Munich, Germany to Prague, Czech Republic – October 1, 2012

The wake up call at 6:00 AM this morning was not the friendliest sound we wanted to hear. We both were feeling tired from the previous day’s celebrating at Oktoberfest (read too many 1 liter beers), but overall neither of us were feeling that badly.

We got ready and completed packing up our suitcases, which was easy since we had not taken very much out for our one night stay. We wished we had more time to enjoy the spacious room, and free wi-fi, but that was just not in the plan for today.

We checked out a little after 7:00 AM, and headed to the train station, where the bus depot we had found yesterday for our Munich-Prague bus was located. Right outside the hotel was a small pastry/coffee shop, which  appeared to be part of a grocery store that was located downstairs. With very hot coffee in hand, along with a croissant, we headed to the bus stop. The coffee shop did not have a Diet Coke for Stephanie, but we knew there were similar shops located inside the train station. Once we arrived at the bus stop location we got confirmation from some signage that we were in the correct location. Stephanie headed into the train station for her Diet Coke while I watched the luggage and ate my breakfast.

We had about 20 minutes to wait, and then our bus arrived about 10 minutes before our departure. We had our online ticket confirmation, and after checking our luggage, and loading it into the luggage storage areas under the bus, we boarded. We headed up the stairs to the upper deck of the bus and sat down. We did not pay much attention to the lower deck, we knew we wanted to be able to see better, and so we picked the upper deck for that purpose. We had not realized we had assigned seats. Thinking the bus would not be crowded, we picked some seats in the middle of the upper deck. The bus started to fill up, and soon we realized there were some seat numbers on our ticket confirmation, just not easily seen. When a couple informed us we were in their seats, we moved forward, and actually found our seats, located in the second row. The entire front row of the bus is behind a giant window, so we actually had a better view in our assigned seats.

The bus ride was generally uneventful, scheduled to take a little over 4.5 hours to travel the 370 km to Prague. About 50 km outside of Prague, we ran into a traffic jam we initially thought was due to road construction, which delayed our arrival by about 20 minutes. The traffic jam was actually due to an accident on a nearby side road, but there are rubberneckers in the Czech Republic too.

We arrived at the main train station in Prague, or Praha as it is called here.  The weather had been cloudy for the entire trip from Munich, and it looked like it was clearing some when we arrived, and it was also warming up.

We retrieved our luggage from the bus and then headed down some stairs to the newer section of the train station.  The bus actually dropped us off at the old terminal, which was all shut down when we looked inside.  It was all wood, so we are pretty sure it was the original station.  We went down some stairs, and then saw the rest of the station, which was actually under the roadway.  It was new and modern, full of stores and restaurants, and a couple of banks

We needed to take a tram to the hotel, so we needed to find an ATM to get some Czech money for the tram tickets.  There were two banks in the station, so we headed over to one of the ATM’s and withdrew 2,000 Czech Koruna, or Crowns (CZK).  The exchange rate is about 18.50 CZK equals $1.00.  A tram ticket is 24 CZK per person.  We got one 2,000 CZK bill from the ATM, so I knew I needed some smaller denominations for the tram ticket purchase.  I went inside of the bank, the one with the ATM I used, to a teller with a sign reading “Change”, but the teller said they did not give change…I was puzzled.  She said to go into the station and purchase something, and then get change that way.  Stephanie went into a store to purchase a Diet Coke, but the lady would not take the 2,000.00 CZK bill, it was too large, equivalent to using a $100.00 bill here in the US.

Then we went to a money exchange desk, and the man there told Stephanie they did not give change, to go to a store and purchase something….this sounded too familiar! Stephanie explained to him that we could not buy something with the large bill, so he gave her two 1,000 CZK bills. Stephanie headed back to the first store for the coke, and yet again, the lady would not even take the smaller bill for the coke, and we still had no change.

That lady said to go to the larger grocery store at the other end of the station, so we headed there, and Stephanie was able to buy two cokes, and got change, although she had to ask for smaller bills.  Then we found out that the first store we went to also sold the tram tickets, so in we went there with a 100.00 CZK bill for two 24.00 CZK tram tickets.  Finally, Success!!!

Then, our next task was to actually find the tram station outside, which was not easy either, especially since we knew zero Czech, and could not read any if the signs.  We headed in one direction, and saw nothing.  The trams are red, so they are easy to see on the roads.  We then headed in the opposite direction and finally found the tram stop for the #9 Tram.  Next, we had to figure out which direction to go to the stop name we were given by the hotel.  When we got it figured out, we boarded the #9 Tram to go 6 stops, and validated our ticket in the machine on the tram.  We got off at our stop, and walked along the Vltava River to our hotel, the Boat Hotel Matylda.  The hotel is two boats permanently moored along the river bank. It was about a 10 minute walk, and by this time, we were getting tired, and hot.  The money exchange episode was almost enough to put us over the edge, but we realized this was a new country on our travel list, and with the newness comes  the dreaded learning curve.

Arriving at the hotel, we were able to check in, and got a river side room.  The rooms are not too large,  about the same size of a decent cruise ship cabin, with a slightly larger bathroom.  The interior of the room was all finished in wood, with a large french door that opened to the outside.  And, the room came with an air conditioner, remote already included in the room.  It should be cool enough at night to sleep well, but the AC will help if there is not enough air circulation from the outside.

We got out of “train mode” and into sightseeing mode, packing some of the camera gear in our backpacks.  We headed out to find a bite to eat and do a little exploring.  We were gone about 5 minutes, and it started to drizzle.  Luckily, it was very light, and intermittent, so we did not need the umbrellas we had packed.  It seemed noticeably cooler than when we had walked to the hotel just about an hour earlier.  I had changed to short sleeves, but had added a long sleeve shirt and pullover into my backpack.  Out of the backpack they came and on they went.  Stephanie already had on a sweater, but we were both hoping the rain would not get worse since we had not brought our rain coats.

It continued to be an overcast afternoon, no sunshine in site.  We crossed the Charles Bridge and went into the section of town called the “Lesser Town”, and found a bite to eat.   We then visited the St. Nicholas Church and then headed up a long hilly road to the Palace area at the top of the hill, which is also the location of the St. Vitus Cathedral.

The views were good, and we planed on re-visiting this area tomorrow with hopefully, sunny skies.  The overcast and drizzle did not make for colorful photos, but the views overlooking the city are pretty spectacular from this area.

It was starting to get late, so we headed back to the hotel, taking a different route back.  The river through this area is interesting, there are sloped spillways along the river, and then a set of locks along one side for all of the river cruise boats to go through since the spillways are not navigable.

There is something right in the middle of the spillway that appears to be a large gate, but it is closed.  We are not sure if this is something that is used for flood control.  I might have to look it up on the internet.  I am sure the spillways are for controlling the speed and depth of the river flow as it drops in elevation going through town.  There is one spillway in the river by the hotel, and the water flowing over it makes a fair amount of noise, but it is like a peaceful waterfall sound.

Since we ate a late lunch, we planned to to hang out in the room tonight and try and catch up on our sleep.  Although we were not out late last night, the effects of Oktoberfest and the early morning departure had caught up to us.