We decided to go out and take some photos of the astronomical clock in the old town square. The day we did our tour was very drizzly and Stu didn’t take any photos. We think that the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus will be a great way to get us there. As we make our way to our local stop, we see a bus go past us and resign ourselves to waiting for the next one. When we arrive at the stop there are about a dozen people also waiting. Another bus arrives shortly, but is full and no one is Hopping Off. There is some discussion from the people there ahead of us as it becomes apparent that the previous bus was also full. They were not happy. We use our trusty feet and are in the town square very quickly. Stu takes some photos of the clock and we look around. There are soooo many people!! We are feeling a bit claustrophobic and need to escape the crowds.
We saw a couple of islands in the river on our previous walks and head towards them. Slovanský ostrov is the first one. It is beautiful.
Lots of grass and trees and hardly any people. They rent peddle boats from here. We spend some time looking for a geocache that is close by.
We are thinking that it is time for a beer and a bite to eat so decide to walk over to the other island, Střelecký ostrov. There are a couple of choices for food and drink. One looks very upscale and the other is a barge with an outdoor grill serving beer, grilled corn, grilled sausage among a few other items. They have picnic bench tables and a great setting right on the river. 2 big beers and a sausage for about $6 CAD.
We take our time enjoying our food and the views of the many types of paddle boats on the river.
We feel the urge for a rousing game of scrabble, so off we go to find ourselves another park bench. It is very peaceful here!
We have checked out of our hotel and stored our bags until we head to the train station later tonight. We opt to Hop On the bus and just ride to our hotel stop listening to the commentary, some of it for the 2nd or 3rd time. Surprisingly it seems to be just as interesting after the first time.
We collect our bags and walk to the train station arriving early for our 10PM train. We chat with a young couple from Toronto who have been working in Vimy Ridge for a year and are doing some additional travelling before on to their next assignments.
The couchette is pretty tight. We have the bottom 2 bunks and thought perhaps we would be alone until a young Spanish couple arrived. They are travelling by train throughout Europe.
Head to bed shortly after the train departs Prague. Our first experience sleeping on a train (ok family – no train jokes :)) The bunks are very very firm and at times we feel we are trying to sleep on a roller coaster! Our Spanish friends are disembarking about 2 hours ahead of us, so that means we are awake too. We are able to doze a bit more until we reach Krakow, which we do to a beautiful morning!
