fortified base, subsequently used by the Germans, as a concentration/transit camp. No gassings happened at the camp but over 2000-3000 prisoners died as the conditions were shocking! We had a local tour guide who was hard to understand but managed to show us the the living quarters, shower room, sick bay (could hold 8 people, despite the population being over 1500), and various other rooms, tunnels and bunkers. It was quite somber and affected a number of us almost to tears. We returned to the bus and set out for Prague. The mood was somber but after a few episodes of Friends, we cheered up a little.

We got to Prague at about 4:30 and were met by the Australian Hostel owner. The hostel was brand new, opened just over a month ago. The bar was open tonight for the first time, and the restaurant would open next week. I met up with Inger and Mary. Inger and I went to Uni High together and Mary was her sister. They are traveling the Northen Loop on Busabout as well and I am planning to travel with them through to Munich! They had made dinner bookings at a popular little restaurant down the road. We started at the local hotel’s bar. Inger drank beer and Mary and I had Bourbon and Coke. We chatted about our experiences so far and mused at the fact that Australia has the best food and that we would never take it for granted ever again! We moved onto the Restaurant and met up with two girls from Brisbane who Mary and Inger had traveled with last week. We ordered drinks and food. (Reference – this is the bowling restaurant!) The food came and it was the best thing i have eaten since leaving Australia. I had pork filled with local cheese, bacon and mushrooms, with mash potato. The mash wasn’t you’re typical Irish mash, it was complete with basil, and other yummy stuff. (Clearly i will never be a food critic) though it was sooo nice and we all sat there in disbelief after our meals. I cleared my plate, including salad (mum) and we ordered apple strudel for desert. That didn’t disappoint either and we left feeling very VERY satisfied.

We headed back to the Hostel and had a few (expensive) drinks in the new bar. We then decided it was time to check out the local car parts bar, The Cross Club. We wondered down the street about 500-600M and found two massive moving industrial sculptures. One was complete with LED lighting and rotated around itself. It was made of car hub caps, car engine parts and metal. We walked into a car park like area and were greeted with the single most impressive steel structure i have ever seen. (havent been to Paris yet…) it was a balcony made out of recycled steel beams, car parts and more. It was lit really well and filled with locals enjoying a ridiculous amount of beer and pot…! We went inside and it was even more decked out, complete with mid air fountains and once again LED lighting! We had a drink but were deterred off by the VERY drunk locals… We didn’t fit in very well, in fact I’d say we stood out like a man dressed in a pink unitard hanging with the emos on the Flinders Street Station steps!

We went back to the hostel and joined a number of people watching Family Guy in the Lounge. After two or three episodes we decided it was bedtime. I was sharing with a 67 year old Sydney man who bizarrely enough was traveling on Busabout!!! LOL! I wasn’t with Mary or Inger which was dissapointing. My room mate snored quite loud but I had a good sleep.

Onto Cesky Krumlov tomorrow! A castle town with a big beer culture and a very laid back atmosphere! YAY!

Hey everyone back home! Please comment this post, or email me… I would love to hear what everyone is up to! Hope you are all well! Much Love! Geordie!

TBC