SOLO EURO: DAY 8 & 9 [BAMBERG & PRAGUE]

i left in the morning to catch the train to bamberg. fortunately, the schedule was often (twice every hour). this was more of  a 'i don't have much planned and let's just see what i run into' kind of day. i'm glad i went, but did enjoy the day before at rodt much more. there also is not as much to do if you don't drink beer. most people visit to drink their smoked beer that tastes like bacon.

instead of taking the bus, i walked to the old town. compared to the other old towns i visited, the buildings are more of a mix of old and new. i walked through old town pretty quickly. bamberg does not have many attractions or museums.

the cathedral that was closed to visitors due to mass.

king triton from the little mermaid?

alte hofhaltung, the old palace.

the one thing i did have planned was altenburg castle. i knew there was not going to be much to see (most of it is now a restuarant). i could see it up the hill, but i could not figure out how to get there. i gave up on my directions and just followed the street signs. once you make it past the city, you have to go up a long foothill. it was a little creepy. i was the only one using it. 

once you take the foothill through the fields, you have to enter a plant tunnel (like something out of alice in wonderland).

altenburg castle

the castle was a bit lackluster for having all that trouble to get there, but it was my main attraction of the day. the only building you can enter is the tower.

in the ye old days, a real bear was kept on the property. now they have a stuffed bear that looks like the title character from 'big bear in the big blue house.'

altes ratheaus, the most popular landmark in the city

on a side note one of the scariest things happened to me on the way back. while i was walking on the curb, a bus drove behind me and the side mirror almost hit me in the back of the head. my head fit in between the mirror and the bus. if it had hit me, i for sure would have gotten a concussion. after that, i learned to walk closer to the buildings and away from the street 

by now i was done and decided to return to nuremberg. i took the train back to nuremberg, returned to my hostel, and had an espresso shot while trying to figure out what i wanted to do for the rest of my day. i settled with the db railway museum, a quick stroll from my hostel. 

surprisingly, it opened as a railway museum in 1899! i'm glad i went. i'm also glad i asked if there was an english audioguide. the reception lady never offered it to me and all the captions were in german (most big german museums do have english captions). the museum is chronological and unfortunately the section on east and west germany was closed (the section i was the most interested in). there is also an outdoor museum that showcases the different trains used throughout history.

the opera house across the street.

i forgot to show this on the last post, but this is the view from my hostel room. pictured is the old town wall.


i did not realize, but in bavaria most places are either closed on sunday or have short hours so finding dinner was a nightmare. dinner ended up being bread with cheese and tomato from a street vendor and a mars bar.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

the next morning i caught a db bus to prague. sure there are cheaper ways, but i read such nightmares about budget buses. it was a nice ride. the bus was a double decker and i sat on the top floor in the very front (i forgot i reserved that seat, but was happy to be reminded), so was able to look out the window. our bus was late due to traffic, but it was not too bad.

central station is really pretty, even though an old grumpy couple ruined my picture.

when i arrived i made a big boo boo. i took out wayyy too much money from the atm ($800 in us dollars. i ended up only using about 1/3 of it the next 4 days). i also met the rudest person i encountered during the entirety of my trip and he worked in customer service! i walked away from him before i was on the verge to cuss him out.

a creepy art installation at wesceslas square.

the epic art nouveau europa hotel.

i then made my way to the hostel and got lost. prague was definitely the hardest town to navigate. there are so many long street names and the streets are not set up in a grid. they run in all directions and some even turn 90 degrees while keeping their name. also the blocks are so tiny and most often triangular in shape. i knew my hostel was in a strange location. it is common for one building to have a different business on every floor. in my building the first floor was a casino (with security being an older lady), the second a thai massage place, and the third the hostel. more on the hostel in a future post. after checking in, i decided to stroll around a little bit.

i tried a trdelnik. these are all over prague and poland. it is advertised as an old bohemian (really it's slovak) dessert and pretty much tastes like a stuffed churro. i had one with vanilla custard.

this guy was actually part of my itinerary, 'the cloak of conscience.'

the first museum i went to was the alfonse mucha museum. he is one of my favorite artists of all time. a lot of his work is all over prague. overall, the museum was okay. it was a little expensive and you can't take pictures inside, but i really did like the gift shop.

the next stop was the museum of communism. the name is a little misleading, but it is really just about the influence communism and socialism had on the czech people. as most museums during my trip, this one was very emotionally charged. it was really interesting to learn specifically about this region because most often you learn about england, france, or germany.

they also had a really great gift shop. for being such a serious musem, there were tons of merchandise that joked about the ideology. for example, there was a santa dressed like the grim reaper and a nesting doll with fangs. i even got a postcard that said, 'opening, late, closing soon, annoyingly long lunch break.'

even though this wall may look like it is celebrating socialism, the museum overall was very critical of the ideology. 

after, i stopped at the grocery store (got 2 liter of water, 2 cold pasta sides, and 3 bananas for less than $3!), got lost (entered one door and did not realize i exited a different one), and returned to the hostel.

for dinner i stopped at a quick little cafe and got schnitzel, potatoes, and ginger ale (it's cheaper than water). after that, i called in a night.


now for a song! i've been listening to a bit of classical lately and one one my favorites is 'gymnopedie' by erik satie. it is hard to describe, but i like songs that make me feel like i am looking into the past and reminiscing. this song makes me think of that. enjoy!