On Sunday, we were to leave for Prague. My feet were sore from previous days and I did not want to go wandering around the city, so we went directly to the station. The station is very large and very busy, with 4 floors of shops. Jess tried to get help with his phone at the train station but was unsuccessful and he finally gave up.

We wound up just waiting several hours for the train and then we almost missed it after taking a couple of wrong turns to the platform. We got on at the last minute! At least once we were in our seats we could relax. I took a few pictures of the Czech countryside on the way.

We arrived in Prague about 7:30 PM. Our first impressions were not great since our car driver got lost and wound up about two or 3 uphill blocks from the flat. Although he walked with us and helped with the luggage, we learned that the Czech Republic is one of the EU countries that doesn’t use the Euro, and that’s all we had. He was unhappy, but our host Stephanie took care of the fare and said we could pay her back later. We had also encountered rude people when asking for directions at the train station and when we stopped at a grocery store, the clerk was surly. So far, only Stephanie was friendly. As you can tell, our overall experience on this trip has been frustrating. People in Berlin did not seem to be particularly friendly or helpful it was hot and humid, and we didn’t find it as interesting as we expected, at least in the limited time we spent there.

Things began to look better when we got to the pub for dinner. The staff spoke English well and were very friendly and helpful. The traditional Czech food was delicious and the Guinness helped! Except for getting lost on the way back to the flat, things were looking up. Also, our flat is beautiful, especially after our little dorm-like room in Berlin.

We still have some communications problems, both with our phones and our Wi-Fi connections. Given how dependent we are on the internet, this is a major stressor. I hope we can get things resolved soon.

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