July 9, 2015: European Rail Trip: Day 14: Prague

On the Train from Vienna to Prague

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: PRAGUE

We can be idiots!!

Wow! Our last train ride on the rail journey through 5 cities and 5 countries! 

It's definitely been a real hoot! We've had so much freakin' fun and so many laughs!

But ya know, we really can be idiots!

Here we are on the best train yet, which left from the best station yet!
Seriously the station had everything you could ask for. It was a full on shopping mall (BahnhofCity mall), was super clean, and dignified. 
Had tons of stores, eateries, juice bars, coffee bars, elevators, escalators, free wifi - you name it, it was there!

I didn't mind our wait time whatsoever, if fact I would've been happy to wait even longer!
Yup I said that.

At the train station in Vienna

Vienna train station

And now we are on the best train yet, in first class, comfortable with A/C, wifi, the works...
But is that good enough for us???

Nope, we start complaining that the wifi isn't fast enough! 

Then we start busting out in laughter about how stupid we are, and Elisa gets reprimanded by the steward to not laugh!! WTH?!

Which only made us laugh harder and need to cover mouths so not to be so loud! 

Trying to not laugh out loud

Busting up, think I snorted!

But get this... we were the only ones in the car - aside from this guy. 
And I had immediately turned to him and asked if he was causing problems! 
See his picture and read more about him in 
Elisa's column --->>>--->>>

Then get this... Elisa got in trouble a second time! 
Geez Louise!
This time for whispering! 
OMG since when did first class become the mute car?

Man, if only I had some gum! (Inside thang)

Annoying Lady!

So aside from the Nazi regime on this train, everything else is pretty sweet. And beautiful scenery to boot.

Stadtpark, Vienna

But before heading to the train station, I was ambitious and decided to head into the city centre and go to St. Stephens. 
I had wanted to climb to the tower, but upon my arrival (and after climbing lots of other steps in the train station) I find out that they only have an elevator! 
Well, I sort of feel cheated!
Anyways, I took the lazy bones elevator to the top and had the place almost to myself, no crowd and a lovely view!

North Tower of St. Stephens

Looking down from the North Tower

Fighting the wind and my dress!

After fighting the wind on the North Tower of St. Stephens, I made my way back down and then I was on a quest! 

As you know I'm very big on not returning empty handed and very BIG on buying souvenirs. I had finished all but one item that was left to search out. I can't go into too much detail here as the person the gift is for is a subscriber to our blog...

BTW are you a subscriber yet? 
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So back to my shopping quest... I browsed and searched and could not find what I was looking for. I figured that I would have a few more shots at finding this elusive creature. 
Maybe I'd get lucky at the train station, maybe in Prague, maybe at the airport... 
But then on my way back to the apartment to meet Elisa, I stopped into the gift shoppe inside of the Intercontinental Hotel, and low and behold found what I was looking for!


And a happy successful me hoofed it back in time before our cab came to pick us up!

Ready to leave the rented apartment

Cut to us on this train and the "guy" who was initially annoying us...well we had a few giggles together over the crazy Nazi lady, and then when we arrived to Prague he followed us along like a puppy dog to find his way out!

We've arrived!

We parted ways, and THEN Elisa and I couldn't for the life of us find the damn bus that we needed. 

I left her to stand with the bags - because we were quite sick and tired of schlepping them around, and I went to go ask where the heck the bus is. 

I was given directions, followed the directions, and still came up with nothing! 
UGH frustration, and at this point Elisa just wanted a cab - so I told her let's find out what they are gonna charge us, because I bet they are gonna rip us off! And they wanted to charge 50 freakin' euros! Uhhh no thanks!

So I go to ask for directions yet again and still can't figure out what the heck or where the heck this stupid bus was; when all of a sudden like a guardian angel our "friend" from the train shows up with his friend (the local who was there to pick him up). 

Now you gotta understand - this station is mega busy and there are people everywhere. Plus we parted ways with this guys a while ago, and had wandered from here to there in search of the train.

