Vienna to Prague

Vienna to Prague, country three.

We left for the Mall by the train station early, before check out. A very pleasant start to the day with an open sandwich of Smoked Salmon and corn mayonnaise, caper berries and salad....I'll be making that when i get home. Fresh squeezed o.j. as well, set us up for the day.

We checked out of the hotel and caught the train into the city then joined up with the rail, 9.22 and its off to the Czech Republic.

We cross the border into Breclav just after 11.00am, time to try the dining cart out on the train me thinks, I need a Coffee.

The seating on the train  is a mad house, we had a different train  than expected so the seats were all out of wack, that mad the Americans all bitter and twisted, calm down mate!!!

Anyway, the dinning car was decidedly average. The coffee was undrinkable, and the prosciutto sandwich was stale, (it has a use by but no packed-on date) if this keeps up i wont be piling on the pounds in Prague.

The countryside is bleak and where there is infrastructure it looks a bit decrepit, overgrown and industrialised. Massive fields with corn, sunflowers, fennel and other crops stretch out to what seems the mountains in the distance.

Graffiti on every bridge, every fence, such a stark contrast from the vibrant and very polished city we just left behind.

We get into Prague itself and we are blown away again. Too many photos to list here, check out the attached vid again.

St Stephens bridge, the anatomical clock, castles, statues, streets lined with every Bohemian shop front, stall, beer and cafe you could ever dream of. Again I feel so privileged to be here to see these wonderful cities and experience their cuisine.

There Food....Langosh, Roast pork off the spit in the street, deep fried potato twirls, grilled cheeses, doughnuts formed on a pipe in a spiral with sugared almonds and vanilla sugar, stunning, just stunning.

We wonder the streets till our legs are sore and hear the faint call of a cold beer calling, time to get cleaned up and wonder out for dinner.

The hotel where we are staying is right in the centre of new town. The Hotel Meran, is an older place, it was taken by the nazi's in WW2 and through several changes of hands has now been bought back by the original owners family. Great story. The decor is straight out of a 1970's sitcom, but what makes up for that is the service. The lady at the desk must be in her 60's, great lady, friendly, helpful and really interested in how we were going to make best use of our time....if you want somewhere to stay in Prague, Hotel Meran.

Rich has crashed so I head down to the Czech museum and find a bar and another meaty filled bread type unit to have with the real reason I came out, to have my first Czech Beer in Prague, and bloody good it was too. These huge glasses are 50 kr, about $1.50 or something....great beer.

So the lesson learned here....don't worry about what a place looks like on first impressions, if its anything like Prague it will certainly surprise you. Cheers!!!

Internet is so slow, will post the vid later when a good connection is found.