Hasta la vista Prague
April 29, 2010
It is 16:00hrs on a clear and fresh day in Ingolstadt when the train officer blows his whistle for departure.
Alan and I are on board the DB Regional heading to Nuremberg with our final destination in Prague. In Nuremberg, we get off the train and change to a bus that goes from Nuremberg ZOB to Prague Florenc (which I highly recommend by the way, very cheap).
It is around 21:00hrs when we arrive at the Florenc Bus Station and Denisa is already there waiting for us. It is our first time in Prague and we are ready to party. We have waited so long for this moment. But the truth is, I didn’t really know what was waiting for me.
April 30, 2010
The sound of strong blows woke me up. I get up to find out what is happening and out the window, I see, in the middle of the garden, a man cutting down a tree with an ax. The man turned out to be Denisa’s dad, he is around 1.90m tall and the type of guy that you wouldn’t like to have as your father-in-law; or maybe that was the effect he had on me when we shook hands while he was holding the ax with his other hand.
I noticed that there was a big “Pozor, zlý pes!” (“Beware of dog!”) sign in the entrance, and Denisa says “Oh yeah I forgot to mention, we have a dog, his name is Goliath”. Alan and I looked at each other like saying “I hope this dog is not as big as her father”. The dog turned out to be a Chihuahua.
At noon, Denisa drove us downtown where Tereza, Petra, and Edmundo were waiting for us. Architecture in Prague is really beautiful, you can tell there is a lot of history and culture behind every stone/wall in Prague. You could walk for days through alleys and cobblestone streets, taking pictures of all the beautiful details that Prague hides.
If you ever have the opportunity to visit Prague, I would recommend trying the Trdelník (aka Trdlo), which is kind of a spit cake made of rolled dough, then grilled and topped with sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts.
But if you feel a bit hungrier than that, then I would recommend trying the Bramboračka, which is a traditional Czech potato soup served inside a bread bowl. Yes, you read that right, a bread bowl. By the way, any meal in Prague will taste better if served with a Pilsner Urquell.
After a fantastic meal, we headed to the sports complex Žluté lázně located next to the river Vltava to witness the Pálení čarodějnic (witches night aka Walpurgis night). This is a very popular event in the Czech Republic which takes place every year on April 30. The event offers dance and music performances, magicians, activities for children and of course the bonfire. Normally this event goes from 14:00 to 21:00hrs, so I would recommend being there early to grab a nice spot next to the river.
April 31, 2010
On our last day in Prague, we visited Pražský hrad (Prague Castle) and Karlův most (Charles Bridge). The afternoon was quite relaxing since we had to take the bus back to Nuremberg at midnight.
Alan and I arrived at the Autobusové nádraží Praha Florenc (Praha Florenc bus station) around 23:30hrs and said goodbye to Tereza, Petra, Denisa, and Edmundo. Edmundo didn’t take the bus with us because he was going by train straight to Ingolstadt. We said our final goodbyes and gave a last hug to all of them. It is almost 00:00hrs, the bus arrived and we joined the people in the line. Finally, it is our turn to show our tickets and I heard that the lady was asking Alan for his passport because that was the only official ID they were accepting. As soon as the lady asked Alan for his passport I started panicking because I knew I didn’t have my passport with me. Now I’m next…
— “Sir, I need to see your passport.”
— “Sorry, I didn’t bring it with me, I forgot it in Germany.”
— “Then you can’t get on the bus with us.”
— “But I have some other IDs with me, you can see my name here look.”
— “I am sorry those are not official IDs, can you please step aside? we have to go, sir, it’s getting late.”
— “But, what am I going to do now?”
— “I don’t know sir, that’s not my problem.”
Stress and panic took over me, I had no idea what to do next. Staying alone in the middle of the night in a bus station, was not part of my plan.
The bus driver was closing the door and I had to think fast. I yelled at Alan to get off the bus and asked the driver to open the door for a moment. I took my apartment keys out of my backpack and gave them to Alan as a last resort to search for my passport. Five minutes later the bus was gone, I was alone in a bus station and without a passport in a country where I only understand Ahoj. My mind was still processing what had just happened when suddenly a security guard approached me…
May 1, 2010
*speaks in Czech*
— “Fasjdhfdf asñjhdfjh sñldkfh.”
— Pardon?
— “Ah sorry, do you speak English?”
— “Yes.”
— “You need to leave the bus station please, we are closing.”
— “What do you mean? I’m outside the bus station.”
— “No, I mean you can’t be here on the platforms, we are also closing here.”
*I look at the sky, close my eyes and take a deep breath*
— “Ok.”
I grab my backpack, start walking, and I find a bench right next to the subway station. I sit down, grab my phone and call Denisa, no answer. I call Tereza, no answer. I did not call Petra because she lives in another city, about 1 hr from Prague. I tried calling Denisa and Tereza a dozen times, but they never answered the phone. The last time I tried to call, my phone started beeping, I look at the screen and read “low battery”. Fantastic.
I put my phone away, put the backpack next to me on the bench and made myself comfortable. A couple of minutes later I see in the distance a person walking towards me, carrying two suitcases. I couldn’t see his face, it was very dark and I was starting to get nervous, but I tried to stay calm. This person stops in front of me, he looked around 20 years old…
— “Excuse me, can I sit here with you?”
