After breakfast overlooking Orly airport, I flew SkyEurope to Prague in a brand new 737-800 reading my Routard guide of the city. After landing in a modern airport and breezing through customs, I bought a day-long public transportation ticket for 2 euros. I took a bus, then a streetcar to get to the 40 euro per night, 4-star hotel I had booked on HRS.com. I almost checked into the wrong hotel but finally got it right. I dropped my bag and took a tram to the center of town. I wandered the small streets of the old town and admired the main square. I then walked around the Charles Bridge area and climbed all the way to the Castle. I was walking along the river when I saw two American girls in a paddleboat very near the shore. I introduced myself and asked if I could get a short ride. After a little negotiation, the agreed and we talked as they powered the boat on the river. We got too close to some rapids and they couldn’t paddle hard enough so we crashed in some rocks adjacent to a restaurant. I abandoned ship and the girls, climbed out of the boat, onto the rocks and into the restaurant’s window. The manager looked at me, puzzled, but I flashed him a smile and simply walked through the restaurant and out the door, at the amusement of those watching. I walked all the way up to the castle and back down to the center of town. It was very hot and I was completely drenched so I went back to the hotel to shower and change. I then had dinner at the hotel restaurant which looked very nice, but the food was unspectacular. I then walked to the very large TV tower the communists built right before the fall of the wall. After a short elevator ride, the very cold-feeling observatory offered a nice view on the entire city. I dropped by a couple of local nearby bars before calling it a night.
On the second day in Prague, I slept late and didn’t get up until noon. I went to the train station to find out the schedule for trains departing to Bratislava and Vienna. I then visited the Astronomical Tower, where a large and very sophisticated 500-year old clock with small statues enlivens every hour. I then walked to the Powder Gate, the Jewish quarter including a very interesting small Jewish cemetery where there are some many tombs that they are stuck onto each other. I then had dinner in a traditional restaurant popular with locals. I had one last pint of delicious Czech beer before calling it an early night.
The next morning, I went to the main train station at 6:30 to catch the early train to Bratislava, Slovakia. I finally arrived past 1pm, without hotel reservations or any clue as to what to do or where to go. I purchased a one-day transportation ticket and asked for a map. The transport map was completely useless to navigate the city. I met a young American girl who was travelling alone around Europe and took a random tram into the city with her. I got off at the Opera and overheard a tour guide describe the Carlton Hotel as the best in the city. I really had to use the washroom so I figured it would be a good place to do so. I found out that rooms were 179 euros a night, much too much for my budget. I started walking around and had a traditional but ordinary lunch on a pleasant terrace. After the meal, I used the internet only to find out that all hostels and many hotels were booked, and could not find a reasonable price. I figured that worse comes to worst, I would sleep under a bridge or stay up all night or work it out somehow. I visited the castle in the city, which was quite boring and appeared recently-built. I then took a bus to the Devin Castle, the ruins of an ancient castle which lies on the shore of the Danube about 30 minutes outside the city. I walked around the site discussing with some Brazilians for a while before catching the last bus back into town. By then it was 6pm, and I still didn’t have a place to sleep. I walked across the city asking hotels but most were unaffordable or completely booked. I finally found an available room in some kind of school dorm which is transformed into a hostel during the summer. The greedy and unpleasant Polish manager told me that the only room available was a private room at 60 euros per night. He showed me to a small and filthy room with two single beds and no private washroom. He refused to negotiate so I laughed at him and continued my search. I finally found the last available room at the Ibis hotel near the castle. I had dinner on the terrace of Camouflage, one of the trendiest restaurants in the city. I enjoyed a bottle of Slovak Chardonnay with some sushi and a nicely prepared grilled fish. I then walked around for a while and sat down for a glass of wine in an outdoor café. I met two young and pretty Slovak lawyers and we talked for a few glasses. I then went to Crowne Plaza casino and watched the blackjack players for a while. I wanted to play a bit of roulette but the players at the table seemed very boring and I was quite tired so I decided to go back to the hotel.
The next morning, I got up early and took a boat to Wien or Vienna, Austria. I met three young and pretty British recently graduated lawyers who were backpacking through Europe before starting work in the fall. We talked the whole boat trip and when they found out that I didn’t have a place to stay, the offered to show me their hostel. We got to Wien about 75 minutes after we left Brastilava and took the metro to the hostel. There was a bed available in a 12-person dorm. I took it immediately and we went to have lunch on a terrace, before walking to the St-Stephan Cathedral. After a long half-day of sightseeing, we went back to the hotel and split up. I borrowed a Lonely Planet from the hostel and read about a very nice restaurant called DO-CO right by the St-Stephan Cathedral. I walked there and looked around for a while before going to the restaurant. The waiter at the DO-CO café told me that reservations were required and that they were full. I went to speak with the manager and he rapidly found a nice table very close to the open kitchen. I ordered a schnitzel from the traditional food menu and was a bit disappointed, as all schnitzels appear to be pretty similar, while the food served to the tables around me was appeared truly well prepared. The toilets were remarkably posh, as were Camouflage’s the day before. After dinner, I walked around the city some more before going back to the hostel around midnight. To my surprise, just about every bed was already full.
The next morning, I took the train back to Prague, spent a few moments on a Prague terrace before flying back to Paris.
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