You don't expect it in first class

And so this morning Rick left at the crack to fly home, and David & Steve took me to the station to wave Nellie and I off to Prague.

The journey wasn't easy - the train was rammed (stupid compartments rather than open layout, with nowhere to stash luggage out of the way unless you could lift it above your head), and I didn't have a reservation as it was optional and I'd been assured unnecessary in first class. I found a seat but then the rightful owner got on at Berlin Sudkreuz and so I stood in the corridor for a while until some jolly American chaps were kind enough to give up their seats so they could stand in the corridor and drink beer, getting in training for beer in Prague and then in Munich for Oktoberfest (which seems to be in September - am I missing something?)

Suddenly, loads of people from the other 1st class carriage started lugging their bags past us and the guard was running up and down the corridor like a headless chicken. Turns out there's been a small fire in the heating system in the carriage so they evacuated it and we stopped for a while until they made sure the fire was out. The carriage however couldn't be used, so they took it off at Dresden and the squished conditions continued. Only about 15 minutes late into Prague though, and I got a cab straight away which cost only slightly less than my dinner tonight - though he did tell me before we set off how much he would charge.

There's a caretaker at this slightly odd Air BnB as the owner doesn't appear to live in this one - it's a flat above shops, sharing a floor with a language school. The 2 bedrooms which are hired out are both huge, and the bathroom is shared along with the kitchen and the caretaker chappie who seems to sleep in some kind of makeshift arrangement above the kitchen. It's only 2 nights though, and is very close to the old town square and the bridges.

Fortunately it stopped raining and I went for a late afternoon wander to get my bearings before dinner at the rather lovely Cafe Louvre across the street. Very cheap! The trams and traffic outside are a bit noisy as I'm on Narodni, one of the main thoroughfares, but to be honest I don't think I'll need much rocking tonight. I'm fairly sure though that yet again I'll wake up in the middle of the night thinking "Where the f*** am I?")

Free walking tour tomorrow and I'm off to Vienna on Wednesday, so it's a flying visit here and I won't fit much in this time I guess.