— “Mmm, yeah sure.”
— “My English is very bad sorry, do you speak any other language?”
— “Spanish and a little bit of French.”
*Guy gets excited and switches to French*
— “French? Really?!”
— “Yes, but if you speak very fast I will not understand.”
— “Okay don’t worry, I’ll speak slowly, I think we have all night.”
— “We sure do haha.”
— “Why are you here alone at midnight? Having a bad time like me?”
— “What do you mean, what happened to you?”
— ”You tell me first, I’m sure my story will take longer.”
— ”Okay. Well, I came to Prague to visit some friends for the weekend. I came by bus and today when trying to take the bus back, I couldn’t. I forgot my passport in Germany. I tried calling my friends, but no one answered, and the battery on my phone is dead. I will have to wait until 08:00hrs for the bus station to open again so that I can charge my phone and be able to call my friends. That’s all, what about you?”
— ”I came to Prague a week ago, to participate in a tennis tournament. I play at a semi-professional level. When I checked-in at the hotel, which by the way is just across the street, I said I didn’t want to pay for my whole stay in advance, but instead that I would pay on my last day. I didn’t win any matches during the tournament so it ended earlier than expected, and today before checking out at the hotel I decided to go to a restaurant first and went to an ATM to withdraw some money. Unfortunately, the ATM swallowed my card, now I cannot check-out at the hotel, can’t eat and I can’t buy my ticket back to Ukraine.
— ”Hold on, are you Ukrainian and you prefer to speak French over English?”
— ”Haha yes, my father is Ukrainian and my mother is French. I also speak Russian, but you don’t look like someone who speaks Russian, so I didn’t bother to ask.”
— “Well, you got that right haha.”
— ”Ok, so they kicked me out of the hotel and kept my passport to make sure I would return to pay. I hope tomorrow someone will come and open the ATM so I can get my card back. I already called my parents and if I don’t get my card back, they will help me pay the hotel so I can get my passport back. I’m glad I found you here, I really didn’t know where else to go.”
— ”Damn man, well I hope it works out.”
— ”Yes I know, thanks, man. There is nothing I can do now, just wait. By the way, do you want to watch a movie?”
— ”Watch a movie? what? how? where?”
— ”I brought my laptop, I think I have 2 or 3 movies and the battery is fully charged.”
— ”Ok, sounds like a good idea, which ones do you have?”
— ”Mmm, just realized I only have one, Terminator, do you want to watch it?”
— ”Haha well, that’s better than nothing.”
— ”Haha definitely, but I only have it in Russian with French subtitles.”
— ”Might be a good time to start practicing my Russian haha.”
After we finished watching the movie, we talked for the rest of the night. We didn’t want to sleep, it was not safe.
The employees of the bus station began to arrive a bit before 08:00hrs. The Ukraiench guy and I finally stood up from the bench and went straight to the building, we were both really hungry, we needed the restrooms, and our phones were out of battery. As soon as I plugged in my phone, I fell asleep.
Half an hour later the Ukraiench wakes me up and tells me that my phone turned back on and started beeping, probably some missed calls or SMS. I check my phone and indeed, I had received several SMS from Tereza, Denisa, and Alan. The messages from Tereza and Denisa were to apologize and to ask if everything was ok. Alan’s message was to let me know that he went to my apartment looking for my passport and found it.
I call Tereza and she tells me that she can’t come to the bus station to pick me up, but instead she explains the directions/steps to get to her apartment. I write everything down on a napkin and say goodbye to the Ukraiench, wishing him the best.
Honestly, I don’t remember taking the subway nor the tram, I just remember Tereza knocking on my window to wake me up because I fell asleep leaning against the window of the tram. She got on the tram to make sure I was awake, and we got off the tram. On our way to her apartment, Tereza couldn’t stop laughing telling me that these kinds of things only happen to me. I can’t disagree haha.
When we got to her apartment, she told me that I could take a bath. An hour later, Tereza was knocking on the door and I realized that I had fallen asleep in the bathtub. When I went out of the bathroom, her mom had prepared a meal for me already. I sat at the table to have the soup and fell asleep, my face was almost touching the soup. Tereza and her mom were having a good laugh.
After I finished washing my face in the soup, I went straight to bed. When I woke up, two hours later, Tereza told me that Alan tried to send my passport via DHL, but apparently, it is extremely expensive and not recommended to send that kind of document by post.
But Tereza had already figured out a way to get me back to Germany. While I was sleeping, Tereza agreed with Andreas to meet at the Waidhaus/Rozvadov border to give me my passport. An hour and a half later, we were parking at a McDonald’s right by the border, when I suddenly spot a white Audi A80 with a halo. As soon as Andreas got off his car, I noticed that he couldn’t stop laughing. Then we all started laughing as well. I know, I deserved it.
We ate a couple of burgers and then drove back to Ingolstadt. I slept all the way back and had to apologize for being such an excellent co-pilot as soon as we arrived in Ingolstadt.
Until today, can’t help but laugh every time I think about this trip.
