Language problems - Prague (part 3)

In order to keep expenses low during my trip I intend to wash my cloths by hand. The sinks at my hostel have no plugs however, so I need to get out and buy one. The first shop I try looks like they might just have what I am after. The guy behind the counter speaks little English, too little. I try drawing something on paper, but thanks to my poor drawing skills he still doesnt understand what I need. Shop number two, same story. In the third shop one of the young assistants speaks English. He gives me directions to the right kind of shop and also tells me the Czech word for plug. So at shop number four I finally get my plug, only to find out later that it is too big. Ah well, I shall keep it for later.

Like that English speaking guy at the shop, most people that do speak English (and that is not many) are fairly young and many of them are overseas students who are not familiar with local life and history and cannot help with questions like why are there two house numbers for every house and what is the difference between the 100 and 150 Kroner daily tickets for public transport. Realising that I decide it is time to fill in my couchsurfing profile so that I have a chance of meeting up with some local folks that can explain things to me during my next city stop.



Businesses seem to have grown much faster than language skills since the wall came down in 1989. I see all the big store chains in Prague that I am familiar with from living in the UK, Netherlands and Germany. It seems however that some of their products they sell here are adapted to the local taste. Without being able to understand Czech and judging by the photo on the can, I expected to have spaghetti bolognese for dinner, but instead I find some think tomato soup when I open the can. It did fill my stomach, though!

24. April - Prague (part2)

Today I spent a day on the tram to explore the city a bit more but also to go out to the city perimeter. One thing I noticed is that people make good use of the many rubbish bins that are everywhere and so the city centre is pretty clean. As soon as you leave the immediate centre however, you start seeing graffitis, even on those beautiful houses.



Moving towards the perimeter, the graffiti density increases but on the ground it is still very clean everywhere.


At the end of tram line 17 I enter one of these concrete tower housing estates. Getting of the tram I heard some music coming from around the corner and I thought I should watch so I dont end up in the arms of a youth gang. But far from it. The music turned out to come from a small beer garden where the locals hang out to enjoy beer and snacks. Also, the whole area looked pretty grim when approaching it with the tram, because all you see nothing but concrete blocks with small windows, and there are thousands of it. But if you make the effort to take a closer look you will notice plenty of space between the tower blocks, filled with hedges, trees and playgrounds. So in the end it didnt seem such a bad place after all - in fact I found it a very peaceful place with a relaxing atmosphere thanks to the lack of tourists - and the people living out here (obviously not the richest ones) just enjoy what they have.

Prague (part 1)

My accommodation in Prague happens to be a little bit away from the town centre because I picked some place quite cheap. The nice thing about being based away from the centre is – and I realise this only now – that you get a chance to see what the city is like away from the touristic centre. So on my way downtown I discover this 10-storey concrete building that is full with administration offices, offering a nice and free of charge view of the city from one of the upper floors. It is from there that I spot the unbelievable: a public footpath crossing all tracks of Prague´s central train station. Without barriers or lights warning of approaching trains – use it at your own risk!


Downtown Prague, you can explore the city on everything you can imagine, like horse-drawn carriages, vintage cars, self-balancing electric 2-wheelers or this bike – if you want to call it that – which sits seven people all facing each other. Being a bicycle fanatic, I wanted to have a go on it but with the only other people showing interest being Italians, the owner only runs sightseeing tours in Italian language.













Exploring the city by foot, I came to a place where once a giant Stalin sculpture watched over the city. It has been gone for a long time and the place acts now as a hangout for Prague´s skating kids and graffiti artists.

19. April - Rocking East

During the last two weeks I was able to tie up all loose ends of my travel preparations. I have a backup credit card, I have travel health insurance and I had amazon sent the lonely planet “Eastern Europe” edition to my friends house. Now it sits in my rucksack and I am feeling ready to go East, and so is my friend. He is starting on a tour with his rock band today and his first two gigs are in Nuremberg and Prague, which is like the perfect direction for me to start my tour through Eastern Europe. So I follow his invitation to join his band as band support for 2 days...



Life as band support proves very intensive, but fun. Lots of good and loud music, lots of carrying heavy amplifiers and speakers, and very short nights because concerts always run till late in the night and in the morning you have to head to next location. The second night I am so tired, I fall asleep when the headliner plays, and they were not the quiet kind of guys!

On Tuesday morning I say goodbye to my friend and his band. They are moving on to Germany and I will stay in Prague for another week, my first stop in Eastern Europe.

14. April - Trier

I have moved on to my other friends near Trier now and we are roaming through the city. Someone mentioned that the Porta Nigra, an ancient city gate in Trier back from the roman days, is the oldest building in Germany. I pick up a few tourist guide books and booklets at a bookstore but I cannot find any reference with regard to this.

The Liebfrauenkirche, a huge Gothic church, is impressive. It is so massive, you can get an 1h guided tour and you probably will still know only half of it. What I find much more fascinating though is the Konstantinbasilika. It is just one really big hall of simple geometry and with little decoration, which makes being in there quite a different experience compared to other churches.

Easter – The best of both worlds

Having lived the last three years in the Netherlands, my friends invited me on a 3-day trip into the “Berchtesgadener Alpen” to see some real mountains. Watzmann, Untersberg und Hoher Göll offer a great scenery and it is a particularly nice time now to be in this area. There is still enough snow for some snowshoeing or downhill action and down in the valleys you can sit in a beer garden or cafe, licking away on your ice cream and marvel at all the blooming apple and almond trees.

3. April - The Start

My last thought before leaving the house was “What am I going to do with my keys?”. Well, in the end I decided to leave them with my tenants, after all I will not need them during my travels and I also save a few grammes in luggage that way.

I board the train for my first lag which will take me near the German-Austrian border, not far from Passau. That might seem like the wrong direction for someone set out to explore Eastern Europe, but I had promised to visit friends there – and some more friends near Trier – before embarking on my adventure. So for the next two weeks I will get a chance to see how my friends organise their day-to-day life and I will also be able to prepare my trip a bit more. I am still lacking a travel insurance for instance!

En route to my friends I have to switch trains in Passau. It is midday, the sun is burning. I grab a beer from the station shop and place myself outside the station where I watch people pass. Suddenly I am overwhelmed by a feeling of heading for a perfect few months on the road...