Next thing you know, he was asking if we were ok? We told him that we couldn't find our bus, and his friend (the local) knew exactly where it was, he left us for a moment and came back telling us the best way to go. 
We thanked them and said our good byes. And we made it to our bus, and now to our hotel, and this is our last night in Europe...for now!

That's about it for today folks! 

You can catch me right here again tomorrow, LIVE from Prague before heading home to the states.

Ciao 4 now,
-T

PS - let's not forget that today is TBT, it's Elisa's turn and she's got a special treat for you - it's a Throwback to her 2014 visit to Vienna! 
Read it HERE

Elisa's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: PRAGUE

Auf Wiedersehen Vienna 

Hey there!! 

Today we said goodbye to Vienna, The Imperial City and left on a 4-1/2 hour train ride to Prague  - the last rail ride of our trip.

Our Trip Route for our European Rail Trip

We will spend the night at an airport hotel in Prague and depart for New York tomorrow.  

My flight is at noon so I'll be heading to the airport in the morning. 

However, Tanya doesn't leave until early evening, so she will be spending the day touring Prague once again with Carlos - her friend and our wonderful guide during our stay last week in Prague.

April 2014 - in the Courtyard of the Hofburg

I thought for Throwback Thursday, considering we are still in Vienna for part of the day, I would re-post a previously published story about my visit to the Spanish Riding School during my trip to Vienna in the Spring of 2014.

CLICK HERE or the photo below to read Picturesque Prague & Imperial Vienna: Family Day at the Spanish Riding School.

Spanish Riding School at The Hofburg, Vienna, Austria

Back to today...
Woke up remarkable refreshed this morning.  Could it be that the temperature dropped into the 60's? Yay - boy had I had it with the heat!!

Had a great night sleep and with the exception of throwing a few things in my ever-deteriorating suitcase, I was pretty set to depart Vienna. (Yes folks, I think this suitcase will not have a good fate once I am back home).

Tanya, the energizer bunny, decided to take a walk back to St. Stephen's Church, near the Hofburg to climb up to the Tower for some panoramic photos.  

Our Taxi to the train station arrived at 11:15. 
SCRREEECH... Here's where I need to do a little rant...
Upon our arrival into Vienna, we grabbed a taxi to our apartment rental.  The cost we were quoted was 40 Euro.  

Yesterday, during a taxi ride from the Nachtmarkt, we inquired with the "metered cab" driver how much he would charge to drive us to the train station and he quoted us 12 Euro.  

UH - big difference!  Tanya and I were rather pissed off to say the least. 

It's so important when traveling to do a little homework and always inquire beforehand about the usual and customary fares to and from the airports and train stations. 

In the taxi to airport

So, with such a reasonable fare, we booked the same taxi driver from yesterday to come collect us this morning.

It's a bittersweet feeling I'm having today folks.  On the one hand, I can't wait to see my family. As a mom, it feels like an eternity since I've hugged my BABIES!!

On the other hand, I HATE going home after a great trip!  

The good news is, another trip is right around the corner - a week from tomorrow!
Yeah, Baby!!!
This time on our Cousins road trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

BTW are you a subscriber yet? It's painless, quick and very easy - just add your email address to the little box that is on the upper right of the web page.
We'll never sell your email address, and you'll never miss a beat, following us around the world!

Vienna Hauptbahnhof Train Station

Waiting to board train

This is probably a good time for a few anecdotes from our day.

First Story... 
You know how much Tanya and I have been complaining about the trains during this rail trip - how they don't have wifi; how they are not air conditioned; how no one helps us with our bags; how the train stations don't have elevators or escalators.  

Well, here we are in Vienna...the train station was beautiful; lots of shops and eateries, including one with vegan offerings! 
Not only did it have an elevator, but it had elevators directly to the specific platforms.  Once on the platform, we were approached by a very nice train attendant who offered to help us with the bags.

Not only were our tickets for first class, with air conditioning but we also had Wifi, free snacks and free water!

So, about an hour into the trip, there we were, complaining that the wifi wasn't fast enough! SERIOUSLY?? 

Is there any pleasing these two cousins??

