September 8th - In Transit

September 8, 2006
Praha – In Transit

This morning I got up around 8:30 and started to pack my things up. After showering, I headed downstairs to checkout and then sat around and waited for my traveling buddies. One of our members (I’ll leave it to the imagination) was late and we did not leave the hostel till after 10:00 to catch a 10:26 train.

We hustled and made it to the main train station just after 10:15. Once we got there we had no idea where our train was. Not knowing what to do, we headed for information. They informed us that the train for Vienna (It is called Wein in here in Europe) leaves from a different station. We ran to the metro and headed to the correct station. As soon as the metro doors opened we ran out and up the stairs to try to catch our train (it was now 10:24). We got to the platform at 10:27 and were disappointed to find that there was no longer a train in the station. Trains here leave at the exact time they say they are going to leave.

Unfortunately, there was not another train to Wein until 12:40. Which means we lost our afternoon in Vienna because our new train did not get in until 18:00 (I am going to be like my boy Dustin and start using military time because it is more international). While waiting (for 2 hours) we grabbed some food and then chilled out at the train station. We sat by two American women (about 65) and I thought it was funny because one of them had a Nintendo DS.

Our train to Wein was ridiculously overcrowded. We got on the train just a few minutes before it was leaving and every seat was taken. We spent over 20-minutes fighting through the narrow hallways with our large bags. I couldn’t even find a place to put my pack. I gave up and plopped down in the hallway where the Bastons came and joined me. We were all upset because one of the compartments was not even open and there were 6 open seats. When the ticket lady came by, B asked her to open it up and she let us in (an incredible stroke of luck)! We had 6 seats for the 3 of us but decided to be nice and ask some of the other passengers if they would like to join us. For the next 3.5 hours we sat next to a German doctor, Czech student (very annoying), and Swiss camp manager.

When we got into Wein we had to change strain stations. A very nice woman helped us find the metro that would connect us to the appropriate station. We got to ride through the city on our way from the south station to the west station. As we rode through the city we passed numerous basketball courts (the first I have seen in Europe), it made me miss playing hoops.

We arrived at the train station with about an hour and a half to spare. After getting some food, I used the remaining time to get all of my blogs online. By the time I finished it was time to board our night train.

Our room on the train was much smaller than I had anticipated. Six tiny beds (stacked 3 high on each side of the room) were packed into a room about half the size of the dorms at the University of Oregon (which were voted the worst in the nation). It was a very tight living space! We shared the room with a German historian living in Austria, a super nice guy from Nigeria, and some other dude we didn’t even talk to. We chatted with our new buddies (sorry no pics, I forgot) for quite some time and learned many things about the situation in Africa right now. It is not good and they need a lot of help. But did any of you know they speak pigeon English in Nigeria?

We all fell asleep watching Gladiator on Peter’s laptop.