Day 16: My faith in the trains are better than planes argument is SHOOK

I thought I knew it all, I thought that trains were the best. They still are, by the way. But it was a day. What was supposed to be a simple five hour, one train journey from Munich to Prague turned into a 10 hour adventure.

An Estonian, a South African, and two Australians meet on a train platform...

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Our train journey started as it usually did. Early wake-up, walk to the station, arriving there much more early than is necessary. The train to Prague was due to set off from Munich at 8.43am. It was a two-part train, where eventually one half would split off while we continued to Prague. We got on what we thought was the right carriage at first, but were quickly moved along by the ticket man. We shuffled down a few carriages with our bags and took up in a four-seater. The train wasn't very full, and we both had a nice view out the window. At around 10am we pulled up in Regensburg. Still in Germany. All of the train announcements had been in German, so we had largely ignored them. At Regensburg, a bunch of people started getting off the train. After a couple of minutes, a ticket inspector, who did not speak much English, came by and started telling us we had to get off the train. We were confused as to why, but he just kept saying that the train was 'kaput'. Alright. The lady sitting across from us was also confused. We exited the train and stood on the platform with all the other train passengers. All the train staff just told us to wait.

Ah, Regensburg, thou art so beautiful

We waited around for a little while, and were talking with some other people, trying to figure out what was going on. Two Czech girls nearby had gone to talk to the information people at the station. One of them translated for us: they had found something suspicious on the train, and it was being sent back to Munich. The train left without us, and we hung around. Our two Czech friends, the lady who had been in the carriage with us (who was from South Africa), and another guy were grouped up. Eventually, the other train passengers started leaving (including the train staff, I might add), and we were left there. We went up to the tourist information area that was out of the wind. There was another train leaving for Prague from Regensburg at 12.14pm. We figured we would just wait. The Czech girls took off somewhere else, and we were left with our South African friend, whose name was Caroline, and the other guy, an Estonian, whose name was Mick. Turns out that besides our train having an issue, there was also an accident on the line between Regensburg and Regenstauf. It should be cleared up in an hour or so. We waited for the next train and talked with Caroline for a while.

Closer to 12, we went to the right platform. It wasn't looking good - all the other trains were now delayed as well. At the platform, the sign below our train information was saying 'fallt aus'. Dylan looked it up - cancelled. Yep, again.

The other option, which clearly people had taken earlier, was to catch a bus to Regenstauf - the next scheduled stop on the line - and then get on another train to Prague. It was only 15-20 minutes away. We trundled out of the station and hopped on a very crowded coach which took us along the autobahn to Regenstauf.

Translated from German: get on a bus, you pleb.

Regenstauf is a small town, with only two platforms, and no shelter. It had started to rain a bit. We were going to catch a local train to Schwandorf, and then get on another train to Prague. By this time it was about 12.30, and the next local train wasn't due until 2pm. Great.

Regenstauf, so lovely. 

We waited around, and luckily another service must have been put on, as a train pulled up at 1pm. It was chockers full of everyone trying to get to Schwandorf, it was a bit London-at-peak-hour kind of squishy. The trip took about 15-20 minutes and we were finally in Schwandorf. The next train to Prague was leaving at 2.52pm, but at least this station had a cafe with some $3 beer. We shared some Pilsners and pretzels with Caroline and Mick and waited it out.

Finally, finally, the train arrived and they hustled us on. We took up a train compartment and sat back for our last three and a half hours of train journey. It was largely uneventful, and we arrived in Prague around 6.20pm. We said goodbye to our train friends and set off to our hotel.

I immediately loved Prague. The main street was lit up in tree lights, and there were beautiful shops and markets down the main strip. I seemed to have booked a rather fancy hotel by accident, and we have an apartment inside a beautiful hotel complex (goodbye Munich tram noise). The hotel area connects to two alleyways on each side.

Next mission: food. I was starving. Dylan found a local beer brewery that doubled as a cool restaurant. We were lucky to get a table - the business combined with Czech hospitality meant that a lot of people walked up two flights of stairs through their various landings only to be turned away at the top. The bar had three levels, we got a table on the top one. I was hankering for some chips after such a long day. Dylan was keen to try the beer. We had our first Czech lager, which was delicious. I ordered the burger, and Dylan got goulash, which came served in a round loaf - kind of like a cob, but meatier. The food was very enjoyable. We dubbed one of the waiters Manuel, but without the comic relief, as he had an uncanny knack for looking around the room yet completely ignoring you. We treated ourselves to some chocolate cake and another drink.

First Czech beer. 

After dinner, Dylan convinced me to keep wandering around town. We walked down the road to see the famous Charles Bridge. It was beautiful to see at night, with Prague Castle lit up behind it.

The castle is lit. 

We crossed over the bridge and walked back - we'll do the castle properly another day. Going back through town, we headed for the main square. Just when I think the bar for Christmas Magic has been set the highest it can be, in walks Prague, Christmas capital of my heart. Markets, trees, lights, more lights.

Giant Christmas tree

It was getting late now, so a lot of the stalls were closing up. We vowed to come back another night to experience it properly. There was a stage too, so hopefully there will be some singing involved!

Through the square, we saw a crowd of people forming. Turns out they were all gathering around the Astronomical Clock waiting for it to chime. It was 9.55pm, we decided to wait around too.

Our tour guide today told us that Astronomical Clock is considered the second most disappointing tourist attraction in Europe. It was beautiful, but the whole show only goes for around 38 seconds. It's more impressive when you find out that the clock was built in 1410 (and then took another 80 years or something to finish) and is the oldest clock in the world that still works. Most of it's parts are the original ones from the 15th century.

Our last stop for the night was a jazz bar near our hotel. Dylan had spotted it earlier and was keen to check it out. It had live acts on every night. We got some cocktails and enjoyed some music!

 I'm very excited to continue our exploration of Prague - it does not disappoint!

A+D