By Travel Buddy P.L

Day 27 for E: Day 10 for me; C.O is back to Vancouver…

We planned an unexpected stop to visit another country before going to Prague. We went to Bratislava, Solvenska as it was just on the way. We went for a quick lunch in a restaurant called Bratislavsky Mestiansky Pivovar as it has pretty good rating on Trip advisor. Indeed the food and service were really good! The server is friendly. We had 2 entrees and 2 beers and the bill was only 20 €.

After lunch, we tried to find our way to the St. Martin’s Cathedral. We ended up getting stuck in an alley road and was finally able to get out after 5 u-turns. It costed us 2 euro per person to get in, but there was not too much to see compared with other churches, yet it was one of the largest and oldest church in Bratislava.

We arrived Prague (Praha) at around 7:00pm. My first impression was that I did not expect the city to be so lively. Just off the highway, there were many buildings with names and brands of big and well known companies. The city itself is very beautiful.

Our motel is off that central area, but it’s ok since we got a car. It was a very simple room and we did not expect too much since it was 25€ per person for 2 nights.

On our way to dinner, we got pulled over by the cop due to turning into a lane that passenger vehicles were not supposed to turn into. When the cop showed us the sign, there was no way that we would have understood it. The cop did not speak English, but was able to tell us the ticket is 2000 cz money which is approximately 100€. We asked if he take euros and he said no and showed us the bank. He reduced the ticket to 1000cz money (50€). We did not bother to argue and just paid him. It was an expensive lesson learnt!

Luckily, dinner was better! We had authentic Czech food and of course with beer as beer is super cheap in all Europe. In this case, it was less than $2. As people has been telling us how good goulash is, we decided to order one. It is actually braised beef and potato dumplings. The other dish was traditonal czech grub which includes 3 types of pork. Just like German and Austrian food, the portion was huge with lots of pork.

Day 28 for E; Day 11 for me

We visited and walked around Old town. We found a hidden gem for lunch called Mlejnice. The food was yummy and reasonably priced. We visited the Astronomical clock and went up to the top to take photos as well. If you don’t want to walk, there is also an elevator which you can take. Going up to the top costs 105 cz money (approx $5). We decided to go back to the same area to find food for dinner, but ended up the restaurant when went to was a tourist trap. In fact, it was the worst meal of all since we arrived Europe. There was a 25 cz money per person charged for bread and condiments that we did not even want, but was forced to accept.

Note to self that when you travel and did not know where to look for food, it’s a good idea to use trip advisor.

When you drive in Prague, because a lot of streets are one way, sometimes it may be hard finding a way out. That night, we ended up driving on the electric train ramp by accident. Thank god we did not get caught by the police!

Day 29 for E; Day 12 for me

We spent half a day in Prague before making our way to Berlin. We found parking near Prague Castle, but realized we had no cz money nor any euro coins as that is all the parking machine takes.

Finding change is not the easiest thing to do in Prague. I attempted to exchange money by buying a coffee at a coffee shop with euro so I get cz money back. The cashier gave me back 100 cz bill when I wanted two 50 cz coin. I told her that I need to coins for parking, and her response what “you need change for parking, I need change too!” I attempt to break the 100 cz bill at a souvenier shop, but was again unsuccessful.

At last, we stopped by a restaurant for a quick lunch and paid with Euro in order to exchange some cz money.

Although we did not check trip advisor, we chose the restaurant with the most people and it was actually not bad. We shared an old bohemian plate (roast pork, smoked pork, baked duck).

After lunch, we visited Prague Castle. Due to limited of time, we did not buy tickets to go inside to any of the palace or the church. What we did do was went inside the St. Vitus Cathedral as the first section was free and also took a walk all along the courtyard.

It may have worked so much better if we had another full day in Prague, so we can go into the castle in more detail and spend more time taking photos at night. The night scene of Prague is amazing!

We left Prague at 3:30pm. Half way through the drive, we went down the wrong fork and ended up picking up 2 young hitch hikers in the middle of nowhere.

They were a girl (28) and a boy (25) from Czech Republic who were going to Berlin too. They shared some amazing stories with us and we learned a bit about their culture. They told us they actually hitch hike everywhere to travel in Europe and was successful each time. I do not know how to describe them other than they are very adventurous and brave as that is something that I do not think I will be able to do as much as I want to save on cost when travelling.

After a 4 hours drive, we finally arrived Berlin at 7:30pm. That night, we had dinner at a burger joint, The Bird. I was told by a friend that sitting at the bar would get us free shots. We sat at the bar, but no free shots were given to us that night. I am not entirely sure if it was a happy hour thing or it may have changed. All burger there were beef except for the vegetarian. I had the vegetarian burger and E had the Birdcage burger. Both burgers had more patty than bun with a lot of fries. I was already full by the time I finished the burger. It was delicious! Something different from pork knuckle, schnitzel, and sausages.