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DSAE Day 9: a Prague-matic retreat
May. 27th, 2013 10:28 pmRainy, dreary Prague! I was hoping it would be less dreary this morning, but instead worse; I was planning on dropping my bag off at the train station and getting a walk around town, the Charles Bridge, the Kafka monument, the Dvorak museum, but it was so bleak and unpleasant, and I could not for my life find the lockers at the train station, that when I saw a non-stop for Vienna was leaving in 40 minutes, I thought screw this and bought a ticket on it.
A FIRST CLASS ticket, Rick Steves. Yes, I already had a pre-paid ticket on the 13:38 train but it was Second Class, and I think I learned that lesson. Also the earlier train is named the Antonin Dvorak, so who could resist.
The train ride from Prague to Vienna is pretty, half through forests and half through wide plains; not nearly as dramatic as yesterday's ride, and at 4 hours 45 minutes the first really long train ride I've had.
I've got to think of this trip as less making a meal of Europe as doing a tasting run, just little bites to figure out what I want to come back for someday & have the full course. Prague, yes, I'll visit again, but that was a tiny bite. Vienna, already bigger. I like Vienna. And by that I mean that I understand the subway system. I made a point to ride each of the 5 U-Bahn lines a little bit (U1, U2, U3, U4 & U6. What happened to U5? A deep mystery).
I also made a point of eating the local food, being Wiener Schnitzel. No relation whatever to the American hot dog chain. That stuff is omnipresent, especially since the Food Polizei eased up and allowed restaurants to call it "Weiner Schnitzel" even if they don't use veal. Which is fine with me because veal is murder. Yes, I know that all meat is murder, but veal is murder of the cute. I had Weiner Schnitzel vom Schwein from a sad little fast-food chain called SchitzelHaus, staffed by a sullen young Spaniard who couldn't wait to get back to his World of Warcraft. It was every bit as good as you'd expect, but you want me to spend real money on this?
I have one other task in Vienna, and a lot of time to do it, since my overnight train doesn't leave until VERY late tomorrow.
A FIRST CLASS ticket, Rick Steves. Yes, I already had a pre-paid ticket on the 13:38 train but it was Second Class, and I think I learned that lesson. Also the earlier train is named the Antonin Dvorak, so who could resist.
The train ride from Prague to Vienna is pretty, half through forests and half through wide plains; not nearly as dramatic as yesterday's ride, and at 4 hours 45 minutes the first really long train ride I've had.
I've got to think of this trip as less making a meal of Europe as doing a tasting run, just little bites to figure out what I want to come back for someday & have the full course. Prague, yes, I'll visit again, but that was a tiny bite. Vienna, already bigger. I like Vienna. And by that I mean that I understand the subway system. I made a point to ride each of the 5 U-Bahn lines a little bit (U1, U2, U3, U4 & U6. What happened to U5? A deep mystery).
I also made a point of eating the local food, being Wiener Schnitzel. No relation whatever to the American hot dog chain. That stuff is omnipresent, especially since the Food Polizei eased up and allowed restaurants to call it "Weiner Schnitzel" even if they don't use veal. Which is fine with me because veal is murder. Yes, I know that all meat is murder, but veal is murder of the cute. I had Weiner Schnitzel vom Schwein from a sad little fast-food chain called SchitzelHaus, staffed by a sullen young Spaniard who couldn't wait to get back to his World of Warcraft. It was every bit as good as you'd expect, but you want me to spend real money on this?
I have one other task in Vienna, and a lot of time to do it, since my overnight train doesn't leave until VERY late tomorrow.
