2016-05-05

A rainy day in Prague

I know that posts of this trip doesn't come in the right order - some older experiences are yet to be described. It's because not always I was granted with a privilege of Internet or not always I have enough energy left to lay them down on paper( it's how I call this electronic space). So, let me treat you with the freshest experiences.
We are in Prague. Technically it's a second day, but we arrived late in the evening yesterday - so, the only chance to see the city was during our walk from bus station to our hostel. First difference we noticed was that - you have to be very careful when crossing the street. The cars won't usually stop even if you are standing at the edge of sidewalk at the pedestrian crossing. It's not Germany and you have to take responsibility for your own safety.
The w Esther forecast was not promising any good news, but we still head out into the city - got a map at the reception and took a random direction. But the rain wasn't feeling any pity for us - so, we ended up sheltering at various coffee shops, restaurants and shops. The up side is that we tasted some local food, warmed ourselves with tees and spend some money on post cards. One of the most memorable purchases was a dvd film about the trip with a trabant car across during continents. Sounds totally random? Yes, it is and it's not. Well, on our hitchhiking trip from Kaunas to Warsaw we met a Czech guy who told us many interesting and random things. So, he told us about his acquaintance who travelled with a motor bike to China. The story turned sideways into a direction, where we received a valuable information about a documentary(a hit in in Czech Republic) how three of four guys travelled with that old car trabant in different continents. So, when we ended up in a huge book store today, I recalled this story and decided to take my chance. I didn't know the name of the movie, but I asked the store employee about it and it was kind enough to check this out for me. According to his database they had only one copy left, but it didn't take much time for him to find it. Now I can't wait to return home and watch it.
The other highlight of the day was an unexpectedly found Apple museum and because the rain was still washing our clothes, we decided to hide from it. And just like that couple of hours passed by observing all models of Apple computers and reading various information about their appearance and selling records. And we got a free apple!
The hostel we are staying is very nice - located in a very center just five minutes in walking distance from Charles bridge. The staff is very friendly and helpful. And every day there is at least one free walking tour(as many hostels nowadays do).  The one we took started at 8pm and it's topic was "ghost stories of Prague". We didn't meet any ghosts but we were told many creepy stories about who killed what and why(and of course when). It was a very different perspective to look at the city. With an old town as big as Prague's - there are so many dates and numbers and names involved - it's too much to process everything in one go - especially with such little time as ours, but with a tour with twisted topic as this, I hope something stays in our head.

2016-05-03

Berlin - Bastei Weg - Wiesbaden

Sometimes a randomly seen picture can turn into a real view before your eyes. Even if you dismiss the first idea to go there - the people, the events around you weave into a web of coincidences that lead you to that place. That was the case with the Bastei's weg in Rathen near Dresden. A perfect trail for those who love beauty of ancient bridges, deep valleys, steep rocks,  forest paths covered with a carpet of last autumn's leaves.
And the rest of the day did turn out to be quite adventurous as well - ten minutes before our train ride we realized that we need a printed ticket. 3 minutes before it's departure, the ticket was still being printed... And then we ran with huge backpacks on our backs to the train. Luckily we made it. And late in the evening we reached our aunt's home in Wiesbaden.

Warsaw - Berlin - 5 cars in one day!

The second day on the road wasn't so easy as the first one. Warsaw is a way bigger city than Kaunas - you have to choose from many spots and getting to the right one takes time. And although it seems that you have a bigger stream of cars, a lot more of them just drive passed you. So, the second hitchhiking experience wasn't as easy as the first one. Our road was only 100 kilometers longer - so, we felt confident by writing "Berlin" on the cardboard. It appeared to be a mistake that costed us 1.5 hours of waiting for the first car which took us only to Łódź. And in total  - 5 cars to get to Berlin. But we enjoyed riding with polish people. Most of them didn't take any hitchhikers before - and they couldn't explain why they stopped for us. But all the rain, that has fallen that day from the sky, did fall only when we were in a car. Although we arrived late, we made it earlier than we would  have if we had ran out of luck - the last driver did really come out of his way to bring us to train station, and the train has just arrived stopping there only for a minute. A nice german gentleman helped us with buying a ticket on mobile phone - as we didn't have enough time to buy it on ticket machine.
And finally we could comfortly sleep in a sleeping bags on a floor of our ex-coworkers apartment.