Pragueress...

Hi all,

Well at long last I am on a computer again and I have the time to post a message. Well, as most of you probably know at this point I am in Prague. Before I get into what is ongoing in Prague, let me fill in some background about my travels (also please forgive typos, Czech keyboards???).

Okay, well Nicole and I rounded out our time in Spain. For me this was about 10 days ago and, looking back, it was pretty fabulous. Quite frankly meeting Jean Iroz really meant a lot to me. In a weird sort of way meeting
Jean was the center piece of the trip to Spain and truly made the whole experience that much more worthwhile. I must admit it was tough at first because of my sketchy Spanish but I really think Nicole and I understood most things.

Okay, so when Nicole and I went to leave Spain we arrive at the train station to try and make the trip up to Hendaye (a town along the border of Spain and France) where we would pick up the TGV to Paris. We had hotel reservations in Paris for Friday night and wanted to make sure we caught the early train. In any event, the train station was mobbed. There were all too many tourists either attempting to head to Pamplona, or coming back from Pamplona...yes it was the running of the bulls. As it turns out Nicole and I drove though Pamplona the day before opening ceremonies for the Fiesta de San Fermin (the running of the bulls). I suppose we could have tried to go but, well, we weren't that interested. The whole event is kind of insane and we weren't interested in hanging out in a city packed with loud, drunk tourists (mostly Americanos get gored by the bulls, go figure), tormenting some bulls. It actually seems a bit cruel, perhaps Nicole and I are just boring, but I don't think so. Anyway, at the train station I wanted to
catch the local train to Hendaye that runs every half hour. The man at the ticket booth saw us come in with our bags and clearly thought we didn't know what we we're doing because he insisted we couldn't buy a ticket on the local train to Hendaye (3 Euro for both of us mind you) and instead insisted that we make a reservation. I was livid (it still annoys me even now). In the end we made reservations (16 Euro...note how it is a racket...very annoying). In any event, when we got to Hendaye we only had a few minutes to spare and nearly missed the TGV (I was very angry...so angry that had we missed the TGV and had to wait for the next one several hours later I would have really considered taking the local train back to San Sebastian and giving the ticket agent a severe tongue lashing). Anyway, the reason why we caught the TGV was because in the French train stations there was an incredibly helpful man would allowed us to quickly process our ticket reservation and get on the next train. The point of this whole story is that almost to a fault wherever I have been in France, the people have always been extremely helpful and kind. If you have never been to France, and you have your doubts about how you will be treated, fear not, the people are really nice.

Well, as it turns out, the train incident set an unfortunate precedent for our weekend in Paris. It seemed that Nicole and I were always five minutes too late for things. For example, we went to Versailles on Saturday. We had a nice time and it was still enjoyable, but we missed getting the day pass for the palace and grounds by 5 minutes. We settled for a self guided tour through the palace, it was nice and the day pass would have been too much, but the day pass was more flexible. Regardless, Versailles was nice and enjoyable. On our return into Paris we attempted to make it to the Salvador Dali museum, it was in the neighborhood where we were staying (Montmarte...think Moulon Rouge), but we missed it by 5 minutes. We then went to a beautiful Basilica that overlooks Paris...if in Paris you can see it in the distance from most other parts of the city. The Basilica (whose name I cannot remember) was beautiful. As part of the Basilica you can climb the stairs to the top and get, perhaps, the best view of Paris of anywhere in the city...we were the last people they let in...we nearly missed it, yikes. Regardless, we made it and the views were spectacular...Nicole took pictures so they should make it to the blog. Anyway, on Sunday I went with Nicole to the airport and well, we were five minutes too late, Nicole's flight closed and she had to stay in Paris another day. While an extra day in Paris may sound great, it isn't great when you have to go to work the next day...as Nicole had intended (sorry Cole).

Even though our time in Paris was a bit frazzled and we had time troubles, all in all it was Paris and Paris is, well, Paris (spectacular). Paris really is an amazing city. After Nicole finally did get out, on standby the
next day, I then had a day to get myself together and take and overnight train out of Paris on my journey to Prague. Before I left I did my laundry at a nearby landromat and had my last real meal for two days. At the laudromat a man approached me about how to make the machines work...it was funny because he wasn't sure if I was a tourist...I like the idea of fitting in in Paris...regardless I wound up having a great conversation with a PhD student of Theology from Duquesne University. He was travelling through Paris after having attended a conference in Germany. Really nice guy and we had a good conversation. It is funny where and when you wind up meeting people and having good conversations...who would have figured the a laundromat in Paris would make for a good conversation spot. After finishing our conversation and my laundry I headed to the train station, Paris East (L' Est or something to that effect). Food for thought, while most train stations in Paris are pretty nice, Paris East is not that nice, nor is it in a very good area of the city. Nonetheless, I took a 10:55pm train from Paris to Frankfurt. The train was an overnight and I took a couchette. A couchette is a little bed. When you take a couchette you share a car on the train with 5 other people. In the car there are three couchettes on each wall stacked on top of each other. I was on the bottom couchette. Let's just say, cramped quarters in this little car. All in all
it was alright except for the really loud, smelly, snoring man. If not for him I know I would have slept more...such is life on trains I guess. Anyway, I made it to Frankfurt and then I took a high speed (ICE train, German highspeed train) to Dresden. In Paris they told me to go to Nuremburg, not Dresden, but Dresden was faster (you would think that the train reservation people would know this, go figure Nicole knew better and pointed me to Dresden...as did the German ticket man). So I arrived in Frankfurt and then ran to the train to Dresden.

The trip to Dresden was extremely comfortable and the train was really nice. The German train stations were very clean and they ran very efficiently from what I could gather. The German coountryside from Frankfurt to Dresden was a lot like travelling through the Midwest and Plain States of the States. I was definitely in the bread basket of Germany. When I arrived in Dresden I had to run to make the train to Prague...partly because I got off in the wrong station in Dresden and had to wait five minutes for the next train to take me to the right station. Anyway, I made the train and had to buy my ticket to Prague along the way. The ticket to Prague was a steal, 9 Euro from the German border. I finally arrived in Prague tired and in need of a shower at about 2:30pm on Tuesday afternoon. Naturally I had to find a metro and take it across town to meet my buddy Dan. You would have thought I would have had a moment to rest but Dan had us go immediately to his apartment, drop off my things, and then away we went...we were actually celebrating because he had just passed a do or die exam that morning.
Anyway, I saw all of Prague in a whirlwind, had some Czech food (very hearty goulash, garlic soup, and a stew type thing with dumplings). Since Tuesday I have been exploring Prague on my own...it has gone well and there will be more on that in future messages.

That being said, I hope everyone is well and hopefully my next message will be full of colorful stories and much less recap. I have definitely seen a lot of Prague and I will give my Prague report in the next message. In the meantime, be well.

Justin