Our train ride to Prague was both good and bad. First the bad, the train seems a little dated. The last time we rode a train in Europe (in Portugal), the train was modern; it even had televisions offering programs. We had visions of a train with electrical outlets for recharging and possibly wifi; no such luck. As noted above, we had booked in first class. This meant relatively little: five seats per compartment instead of six, none of which reclined. That was it! No electricity, certainly no wifi, and don't even think they will serve you anything for the next five hours. Oh well, now for the good. Why does one take a train? Clearly most travellers between Munich and Prague will fly (we now realize), but you take the train to see the countryside. And that is precisely why we did it and have no regrets.
We are going through Bavaria, and it is so pastoral and beautiful. We see field upon field of mustard growing, which is shockingly yellow. Here is the best photo I took, and this was one of the smaller fields (give me some slack, photographing from a fast moving train is not super easy for the spontaneous picture):
We also travel through many small towns that are so scenic. I am especially proud of the following photo:
Our train was delayed on arrival (I would tell you why except all the announcements were in German -- we're lucky they didn't tell us to evacuate because of a bomb or a fire, we wouldn't have understood a word), so we didn't get to Prague until nearly 4pm. The driver that our hotel had arranged (because they said cab drivers were not to be trusted) brought us promptly to the Hilton Old Town Prague.
Our next course of action was to do a quick exploration of the Old Town in the time we had left. We walked west to the Republic Square, then to the Art Nouveau Municipal Center (for the arts), then to hte Powder Tower, then we got lost ... then we found the Old Town Square and took a lot of pictures. From there we traversed the touristy shopping area (receiving multiple solicitations for musical performances along the way) to the Charles Bridge, probably the most famous landmark in all of Prague, not counting the castle. Here is a view from the bridge looking back towards Old Town:
We cross the bridge to the west, and I spy a shop just below the bridge on the other side called Artel. It had been recommended by our Fodor's guidebook for quality glass. So we go to the shop, and it is full of amazing glass objects featuring lovely colors and creative etching. So of course we have to buy some. We purchased some votives in a variety of styles and colors to ship to the USA. Our salesperson is very personable, and we learn that she is from Serbia. She informs us that the owner/artist of the shop is American who has been in Prague for twenty years. I comment that she must speak Czech by now. The response, "Not really." We ask for a restaurent recommendation, and we are told to go to Certkova, not too far away, which has river views. So that is where we go. The restaurant is notable because it can only be accessed by a long passage between two buildings that cnnot be cross by two people in the opposite direction (although two thin people could pass, in my opinion). There is also a light indicating in both directions when it is safe to enter the passage. Knowing nothing of the light beforehand, I plunge into the passage and Rob follows, while several large men behind us are screaming at us, saying "Rot! Rot!," which means "red." I suddenly deduce that they are telling us that there was a passage light that flashed red (smart me!), however, no one was in the passage and we made it down just fine.
The restaurant was also just fine. I had a turkey steak (I would have called it a cutlet) with green beans and boiled potatoes, and Rob had pork with potato dumplings (that looked like slices of bread) that he did not eat. We also had side salads that arrive at the table with no dressing. This had happened before in Europe. It is no big deal; they expect that you will use the oil and vinegar on the table as your dressing, which we did not (saved the calories).
Here is a view from the restaurant looking at the Charles Bridge:
We retrace our steps back through Old Town back to the Hilton, where we enjoy the complimentary Executive Lounge for some wine before we turn in.
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