The car entrance of our train that our train companion was blocking

Second story -- Tanya and I are both convinced that we are really men, trapped inside hot female bodies. Why? you may ask.

Let's do a recap of our trip to help illustrate this point....  
> Traveling and schlepping with HUGE suitcases, camera bags, wheeled toiletry bags, duffles for our souvenirs, straps of every kind around our necks;
> Pushing, pulling, wheeling, moosing through airports, on and off trains, escalators, elevators, airports;
> Warning taxi drivers about the weight of the bags that WE ARE CARRYING - - 
All the while looking cute, sexy and smiling at every possible angle for a picture.

Ok, so we get on this train and there is a guy blocking the entrance to the first class seating area.  He is having a conversation with the train attendant, while Tanya and I are in the entranceway with all our bags. After all of 60 seconds, we are getting really put-out that we can't walk past him.

I say, (with an impatient attitude), "Excuse me, can you move out of the way?"  (Of course, we are loaded up with our shoulder bags, wheeled bags, etc.)

We notice that there is a small area behind the first row of seats where suitcases can fit, but he already has his bag there.

I say to him, "are you going to be keeping your bag here and if not, can we move it to put our bags in this area" (because there is no room within the seating area for our bags).  Before this guy has a chance to answer, Tanya bellows, "Yeah, move it!" to me.

Now, this man was already on our bad side because a) he was in the way and b) his bag was where we wanted to put our bags.

All of a sudden, he gets totally nice and says "Ah, yes, come, I will help you" in an Israeli accent and proceeds to move his bag so that mine and Tanya's can fit.  

When we sit in our seats, Tanya texts me laughing (cuz this guy is right across the aisle from us so we can't talk about him out loud) that we didn't like him and were such brutes about taking it upon ourselves to just moving his bag, before he turned out to be nice and then we did like him.

We even got him to take a bunch of pictures of us on and when we got off the train. 
(look to the left)
<<<<<-----<<<<<-----<<<<<-----<<<<<

I got such a laughing fit and texted her "We are such beasts.  We are men with hot bodies."

The guy who was blocking the entrance and eventually helped us store our luggage

The burgundy suitcase is the guy's suitcase - that we didn't like and then liked when he helped us

The "storage" area at the front of the car where we wound up storing our luggage during the train ride (Tanya's purple bag, my brown one)

So much for my suitcase handle

Me with a fit of laughter on the train

Now, there is a third story regarding the NAZI train conductor AND the "Mute" Rule in our train car which Tanya wrote about - DO NOT MISS IT!!
<<<---<<<---<<<---<<<---<<<---<<<

Last selfie on the train

FUNNY, FUNNY DAY!!

Well, while I'm on the train, I mind as well tell you what Tanya were talking about this week.
Another cousins trip!!! That's right.  Tanya and her gang will be traveling to Portugal and Spain in June-July 2016.  I was originally supposed to go with Denise and her family, but those plans changed when she decided that it was not good time for her to go.

Soooooo, as a result, I have a blank space on my travel calendar and would love to fill it by joining them to these amazing destinations.  We will be talking more about this trip and I'll share more details with you as soon as we move right along with the planning.

Anyway, we arrived into Prague train station with no issues, except that Tanya and I could not for the life of us find the bus to the hotel at the station.  

We went up the elevator; down the elevator - schlepping our bags - all over.  We went outside (in the wrong area) - back in.  No bus in sight!!

Outside the Prague Train Station (in the wrong area). Little did we know the correct place to get the bus was across the road right in front of the station behind me

As we were getting totally frustrated, who should walk by, but our Israeli train car companion, with his friend (who lives in Prague) and that kind friend, showed us exactly where we needed to go.

Ironically, the bus stop was directly across the street from where we were initially standing outside, pictured above.

From there, we schlepped yet again, up an escalator and outside to the bus.

It was a most un-enjoyable ride, but it was cheap and we arrived at our hotel safe and sound except that somewhere from the bus to the hotel I lost my bag of food including my cous cous salad - grrrrr.

And folks, that was our day.  Now to grab some food and settle in for the evening!

Have a great day!!
-E
xoxo