Leaving Prague
Last day in Prague and some changes to make. I was up early, as usual, and purchased my 2 hours connection so I could keep up with events. Once updated I headed out on the Prague subway to the main railway station to change our tickets out of Prague. The initial reservations were to leave at 6 o'clock, but with checkout time of noon and nothing really left to see...well I'm sure there are many things we could have done, but we've had our taste of Prague, so decided against walking the streets for 6 hours waiting for a train.
I did quite well navigating the subway's of Prague. I made it to the Museum station which was a short walk to the main railway station. Upon arrival at the station I finally located the international ticket office and walked in to make my changes...he quickly advised me there was a sign on the door that they did not open till 9....being very understanding I politely backed out and stood on the curb...watching the clock. When the clock struck 9 I politely advised him what time it was.
I asked if we could change the reservations from the 6pm train to the 2pm train and he said 'was not possible', I said what if I just throw away the reservations and take the 2 pm train, were my "tickets" out of Czech still good. He said "reservations not necessary". I asked if we could leave from the main station....he said "train does not come to main station".....well to make a long story short, I finally got the point that I could take the earlier train, the tickets for Czech fare were good, reservations were NOT required for day trains, and that we would have to leave from the Holesovice station. Not a problem.
After a short walk back to the Museum subway and the LONG escalator down I purchased my 14 Crown ticket back to the hotel and waited for my train. After a couple of stops it was apparant I was entering uncharted territory and had realized I took the train the opposite direction...not a problem, off at the next station, on to the other ramp and ride five stations back. Exiting from the underground to the brisk cool air and bright sunlight I took off in our new 'home' neighborhood to Albert's to view the fresh food selection and the fresh pastries. My basket was soon full with four rolls, two light Pepsi's, a Nestle iced coffee and a fanta orange juice...total 104 Czk.
Once back to the room we wrapped up our packing and headed down to check out. Having been warned about the taxi drivers in Prague I asked the girl at the desk to phone a taxi for us which she did and we headed for Holesovice to catch our 2pm train to Vienna. I checked with the ticket office there just to make sure we were going to be able to board the train and was told it would be an additional 90Czk to upgrade to 1st class, which I did. Again there were no conductors at the boarding area to confirm where you should board...so we just got on the first car and it was a mad house. We realized right away it was NOT first class..so I put John in a room and said "wait here" and I went to find the first class car...seats were not assigned. The very next car was first class but it was filling up fast, so I went to grab John and the bags so we could claim a seat...I ran into the two Americans that were on the train from Berlin and we quickly exchanged similar stories about the same ticket office at the main station...he said they'd probably be by to collect another 50 Euro!! ;-)
We continued on toward the boarder around 100 mph and soon here come the Czech SS to check the passports...no incidents, then shortly into Slovakia, passport check again...this time I mention the bathroom had been occupied for over an hour....then the Austria border, passport check, bathroom notification, then ticket check and one last bathroom notification...all shruged off, so I decided my attempt to catch any terrorist had come to an end. The bathroom remained locked till we left the train as far as I know.
When we arrived in Vienna at Suedbanhoff we headed for the taxi stand and took the first one out the door. He said we were staying in a great location to see Vienna...little small talk here and there and we soon arrive at the hotel, paid the driver and headed in. Checked in and headed up to the room...John said "Where's the green bag!!!" I said "didn't YOU have it?".
Well it was obvious neither of us had the green bag...which contained, among other things, all of John's papers, hard drives, etc. We went back downstairs to check the unlikely possibility we had left it at the checkin counter and called the manager, as expected it was not there. John RAN out the door to see if it was left on the street....nothing, we went up and down the street for a bit each way with NO trace of the green bag. The manager said there were over 24 taxi companies in Vienna but that he would call one of the larger ones to inquire, but we had little knowledge of the company other than the face we were in a white Mercedes and the guy was from....just our luck...Lebannon!!!! The manager said we could call the Police the next morning to see if it had been turned in anywhere.
I told John we probably left it in the trunk of the cab and that as soon as he picked up his next fare with luggage he would notice it and remember us....of course that fell on deaf ears. John headed back up to check the room again (under the carpet, places like that) and I went back out on the street hoping to see that taxi going down the street. Well what was that line I quoted from the play in New York..."nothing is too good to come true"....here comes the taxi driving up to me, the driver get's out...says "I couldn't believe it...I just picked up a fare and when I opened the trunk I said OH NO!!!!". He was very nice and had returned our bag! I kissed him on each cheek (isn't that what they do??) and RAN back in the Hotel waving the bag and to let everyone know the world was at peace!!
