Saturday would be my last morning in Bratislava, so I wanted
to make sure and get the pictures I wanted and see a couple of other things I
didn’t get a good look at before. I made a point to get up by 6:30 so I could
see some things in the morning light… the sun comes up EARLY here! And it sets
really late! I’m a bit confused about the positioning of this part of the
world. I don’t even have any idea what time the sun actually comes up, but it’s
before 5:30, and I was not willing to get up that early!
At any rate, out I went (after a couple of cups of coffee)
in search of statues and post card-type photo-ops! I found several, and enjoyed
the perfect morning weather—not too hot, definitely not too cool, just right
for me! I thought surely some breakfast places will be open by 8:00, just like
weekdays, right? Um, not so much! Breakfast places around here don’t open on
Weekends until 9 or 10! Imagine my hungry disappointment! But that gave me time
to go back to the hostel and check out, put my bags in the luggage room, and
enjoy another cup of coffee. By then it was 9, and I had checked to make sure
Shtoor, my new favorite breakfast place, would be open. =) So I got my yummy
sheep’s cheese on homemade bread again—I broke a travel rule of mine and went
to the same place twice, but it was worth it!—and I also got a thing called
orangeade. Yum! I also caught up on my Trip Advisor reports and blogs, since
they have free wi-fi and comfy chairs there. I really wish there was a Shtoor
in Old Town Alexandria!
Around 10:30 or so I headed back to get my stuff at the
hostel and walked to the train station—much easier to find this time than when
I arrived and tried to find my hostel just a couple of days before! The people
in the train station were much more helpful in Slovakia than in the other train
stations I’d been on during this trip, so I had no problem finding my platform…
except I didn’t know that Prague is actually spelled “Praha” in Czech and
Slovakian! I kept thinking, “Praha? Is that the name of the Prague train
station? That’s what it says on my ticket and on the platform marquee sign, so
I sure hope that’s the right place!” Haha, only later did it click that “Praha”
IS “Prague.” ;)
The train ride was about four hours, maybe a little less,
but it was definitely a bit uncomfortable. I got spoiled with the direct train
from Warsaw to Krakow, and then the private night train cabin on my way to
Bratislava! This was an older train, I guess, with much smaller seats, but it
got me from point A to point B, and that’s what mattered!
And then came the challenge… finding my way to the Prague
Hilton. I got a quick snack and changed my money over to Czech Koruna, then
went dutifully to the information desk, thinking that would be the place to get
the best information—boy was I mistaken! I stood in line for about 20 minutes
before anyone was available to help me, and then the girl gave me the incorrect
directions! She said to turn left out of the train station and keep on
Wilsonova, but I should have trusted my gut and gone right! I ended up walking
30 or more minutes in the opposite direction, and by the time I figured that
out, I wa already on the other side of Prague! I went inside a hotel to ask
directions again, and the woman was so rude! My first experience in Prague was
definitely not a good one—walking through the “bad” part of town and meeting up
with rude receptionists!
At any rate, I did get a map and the right directions (she
gave me the information begrudgingly, but I was carrying all my luggage and had
just walked a long way—I didn’t care how rude she was as long as I got the
info!), and so I set out again! Back past the train station, over the bridge
(it was actually not pedestrian-friendly, which surprised and disappointed me
being in Europe! But after two hours (and a few tears later), I made it! Again
with the confusing roads around here—not my favorite!
On to nicer things! Jen had left me a note at the front
desk, so I was able to check in and get my key, dumped my stuff, and went to
the Executive lounge to meet up with everyone! Jen, Brian, Louise (Brian’s
mom), and Steve (Brian’s marathon-running co-worker) were all sitting there
waiting for me! Jen said some of them were getting worried about me, but Jen
assured them I’d just navigated my way around Europe and would be fine. ;)
And off we went! We roamed around Prague and got some
pictures, we looked around at where the guys would be running the next morning,
and we found a great place for supper—hooray for Czech food! I don’t remember
the name of the restaurant, but I got the goulash in a bread bowl—very Czech! It
was excellent, and I was really hungry, too, from walking so long, so I’m sure
that helped with the taste as well. =) I also tried some of Jen’s dumplings
with farmer’s cheese and fruit in them—which were so good! That was actually on
my list of things I needed to eat while I was here, so that put me in a good
mood and got the Prague leg of my trip off to a good start.
Please see the pictures HERE!
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