Day 2: Cologne to Prague

Very weird dreams that I won’t bore you with, but the shower did indeed work. Breakfast had a wide variety of foods, but no bowls for the cereal, so that was a bit of a challenge. I expect they only put cereal there for the foreigners, anyway, and there weren’t many of those. It’s a big conference-type hotel, so it was all Germans, or at least German speakers.

I ended up being quite early at Koln Messe Deutz (the station on the other side of the river from the main station, a bit like a Haymarket to our Waverley) so I had time to buy a water because the tap water from the hotel bathroom was 😖

I found the train to Nuremberg no trouble, but had more trouble ordering a sandwich online, probably because the restaurant was stowed out. When I hear “Nuremberg” all I think of is the Holocaust, but in fact it’s a got a very pretty Altstadt (old town). I only had a change of 45 minutes, much of which was taken up trying to get from the station to the Altstadt, a stone’s throw away. Nuremberg takes the same approach as Dundee and requires you to cross dual carriageways before you can actually get from the station to the city.

I found a convenient tunnel under the road on the way back, linking the trains, trams and subway. Take note, Dundee. But then everything stopped going so swimmingly.

My train to Schwandorf was supposed to be at 1.45pm from platform 21, but there was another train there and no information about later trains until it departed – which it did well behind schedule. Still no sign of my train, and there were no information boards at that end of the station. The train time came and went but the train didn’t.

A bit of quick searching revealed that instead of going to Schwandorf I can change at Regensburg for Prague, so that’s what I’m doing. It will make me a couple of hours late, but Regensburg is also meant to be quite nice, so maybe I’ll have some time to see it, too.

Well Regensburg was very nice. I should write a book, “30 Minute Tourism”, as much of my sightseeing seems to be between trains.

There was a Bavarian festival called the Dult going on this weekend, with lots of young men in lederhosen and girls in pretty bavarian dresses. A group of boys said I could take their photo, but unfortunately the girls I asked said no, even though they looked lovely.

Apparently it’s only a couple of degrees warmer here than Glasgow, but it feels much warmer (possibly because I’m wearing a large rucksack) so I went in search of ice cream. I saw a man with one but was too shy to walk up and ask him where he got it – and anyway, I might not understand the answer. But then I passed a large group of people chatting in Albanian! I asked them for directions to the nearest ice cream shop and soon I was enjoying a nice mint choc chip and Dubai chocolate cone. How trendy!

I could have gone a couple of blocks further and caught my first glimpse of the Danube, but catching my train seemed more important so I headed back to the station.

One thing that has been annoying me about Germany is how drivers can turn right on a red light – even when pedestrians have a green man! “Cross with confidence, pedestrian! At least some of the traffic will stop for you.” It’s a good job the bus drivers are alert to tourists recklessly crossing at the green man or my enjoyment of my ice cream would have been spoiled by a trip to the hospital.

The train to Prague is a bit more basic than the swish German ones, but first class has six-seat compartments with a corridor off to the side like in old films, which is cute. I don’t know if there’s any food on this train, but I picked up a croissant and a bottle of water so I won’t die if not. It’s four hours, though!

The advantage of a wee compartment like this is that you can stretch out and get some sleep. It even has curtains! Now I’m awake again and trying to swot up on some Czech history and language before we arrive in Prague. (It did have food, BTW.)

At the station, I get some Czech cash out in case I need it. I have no comprehension of the values. The smallest amount suggested by the ATM is 3,000 koruna. This turns out to be about £120. Appalled, I make it give me 200 instead (about £6). But after the metro ticket and the city tax at the hotel, that’s almost gone. This is a cash-orientated place. After checking in, I go out in search of another ATM and take out 3,000 koruna. OK, original ATM, you were right!

Now I’m in a nice cafe-cum-cinema called Atlas, having a quiche and a restorative glass of wine. Dobrou noc!