Things settled, we headed out to dinner at a place recommended by management. Was great, then came back to find we have NO internet (some people are addicted), so it was a night of CNN and the war. I will do this with word and upload it to the blog as soon as we get back to civilization!!! This was our LAST day in Prague and first night in Vienna.
I did quite well navigating the subway's of Prague. I made it to the Museum station which was a short walk to the main railway station. Upon arrival at the station I finally located the international ticket office and walked in to make my changes...he quickly advised me there was a sign on the door that they did not open till 9....being very understanding I politely backed out and stood on the curb...watching the clock. When the clock struck 9 I politely advised him what time it was.
I asked if we could change the reservations from the 6pm train to the 2pm train and he said 'was not possible', I said what if I just throw away the reservations and take the 2 pm train, were my "tickets" out of Czech still good. He said "reservations not necessary". I asked if we could leave from the main station....he said "train does not come to main station".....well to make a long story short, I finally got the point that I could take the earlier train, the tickets for Czech fare were good, reservations were NOT required for day trains, and that we would have to leave from the Holesovice station. Not a problem.
After a short walk back to the Museum subway and the LONG escalator down I purchased my 14 Crown ticket back to the hotel and waited for my train. After a couple of stops it was apparant I was entering uncharted territory and had realized I took the train the opposite direction...not a problem, off at the next station, on to the other ramp and ride five stations back. Exiting from the underground to the brisk cool air and bright sunlight I took off in our new 'home' neighborhood to Albert's to view the fresh food selection and the fresh pastries. My basket was soon full with four rolls, two light Pepsi's, a Nestle iced coffee and a fanta orange juice...total 104 Czk.
Once back to the room we wrapped up our packing and headed down to check out. Having been warned about the taxi drivers in Prague I asked the girl at the desk to phone a taxi for us which she did and we headed for Holesovice to catch our 2pm train to Vienna. I checked with the ticket office there just to make sure we were going to be able to board the train and was told it would be an additional 90Czk to upgrade to 1st class, which I did. Again there were no conductors at the boarding area to confirm where you should board...so we just got on the first car and it was a mad house. We realized right away it was NOT first class..so I put John in a room and said "wait here" and I went to find the first class car...seats were not assigned. The very next car was first class but it was filling up fast, so I went to grab John and the bags so we could claim a seat...I ran into the two Americans that were on the train from Berlin and we quickly exchanged similar stories about the same ticket office at the main station...he said they'd probably be by to collect another 50 Euro!! ;-)
We continued on toward the boarder around 100 mph and soon here come the Czech SS to check the passports...no incidents, then shortly into Slovakia, passport check again...this time I mention the bathroom had been occupied for over an hour....then the Austria border, passport check, bathroom notification, then ticket check and one last bathroom notification...all shruged off, so I decided my attempt to catch any terrorist had come to an end. The bathroom remained locked till we left the train as far as I know.
When we arrived in Vienna at Suedbanhoff we headed for the taxi stand and took the first one out the door. He said we were staying in a great location to see Vienna...little small talk here and there and we soon arrive at the hotel, paid the driver and headed in. Checked in and headed up to the room...John said "Where's the green bag!!!" I said "didn't YOU have it?".
Well it was obvious neither of us had the green bag...which contained, among other things, all of John's papers, hard drives, etc. We went back downstairs to check the unlikely possibility we had left it at the checkin counter and called the manager, as expected it was not there. John RAN out the door to see if it was left on the street....nothing, we went up and down the street for a bit each way with NO trace of the green bag. The manager said there were over 24 taxi companies in Vienna but that he would call one of the larger ones to inquire, but we had little knowledge of the company other than the face we were in a white Mercedes and the guy was from....just our luck...Lebannon!!!! The manager said we could call the Police the next morning to see if it had been turned in anywhere.
I told John we probably left it in the trunk of the cab and that as soon as he picked up his next fare with luggage he would notice it and remember us....of course that fell on deaf ears. John headed back up to check the room again (under the carpet, places like that) and I went back out on the street hoping to see that taxi going down the street. Well what was that line I quoted from the play in New York..."nothing is too good to come true"....here comes the taxi driving up to me, the driver get's out...says "I couldn't believe it...I just picked up a fare and when I opened the trunk I said OH NO!!!!". He was very nice and had returned our bag! I kissed him on each cheek (isn't that what they do??) and RAN back in the Hotel waving the bag and to let everyone know the world was at peace!!
Things settled, we headed out to dinner at a place recommended by management. Was great, then came back to find we have NO internet (some people are addicted), so it was a night of CNN and the war. I will do this with word and upload it to the blog as soon as we get back to civilization!!! This was our LAST day in Prague and first night in Vienna.
posted by dfwjeep42 | 3:21 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home