09-03-2014, 09:54 PM
It was a huge change of scenery once entering the Czech Republic. It is quite obvious they are not that long from being a communist country, things looked old and run down many places along the ride. There were a few times where we stopped at what were close to abandoned train stations and waited - another train was heading our way and mostly there was only one set of tracks. We had to change trains in Ceske Budejovice. Our train taking us to Prague looked like it was from the 70's, including the interior.
So most every day we travelled on the train, we would have our eurail pass checked and stamped fairly early into the journey. The ticket checkers were generally women or older men, of "average" size. Well on our second train to Prague the ticket checker was a very large man, and not particularly friendly looking, although he was nice to us when he looked at our pass. If any of you watched the Movie - Midnight Express- think of the warden of the prison where Billy Hayes was locked up.
As we neared Prague the train came to a golf course and for some reason we came to a stop. There were fairways parallel to the tracks and from the large banners and TV cameras it looked like there was some kind of major tournament happening. We sat there for several minutes, and I watched through the window waiting for somebody to tee off from the nearby tee box. We had a good view as the tracks were elevated above the course separated by a short steep bushy section.
Suddenly some sketchy looking dude comes scrambling up the hill out of the bushes, he's carrying a small plastic bag. Next thing he gets on our train, better yet, our car, and runs into the bathroom. Everyone around us saw what had just happened, and people were kind of stunned, including us.
Maybe a minute later, the train takes off and we are back on our way. We probably just hit top speed when from the far end of our car, in comes, I mean STORMS, joe huge ticket checker, and he was not happy. He cruises past us and straight to the can, which unfortunately was partially out of sight. He pulls buddy out of the bathroom and while yelling who knows what, gives him a good boot, couldn't see where exactly. At one point he set up for a big punch but then let off, but continued the screaming for another minute. I was actually surprised when the train stopped to dump off the intruder, I thought they might let him off at full speed.
That was our excitement for the day, as it wasn't long before we entered the city and the main train station.
Pics soon.
So most every day we travelled on the train, we would have our eurail pass checked and stamped fairly early into the journey. The ticket checkers were generally women or older men, of "average" size. Well on our second train to Prague the ticket checker was a very large man, and not particularly friendly looking, although he was nice to us when he looked at our pass. If any of you watched the Movie - Midnight Express- think of the warden of the prison where Billy Hayes was locked up.
As we neared Prague the train came to a golf course and for some reason we came to a stop. There were fairways parallel to the tracks and from the large banners and TV cameras it looked like there was some kind of major tournament happening. We sat there for several minutes, and I watched through the window waiting for somebody to tee off from the nearby tee box. We had a good view as the tracks were elevated above the course separated by a short steep bushy section.
Suddenly some sketchy looking dude comes scrambling up the hill out of the bushes, he's carrying a small plastic bag. Next thing he gets on our train, better yet, our car, and runs into the bathroom. Everyone around us saw what had just happened, and people were kind of stunned, including us.
Maybe a minute later, the train takes off and we are back on our way. We probably just hit top speed when from the far end of our car, in comes, I mean STORMS, joe huge ticket checker, and he was not happy. He cruises past us and straight to the can, which unfortunately was partially out of sight. He pulls buddy out of the bathroom and while yelling who knows what, gives him a good boot, couldn't see where exactly. At one point he set up for a big punch but then let off, but continued the screaming for another minute. I was actually surprised when the train stopped to dump off the intruder, I thought they might let him off at full speed.
That was our excitement for the day, as it wasn't long before we entered the city and the main train station.
Pics soon.